Results tagged “cover art chronicles”

This is continuing from the last post, displaying how much better Metal Gear's covers were compared to most other franchises video game companies put out, Konami or not. Yoji Shinkawa, currently the franchise's most prominent artist, has a very unique art style whose portraits contain an aura of mystery and imagination. Konami felt it best to display it on the covers of each title to intrigue the passerby in stores that happened upon a copy of the game.

Unfortunately enough, I really meant "felt" there, because Metal Gear Solid 4 was the first example of Konami moving away from featuring Shinkawa's art; no, not just on covers, but everywhere. Try looking around the internet for Shinkawa's Metal Gear-related art and you won't find as much of it for any game after Metal Gear Solid 3. I wanted to use Shinkawa's art for the MGS4 banner in the review linked above, but couldn't find any that perfectly fit into the desired ratio. And there's even less of his art available for Peace Walker. Not to say the CG art is bad, but it's definitely not as nice.

This post will focus on the special editions released on Sony's consoles. Other console versions will be covered in the next entry.


Metal Gear Solid: Integral is an enhanced version of the original Metal Gear Solid, released for Playstation a little less than a year after the original. It was only released in Japan, since apparently Konami didn't feel it was worth it to rerelease the same game overseas again. It was released with the English language version with Japanese subtitles, assorted extra outfits, a "Very Easy" difficulty mode, a third disc including VR Missions, and plenty of other extras. Shinkawa's art is good here, but it would have been better if you could see more of Snake's body.

Integral may not have been localized in full, but Konami decided to release the new third disc in America and Europe as Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions. Remember the cyborg ninja from the game, well now you can play as him! And Konami decided to use that as a big selling point. It's not like the ninja has his own quest or anything, though. I think the cover comes off better here than Integral, if only because it looks a lot more harrowing. The European cover is the same, but the logo obscures a big part of the art.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance released a year after Sons of Liberty for...Xbox!? Though rumored for a good while, even before the system's launch, MGS2 did make its way to Xbox in America and Europe. It wasn't without its problems -- the sluggish framerate and slowdown made some shooting sections more difficult than they should have been -- but it was a mostly faithful port of the game. Substance's main new feature is...VR Missions. Go figure. But it also has a new campaign called "Snake Tales," that allow you to play as Snake instead of Raiden for a new story scenario. It also has a skateboarding minigame.

Oh, but you came to hear about the covers, right? The American version features a very nice portrait of Snake on the cover, with the full moon over New York City. The European version has a nice picture of both Snake and Raiden, with the former being the more prominent figure. It's hard to choose which one is better here, but I like the European one a tad more.

And apparently Konami's U.S. offices did too, because they chose that cover for the Playstation 2 version that released four months later. America and Europe have the same cover in this instance, but Japan uses the Substance cover America used for the Xbox version.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence released a little over a year after Metal Gear Solid 3 with, as expected, numerous new features. It probably stands as the best of the three special editions, solely because Subsistence fixes a critical flaw that held back Snake Eater: the camera. There's nothing wrong with an overhead camera, but it's only mainly good for indoor places. It was a hassle for outdoor environments, where MGS3 usually takes place. Subsistence has a fully 3D camera. It also included a second disc with the original MSX versions of Metal Gear 1 and 2. There was also a third disc included in a very, very limited edition (as in "you may not have gotten it even if you pre-ordered" limited) with a movie version of MGS3 made from the cut scenes. You could have gotten it to sell it on eBay for well over $100, because it's not like the movie is good!

Oh, and the cover is nice featuring some lovely Shinkawa artwork with Snake giving the salute. The scene it depicts is right out of the ending, but it's not a spoiler without any context. Every territory uses the same cover, with some very slight modifications. I used the American cover here because the writer here is an ignorant American. Fitting!

So now the question is: where's MGS4's special edition? Or should I say "was," since it was confirmed via Hideo Kojima himself on his Twitter account that it isn't coming. I wonder if the development team really doesn't have time, or it's a reflection of what they think about how MGS4 turned out.  I'll be back next week with the next feature about...something in particular.

A game having a change of cover is nothing surprising. Games change covers for multiple reasons, but it's mainly though fan input or the marketing team deciding the then-current cover didn't cut it. Sometimes it's not for the better, and sometimes it doesn't fix the problem, but hey, clearly someone had a different opinion here. That "someone's" taste is another matter.

