Worst videogame cover art!!!!

[Sammy]

If you're a videogamer in the western part of the world then you're no stranger to your passion stripped of all its digity... no respect is paid to the presentation.. because mostly games here have to reach out and grab grandparents looking frantically for that last minute X-mass present...

What hurts the most is that most of the horrible covers belong to the most beutiful games... This is what I was able to dig up from my collection..

Shit cover for a shit game...
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/muscle.jpg

"Considering the fact that our new game is composed of the most beautifully rendered 2d visuals to date.. I think the cover should contrast it... suggestion.. a crappy photoshoped castle?" ... at least they didn't put the lense flair... *shudder*
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/castlevania.jpg

"I came up with the name ALL BY MYSELF!!!"
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/Shooter.jpg

A wonderful cult classic ... wonder why everyone passed over it?
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/guardian%20heroes.jpg

This is a gorgiouse game.. would never be able to tell tho..
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/Darius.jpg

"We'll do a coloring book contest and take the cream of the crop!"
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/snake.jpg

The day I played this was the day I lost my fetish for Asian women... coincedence??
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/daedalus.jpg

If anybody has had the pleasure of experiencing this game then you know it's one of the most whimsicaly gorgiouse games ever ... but all its art was lost in its cover... very sad
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/Ico.jpg

oh my god
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/megaman2.jpg

!!!!!!!OH... MY ... GOD!!!!!!!!!
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/megaman.jpg

[skvv]

castlevania has a castle on it for old time's sake, it's a classic, it would be EXTRA gey if they put a screenshot from the game on there, then it woud be just liek the back of the box.

[3bleadpencil]

that last one cracks me big time......that is so bad i almost want to play it to see the graphics.
3b

[JoshuaTheJames]

http://www.worldofmi.com/thegames/monkey4/boxartMI4-PS2-front.jpg

the one on the left is the one for the pc ...the one they should have used... the one on the right is what they used...booty at its finest!

blahh...

-Joshua

[Sammy]

evisr8r - HA, I wasn't suggesting they use a screenshot.... I was mearly suggesting that Caslevania has much better art in it.. and not to mention the wonderful Illustrator Ayami Kojima

This was the painting used for the japanese cover...
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/goodcasle.jpg ... I close this argument ;)



oh god... good call Joshuathejames... makes you wonder whoe's picking which ones to use

[DaveGFX]

Check out these gems:
http://www.gamespy.com/top10/january03/covers/index.shtml

Gotta love putting Fabio on the cover:

http://www.gamespy.com/top10/january03/covers/3.jpg

[Sammy]

HAHA awesome..

if you've ever seen the cover of Phalanx in real life.. up close
you'd be able to see that the ship in the background is actually an X-wing model from starwars

http://www.gamespy.com/asp/image.asp?/top10/january03/covers/10.jpg

it's hard to see on this one



here's a better pic of the MegaMan one.. oh geez.. it's a winner...
http://www.gamespy.com/asp/image.asp?/top10/january03/covers/1.jpg

[Porkasaurus]

Here's the kicker - none of the developers of those games generated the cover art for those products.

It just doesn't work that way. One would think, but it doesn't. Presentation is completely marketing driven, the marketers are the ones that work for the publishers. The publishers ultimately make the decision on presentation. They are not artists. They certainly aren't gamers. But they make the big bucks so they call the shots on these things. To "us", the us being artists, they are usually off. But that doesn't matter to them.

It's tough to work your ass off on something for years only to have a publisher spit out a cover created by some flunk who took a community college class on 3D Max(not joking.)

Just don't think the artists involved with the project are the same ones doing the package design. I'm sure they would if they were contractually allowed to. But they aren't.

Sorry to get semi-serious in this otherwise funny thread, but I figured a lot of people weren't aware how these things worked.

[3bleadpencil]

Porkasaurus :...I'm not surprised....they probably hired their own dumbass children to do the art work just so they reap more of a profit than the artists!

[davi]

guardian heros! i've been trying to figure out the name of that game forever now, thanks a billion

[JoshuaTheJames]

lol FABIO

remember that SNL skit where that large guy played FLABIO...

-Joshua

[Wizard of KOZ]

Guardian Hereos is my favorite game of all time. It had so much going for it. Replay value, great visual, awesome characters. The best 2d sidescroler beat-em up in my opinion. It's a shame they didnt use the Japanese cover.

http://landofkoz.com/Misc/gh.jpg

[Sammy]

Wizard of KOZ - Thanx for the japanese covor.. it was a lot more respected over seas ... FUN GAME! My buddy just scored a multy-tap for the Saturn and we're gonna get our 6 player Guardian Heroes on! WOOO!

Porkasaurus - yea dude you're absolutely right! It's such a sad sad thing that the people involved arent in charge of representing the game.. I hope one day to work up to publisher status so I can give talented developers the respect they've earned... even if it's as simple as cover art

[Wizard of KOZ]

MAn GH is so great...I still break it out when Im Bored...

Here is some more horrible cover art


The Terrrible American Cover....and the Japan Cover/Manual Art

http://www.landofkoz.com/Misc/sui.jpg

[N D Hill]

Why can't all games be Metroid Prime? That game isn't eye-candy. It's eye-heroine.

[Sammy]

I thought Metroid was the best looking FPS to date... *drools*

Here's some bad TG16 HuCARDs... FUN games.. but you can see how far we've come with our game art.. hehe..
http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/TG16.jpg

This is an EXCELENT shooter ..... but has NO similarities to Charlies Angels.. just another example of the Marketing Peeps having no shame in whiping their asses all over the game industry..

http://www.securevirtualpages.com/~sammyha/onlineforums/Worstgameart/moblelightforce.jpg

[MGH]

You guys ever hear of karma?