But then you have the rarity, the games that go through multiple covers in a short amount of time. And sometimes ostensibly for no real reason whatsoever. Red Dead Redemption was the last one that stood out, and now we can add Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood -- the sequel to Assassin's Creed II that's totally not Assassin's Creed III -- to the list. Though its changes aren't as pronounced as RDR's, it has undergone multiple changes for some strange reason.

I wanted you readers to see cover in a good size, so I decided to go with the cover for one console here, and that just happens to be the Playstation 3 version. No, that's not because I'm biased, but I couldn't find a larger version of the first cover for the 360 version. Many sites had long replaced the cover with the second one, I'm afraid. That, or Google's Image Search is biased.

This is the first one, released to retailers around E3 after the release date was announced. It's not bad, and is fittingly in the same style ACII had. The main difference is protagonist Eizo being joined by the Brotherhood - well, four members of it, not including Eizo. Slightly obscured in the background are computer effects, which are seen while the real world protagonist Desmond enters the game's virtual world. Not a bad cover at all.

But apparently it wasn't good enough for someone, so it received another one in July. This version has a lot of the same effects the last one had, but with one major change (that you probably noticed already): Eizo's stance. It's a more neutral one compared to the possibly symbolic stance he has on the first one. Also notice that the Brotherhood is more obscured while there's more focus on Eizo himself.

And this brings us to the final cover, released to retailers a couple of days ago. Eizo once again has a stance change, this time with a more threatening stance. Americans seem to like their protagonists to be menacing, violence-thirsty bastards, so why not? Not only are the Brotherhood members no longer obscured, but there are two more of them. But it's just that they're in view this time; you can actually see parts of them on the sides of the second cover above. Rather than have potential customers wondering what exactly was on the sides, Ubi decided to remove all doubt. Lastly, the bluish hue is completely gone. It's definitely the best of the three.

This game's already had three covers, but notice that neither of them has an ESRB rating, so it'll undoubtedly have at least one more. Who knows if that will be the only change they make. If it's different than the last one above, I'll make another post about it in the future.

Metal Gear Solid -- and that's strictly speaking about "Solid," not any of the other games in the franchise or the spin-offs -- have had an interesting cover history. It's mostly been rather positive, standing in stark contrast to many other franchises. But in the last few years, they've taken a different turn and adopted an alternate overall style. Not for the better, unfortunately.

Many fans of the franchise, me included, love Yoji Shinkawa's art style that always accompanies the games in the direct franchise, and some of the spin-offs. His art used to be featured prominently on the covers of Metal Gear games worldwide, but for some strange reason, it's something we're not seeing much anymore. That's a shame too, because using art on the cover helps it stand out amongst the legions of generic titles that use CG (sometimes pretty badly) on their cover. The marketing execs of numerous companies seem to believe that consumers, especially in America, prefer to have their covers CG, based on the data they've supposedly obtained. Whether that data is empirical or anecdotal is unknown.

This is exactly what led to the Castlevania: Lords of Shadow cover situation. The standard edition, which most people will buy, has CG artwork for the cover. The LE, aimed at dedicated fans who are usually willing to spend more than most. An argument could be made for the LE not being worth an extra $20 (because it isn't), but that's another post (that I probably won't make). Both covers have received changes since that post, but they're only minor.

Rumor has it that Metal Gear Solid's cover wasn't originally going to be this, but the team working with the game internally fought to have this cover. Glad they did, too, because here we have something that's beautiful in its simplicity. The Japanese cover is the same. The European cover does use Shinkawa's art, but it doesn't come off as well. There's a lesson here: making a nice cover doesn't merely entail using art, but using it efficiently.

All of the covers for Metal Gear Solid 2 use Shinkawa's art, though Japan's is different from what America and Europe received. This cover comparison is actually quite hilarious for anyone who played MGS2 back in the day. The big surprise for MGS2 was that you'd actually be playing a new character named Raiden for most of the game, rather than Solid Snake; the complete opposite of what the hype and American and European cover art would imply. The Japanese cover ruins this surprise, but that's probably not a bad thing considering the negative reaction fans had to being robbed of controlling Snake.

Metal Gear Solid 3 is one of the rare cases of each territory having a different cover. Both Japan and Europe got Shinkawa's art, with the European one being a not-as-good variant of what's present on the Japanese cover. Comparing the two, the Japanese cover immediately wins for including one of the best female characters in video games, The Boss, on the cover. Meanwhile, the American cover takes a different approach, with Shinkawa art being at the top and CG used for the remaining aspects. It's awfully busy, and certainly the least appealing cover, though the CG use isn't quite as bad as some other covers.

Like this one! Apparently someone thought Old Snake's face was incredibly appealing for Metal Gear Solid 4's cover; so appealing that they wanted to show everyone through the cover. It's not, and it's not supposed to be either, which makes for an unappealing cover. A shame Japan's cover suffered the same fate. Surprisingly, though Europe's cover also has a close-up of Snake, it does it using Shinkawa art. It's by far the best of the covers.

In fact, MGS4 has the same situation as the aforementioned Lords of Shadow. I'm saving the LE cover for one of the next entries, though.

This is only the first entry in this series, which should be wrapped up in the next entry. Unless I find something else to talk about.

In a way, it may not be fair to many other companies that were localizing Japanese games to single out how much better Konami's covers were. As mentioned before, many of Konami's older games took inspiration from western entertainment (unless they were based on the actual licensed property), and an homage would be provided on the covers. This made for some covers the marketing arbiters could easily allow, while others had to change theirs lest customers be repelled by the apparently repugnant anime-style look that might appear on the cover. Some of them made for results that were still pretty good, like the Dragon Quest/Dragon Warrior titles, whose covers and localizations took inspiration from fantasy novels like Dragonlance; most results were messy. The current day situation is proof of how misguided the aforementioned fear was.

The Super Nintendo era displayed Konami's best line of redone western covers, from an era where Konami had a stream of quality titles. These covers are so good that I'd like you to see them in their entirety, so I'm only posting a picture of the American cover. I'm only including three examples, since others either kept the same cover, just haven't aged well, or represent the aforementioned fear. Sorry Goemon, your existence outside of Japan was seemingly never meant to be.

Castlevania's debut on SNES began with a remake of the first game in the series in Super Castlevania IV, and it's still one of the most beloved games in the franchise. And they gave it an excellent cover for its American (and European) release. It's a heck of a lot better than the awkward-looking Japanese version, which isn't bad on its own aside from the weird posture Simon has. Dracula's reaction is priceless, though. This was the best cover for a Castlevania game around before Ayami Kojima's arrival. It feels like it wouldn't be out of place on the cover of a B movie, and that's what makes it perfect for what it's going for.

Contra III: The Alien Wars was also a stunning example of the franchise and the genre during the 16-bit era. It was one of the earliest examples of cheesy 80s action movies being represented in video game form. Some of said movies had video game adaptations, but you're more likely to see retrospectives of them on lists describing the worst licensed games ever. Most earlier Contra games represented that trope better than many older games could ever do. A shame about the pit the franchise would fall into after that generation ended.

The Japanese cover has main characters Jimbo and Sully (the latter of which was probably killed last) with poses that are practically lifted from posters or scenes from American movies. It's easier to get away with this in Japan, but Konami didn't want to test the waters outside of that country.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles IV: Turtles in Time managed to be one of the best examples of having an arcade game (which was released without the "IV") at home early in the SNES' heyday, and that's among many other examples.  The Japanese version has a cover that wouldn't look out of place on an old VHS that contained three episodes of the '89 cartoon series, but some beautiful comic-style artwork accompanies the cover of the western versions.

With this being part four, this officially wraps up this series of classic Konami covers. Or does it? Don't be surprised if I decide to provide another entry in the next few weeks about Konami. But nothing tops this earlier era of covers. They have a few later covers that stick out, but their quality output really dwindled after these early halcyon days. They were still on the surface after this era, but now they've really sunk. Sad.

Castlevania has always had a mostly great history with cover art from a variety of artists. You could come up with a few dubious examples, but I'm pretty sure its reputation has been better than most franchises you could come up with. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the game being touted as a reimagining of the Castlevania franchise to help elevate it from its niche status, had its official cover art released today. Here we go!

Actually, that's pretty nice; definitely better than the temporary art released about a month back. It also looks like there will be a limited edition. Konami hasn't officially confirmed it yet, but looks legitimate, so it should be announced any day now. Looks like we have another great Castlevania cover on our hands.

Well, if only that was the cover for every version. The standard cover is a little different, and for all the wrong reasons. For a game that has some pretty good concept art, the fact that they'd put together a cover with a huge lack of creativity is pretty insulting. There's still time that they could change it, but the chances of that happening are, as always, quite minimal.

But I guess none of us should be surprised to see this kind of cover situation. Covers like this arise due to the marketing divisions of corporations concluding, through anecdotal data, that westerners happen to resonate with CG art while their eyes are glancing at multiple covers in a store aisle, hence the generic, uninspired drek we have above. It's mainly dedicated gamers that are willing to shell out extra cash for a limited edition full of material they may or (mostly) may not need on a practical scale. Said dedicated audience will also be rewarded with a far better cover.

To its credit, though, it's still a damn sight better than the repelling anime-style stuff that plagued the cover arts for Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin.

There happen to be quite a few fans around the internet who are a tad miffed at the lack of Ayami Kojima art on the cover, and I can relate to a degree. When Lords of Shadow was announced last year, I felt there was something missing, an element that makes Castlevania look like Castlevania. It wasn't until now that I realized how much I find Kojima's art synonymous with the franchise, and it's looking at this cover that hammers that point home. Fortunately, we have Harmony of Despair to see some of her new contributions.

Not that I expected her artwork to accompany it at all, of course. This game is the very essence of "reimagination" from a video game standpoint, meaning no one from the previous games is involved in this game's development. The developers don't want to show anything that associates it with IGA's creations. It's a foregone conclusion to say that Lords of Shadow is going to be an interesting game, whether it's good or not. We'll see what side it resides on come October, just in time for Halloween.

So! Konami and Genesis. They actually had quite a bit of good Genesis support, despite not being on the best of terms with Sega.

Konami actually used to be a big fan of picking favorites, something rather surprising given the nearly even stance of the SNES and Genesis during their time in the market. The SNES received the greatest support right out of the gate (or close to it) with titles like Super Castlevania IV, Contra 3, and a superlative home port in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time. They did decide to support the Genesis a little later with some quality titles, but it was never with the same amount of support. And here are their covers.

Konami decided to reuse the asses from the aforementioned Turtles in Time for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist -- or Return of the Shredder. Sega fans were clamoring for something Turtles related while Nintendo's consoles had received four games in the franchise, so Konami felt that Genesis fans earned a title. And it was every bit as good as Turtles in Time was. Both the American and Japanese covers are quite nice, but I like the busy action that consumes the Japanese cover a little more. A shame about the comparatively blase European cover, though, which happens to be the same as the Japanese cover to Turtles in Time.

Rocket Knight Adventures was the first title to prove that Konami was starting to get a little serious with Genesis support; as serious as Sparkster is on the American cover. It turns out the angry Kirby effect isn't exclusive to that series and Dragon Quest IX. The cover is mostly the same aside from that, but it was well worth pointing out since it predates the Angry Kirby phenomenon.

You can take that paragraph about Hyperstone Heist above and apply it to Castlevania as well. Four games, and Konami finally gets one on Genesis, and not starring a Belmont. Unfortunately, the results weren't as pretty in the actual game, though it was still better than Castlevania II. I'm kind of split on which cover is better here, and it's definitely one of the weaker covers in the franchise on both sides.

I kind of talked about Contra: Hard Corps cover before with Hard Corps: Rising's announcement, but here's a completely comparison. The Japanese cover has a very late 80s/early 90s anime vibe, but since that was still considered a little abstract outside of Japan during its time of release, they made things more, uh, hardcore for the western audience. In more ways than one, since the American version was quite a bit harder than the Japanese version. I like the American cover a bit more, because it's more in fitting with the previous Contra titles.

Yeah, I think this was the weakest entry in the series, honestly. But I promise you that the next entry will be the best. I'm sure you can guess what it will be for.

Continuing from the last entry in this series, which will definitely be four now.

It's not possible to describe a lot of older video game covers as anything great, especially when they're localizations - or "translations" rather, because there sure wasn't a lot of localizing being done in this era - of Japanese games for a western audience. The itinerary for cover art seemed to be "make it as un-Japanese-looking as possible" so that no one would find it unfamiliar. That, or companies thought we couldn't handle that oh-so-wacky art Japan was capable of churning out in droves.

Konami did things a little differently, though. But that's probably only because many of their older games (and some newer ones) were rooted in western media influences, and thus used western-style art to promote them. But not every game had the same cover when localized for western audiences. Some of them were better. We've done NES already, but they actually gave some care to their Game Boy covers as well.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue was different from the usual TMNT game, Game Boy or otherwise. It was one of the earlier Metroidvania games; so early that it predates the establishment of the term (which didn't arise until numerous Castlevania games became Metroid derivatives). It's probably one of the least discussed games in the franchise, but its well worth playing.

The main difference between the American and Japanese covers is the different approach, with the latter merely displaying the four of them, which makes it feel like it's from an alternate source that had nothing to do with the game. The American cover has Leonardo drilling through a wall with his sword. Utterly implausible, but it makes for a more appealing cover that actually highlights one of this game's unique features; each turtle had a separate ability to gain entrance to places others could not, and this one displays Leonardo's.

It also represents the trope that American covers can't have happy specimens on the cover, human or not. But it's so good that it's kind of irrelevant here.

Here we have Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge, one of the best portable Castlevania games around. Notable for being vastly superior to the first GB game, Castlevania: The Adventure, Belmont's Revenge was the best we had on the go until the GBA came along. The music is also fantabulous and criminally underappreciated, even by Castlevania's current developers. Many Castlevania tunes are remixed for future titles, but this game's music is rarely a source.

Oh, but you came here to see the cover. Right. The Japanese cover features Christopher in a rather headless skeleton-whipping pose, with a preview of what the player will encounter in the game, concluding with Dracula himself fixed at the top. The American cover has a much simpler approach, and looks miles better artistically. That's mainly because of Christopher's design, but also for some beautiful landscape art.

And now we have a brilliant-though-disappointing subversion. Operation C for Game Boy feels like a blend of NES classics Contra and Super C. Like those games, this game has a cover that takes inspiration from American media, and given how it would easily resonate with a western audience because of that, who knows the true reason why they didn't stick with the Japanese cover. It could be that the original has a cover that looks a tad too familiar, but it still would have been legal to use it under a parody defense. That's a shame, because it's fantastic, while the American cover couldn't be more bland and predictable. Not to say it's bad, of course.

That wraps it up for Game Boy. There are two more features on Konami's covers to look forward to, exploring two other systems. Imagine that.

What's this? A Cover Art Chronicles entry? It's been a while; three-and-a-half months in fact. Time to rectify that.

When you browse a plethora of covers for old games, you'll notice something: they're mostly pretty terrible, especially when it's for a localized Japanese game. Publishers in the US had no qualms with translating and releasing games from Japan, but they tried their best to make sure the game didn't look distinctly Japanese from its exterior. These publishers thought we would be instantly repelled by anything that had some anime flavor in it. These releases happened in mainly the late 80s and early-to-mid 90s, an era where anime and assorted products distinctly Japanese weren't too popular outside of their home base. Needless to say, the tide has turned.

Those intentions for localization aren't bad at all on the surface, but do you think they would hire good artists to adapt these covers? Of course not! Though sometimes there were covers where the new "Americanized" art was pretty good, but that was sadly an exception. And even then, it was in stark contrast to the anime-style artwork that would be present in-game. This, along with localizations of said games themselves, started to change in the PSX era, and said change is in full bloom today.

Though that doesn't mean you won't get some bizarre aversions today.

That aforementioned material isn't for all publishers, though. In fact, there was a big exception: Konami. Honestly, they were probably only an exception because the themes of many of their games - the ones that were localized, anyway - were inspired by western works. So it followed that they should have western-style art for their covers. But said covers weren't always the same for every territory. No, some of them were actually better for western audiences.

With this, I'm kicking off a short series Cover Art Chronicles posts discussing Konami's efforts starting with their NES material. This will be the first of three posts. Or perhaps four. We'll see.

You might be old enough to remember the first Contra title if you're reading this. This classic 2D side-scrolling shooter comes from an age where games that tested your (hopefully) youthful reflexes were accepted as normal. A game like that needed a cover that oozes testosterone, and the American one definitely does that better than the Japanese version. It also contains three references to American movies on the cover, and Bill Rizer (that's the blonde-haired guy on the left) has a stance that's lifted of the protagonist of one of the movies. Lance should also look familiar. Try and guess! You may use the internet.

Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse is regarded as the best of the NES Castlevania games, and one of the best action/platformers on the console. It's also the only game to have a different cover from the Japanese version, and though that one isn't bad - it looks like the cover to a novel, honestly -- the American one gets the job done a little better.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project took after its immediate predecessor, The Arcade Game, in being like, well, an arcade game. It was a side-scrolling brawler that allowed for two players, and it was definitely the best of the NES games. It was also the least popular, too, releasing around a time where TMNT was dying down as a fad among us youngins (you know, at the time). The American cover actually has work from a comic book artist, while the Japanese cover favors turtles with awkward-looking faces. Especially Raphael's.

You may also be wondering why the Japanese version is called "II" instead of "III." It's not that they didn't get the first game inflicted upon them, but II was just called "The Arcade Game."

  Metal Gear's cover is actually the same in every territory, but it's being featured here because it's that good. It has a very G.I. Joe-style flavor, an undoubtedly intentional decision given how popular it was at the time of its release. Oh and the game was good too! Like the Contra cover, this cover also has a reference to a popular movie, and Snake's art and stance is lifted from said movie. Apparently Konami realized how close it was; when the MSX versions Metal Gear (and its sequel) were rereleased as part of Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence, they had Yoji Shinkawa redraw the art.

These are all nice, but there are better examples on other consoles, and those will be covered here, uh, sometime in the future.

It's been a long time in coming, but Red Dead Redemption is finally on its way to current generation consoles (that's PS3 and Xbox 360) after going through an unfortunate development hell. Because of that, Rockstar has already admitted that the game won't be profitable. But many fans of the prequel, Red Dead Revolver, are happy that the game is still coming out, especially after seeing how great it looks. The concept of an open world in a Wild West setting is intriguing, even if you don't typically like westerns.

It also has some good art, and that's been reflected on all of the covers. I can't remember the last time a game's cover has changed so much. That semi-analysis doesn't include games that have had subtle changes, by the way (because that would be a laundry list), but RDR's covers have had rather significant changes, for better and worse.

This one was pretty nice representation of what the game will be about. It's simple and to the point. But looking at it now, it was definitely getting a subtle change since it uses the old branding for PS3 covers, and it lacked an ESRB rating on both.

And a change was made! A more than subtle one, actually. Though it looks nearly the same upon first glance, there are quite a few differences here. There are also cowboys in the background. It's one of the most perfect covers around, though it again lacks an ESRB rating.

But apparently it wasn't perfect enough for Rockstar, so of course they decided to change it again. And this time, it's...a noticeable step back from the last one. I've drawn a blank trying to think of how some of the execs thought this was an improvement. There's no ESRB rating on this one either, but it definitely seems like it will be the final cover. It's still pretty nice, but still...

The game will make its way onto store shelves on May 18th in North America. The release date - exact release date, that is; because this game has had plenty of presumed release windows - was previously April 27th, but apparently Rockstar didn't feel it had enough competition on that day. It was originally releasing at the same time Super Street Fighter IV and Nier were, none of which are serious threats since they're in vastly different genres. But now it's coming out at the same time Lost Planet 2, Prince of Persia: The Fallen Sands, and Alan Wake are. And it's also five days before Super Mario Galaxy 2 releases. Moving the release date seems counter-intuitive to what they should be doing, and while there's no way they'll profit from this, they shouldn't just give up.

Nier is a really special case when it comes to Japanese developers making a game aimed at foreign audiences, a case some would refer to as "the wrong way." Stereotyping may be condoned among the majority of us who still have our wits about us, but it's a weapon developers sometimes have to use purely for the sake of marketing. It's an all too well known fact that a lot of gamers like familiarity, even some that don't like to admit it. But this is a very, uh, extreme example.

Apparently Square Enix believes that most foreign players like their men burly, and have made the main character of Nier for this version to reflect that. Intelligent and devious marketing at work, or the result of a man within the company under the illusion that he's aware of what American gamers like? This version is also being released in Japan as Nier: Gestalt, only on Xbox 360. The covers, of course, reflect this manly-man:

The "Japanese like their covers simpler" trope is in full effect here, though this...really isn't a good representative of that. I actually think the American (and European) cover comes off better here, despite it being rather generic. I think the art is pretty nice.

But yeah, Japan is getting their own exclusive version of the game only for PS3 in Japan, called Nier: Replicant. And it's cover reflects that, of course:

It actually comes off pretty nice here, mainly because of the color, and a main character that looks less ogre-esque. There's also blood here! The reason for that isn't precise, and that's good, because it adds another layer of mystery to the image. The Japanese 360 one above does the same thing, but this one pulls it off a little better.

Now, before anyone takes this to be a final word on the covers, keep in mind that some of them can look considerably better in person. Some covers could easily be written off in press shots -- Final Fantasy XIII's, for a good example -- but in person, the ability to make the cover shiny goes a long way towards increasing its appeal. It's something I could see working for all of the covers above, but it would definitely benefit the Japanese covers a little more (especially Replicant). Also, keep a look out for the game if you enjoyed Drakengard, because its premise seems just as screwy as that game's; especially the first game. We already know the game has a hermaphrodite, for instance, and I'm willing to bet that's only the beginning. The game comes out in late April in all territories.

I guess I've been on a Sega kick lately. Might as well keep it up for the time being, right? Sure.

Sega has an odd reputation of taking a bunch of already OK Japanese covers for Japanese games and changing them for American and European audiences. That's not entirely an indefensible practice, since some covers understandably have to be changed in order to appeal to specific audiences in the region they're trying to market them in. But with these comes a few cases where they went a little too far with making it something that would appeal to the casual observer. The result of them just looks like an act of laziness.

Like this one! Here we have the cover to Yakuza 3 for Playstation 3, which Sega is releasing in America and Europe right in the same week as Final Fantasy XIII comes out. The just want to make sure it's destined to be overlooked by people who would otherwise pick up the game but will undoubtedly be tied down by a 40-hour long RPG, one of the biggest this generation. Of course, then they'll complain about poor sales and refuse to localize Yakuza 4 because of it. It's a lose-lose situation for absolutely everyone involved.

It's a rather pessimistic look at the situation, sure, but it's not at all outside of the realm of possibility with how the situation will turn out. Oh, and just wait until more people find out that the game is in Japanese. Notice how the last two trailers carefully leave out that fact?

But uh,this is about the cover, isn't it? Yeah, it's pretty bad, though the background is pretty nice. A shame said background won't be were most people's eyes will go; they'll look at the awkwardly-placed face of Kazuma on the side first. I'm sure one of the main reasons for changing the cover was the cigarette in Kazuma's mouth, but I figured Sega had people on staff skilled enough at Photoshop to simply remove the cigarette from the mouth. Guess not! And this is what we get instead. It's OK, Europe's getting the same thing.

Fortunately, the next two efforts fare a little better. Next we have Infinite Space for Nintendo DS, a new space-opera RPG from Platinum Games (MadWorld, Bayonetta). It definitely looks intriguing, and if you haven't been following, Sega's also been dubbing the anime shorts (albeit with questionable, barely OK voice acting).

The cover they've done for International audiences is definitely a step down from the Japanese one, but it still doesn't look too bad. It would have looked much better if it wasn't for the characters in the way of the background. The game releases in America and Europe in spring 2010; possibly March if Nintendo's earlier schedule was correct.

Last we have the covers for Resonance of Fate, known as End of Eternity in Japan (which couldn't be used outside of that territory for good reason) for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. This is a Japanese RPG developed by tri-Ace (of the Star Ocean and Valkyrie Profile games) and published by Sega instead of Square Enix this time, since the latter felt it was too ambitious to take a gamble on. This is also the first tri-Ace game not published by Enix or Square Enix. It released last week in Japan.

The cover is, again, not quite as good as the Japanese version in terms of atmosphere, but like Infinite Space's, the result isn't too bad. Showing all three characters with guns sure is a good way to sell it to certain people, so I'm sure it will sell fine to the uninitiated. Well, I sure hope so, because after hearing that the game is good, I'd like tri-Ace to be rewarded for their success. The game releases in spring 2010, but some retailers have the game listed as releasing on...March 9th? But no, they wouldn't do that. They can't be that stupid.

Looking at a lineup like this, along with the recently released Bayonetta, makes me glad that Sega is finally out of the dreadful period they were in shortly after the Dreamcast was laid to rest. They're still not on the level they were during the Dreamcast's heyday, but it's still a hell of a lot better than too many Japanese companies are doing these days. They recently posted a profit as well, though it was mostly on the power of Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics. I hope they can keep up that streak of quality with Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

To 360 RPG fans, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is nearly a year old, and was given mixed results when released upon critics and fans. To PS3 RPG fans who don't own a 360, this February will be the first time they will be able to experience it. And like every late port, it has some new features. To show off the, uh...internationalness of it, this version will include English and Japanese languages, the ability to switch to anime portraits instead of using the "westernized" CG versions, and...well, that's it. Unless Square Enix isn't telling anyone about the other features. What incentive!

With this comes the purpose of this entry, new box art. The aforementioned features imply that Square Enix is going for a different audience than the one they, perhaps misguidedly, catered to with the 360 version. It's no surprise, then, that they want to change the box art accordingly. Like the 360 version, every region has a different box, for some strange reason. The results of which...well, they depend:

Here are the 360 versions:

And here are the PS3 versions:

You can probably tell how the 360 versions all have a similar theme to them, but the PS3 versions together are pretty inconsistent. The European PS3 version takes cues from the previous covers, taking the previous silhouette and pasting it onto the American 360 cover. The Japanese PS3 version contains a nice collage the entire cast in anime form, which comes off rather nice. The American PS3 version is...well, rather confounding. I can see what they were going for, but I sure wish they chose some less awkward poses.

While I was writing this, I suddenly remembered the CG/anime divide that afflicted Tales of Hearts when it released. Admittedly, that was a much sillier situation, where Namco Bandai thought Japanese buyers would rather have a version with crummy CG as opposed to one with anime cutscenes. It's kind of the same situation here, where the the CG portraits have this dollish and frightening look to them in their miniature iterations. So having the option to replace them is pretty neat. So maybe the covers and fans knowing the features will get the job done come February.

OK, probably not. Who am I kidding?

You could also call this somewhat of a Final Fantasy XIII cover showcase. Yeah, I've got nothing else.

With the cover for Final Fantasy XIII, it's been said around the internet by fans of the franchise that they're breaking tradition by using the chosen cover for America and Europe. Of course, since this is the internet, some people are expressing a little more emotion than what should be usual. Some of you guys are crazy. In a way, though, they're actually not breaking tradition. Well, kind of.

That cover is also being used for the Lightning Edition PS3 bundle releasing in Japan along with the game this week. See! They really are using the Japanese cover. Well, one of them, to be precise. Personally, I think the cover we're getting is fine, and much simpler than the cover we're used to receiving. However, I also agree that it could be better. It's definitely not as bad as some people around the internet have made it out to be; but the internet has a funny habit of doing that a little too often.

Also, that wasn't the cover they were going to use for the LE cover in Japan at first. The one revealed at TGS displayed Lightining postured on Odin in a very classic Napoleon-like style. It looked a little awkward, but it came off as pretty nice.

But if you're not a fan of the American and European cover, a limited edition has been confirmed by Square Enix. For Europe. It's likely that we'll get it here in America as well, but Square Enix USA has been silent on it for now. Here's hoping it's not a Gamestop-exclusive this time around.

Cover comparison image courtesy of...well, some Japanese blog/message board somewhere, but uploaded by Final Fantasy-XIII.net forums.

By this time, you're already well aware that Final Fantasy XIII has an official release date for America and Europe, and that the game is due for release outside of Japan two weeks from tomorrow. It's been a long time in coming, sure, and we won't have to wait too much longer. To help us be a little more patient, and to naturally hype the game, Square Enix has been keeping gamers generally interested in it, and the latest attempt at this the official unveiling of the box art outside of Japan. And it's...well, uh...

It's times like this where I wish I was a cover art designer, because I'd love to be able to slap something together in, oh, three or so minutes in Photoshop; and that's sure what this thing comes of as! This cover also breaks tradition; usually, the European covers were always the same as the Japanese covers, but that won't be the case this time. Ouch. Though I'm sure some people will be thankful for the panty shot. And that's just wonderful.

The main problem here that's bothering fans isn't specifically that the cover reeks of a lazy effort -- even though it is -- but that it just doesn't look all that nice. The Japanese covers, admittedly, don't look that complicated either, but it's the result of it that matters. What that cover has is elegant simplicity, something that will catch a person's eye through nostalgia of the name itself and with it keeping in line with previous covers, along with something aesthetically pleasing. The cover above is simple, but hardly elegant. At the same time, it's not bad, but merely acceptable. And for a game that's the next main installment for the biggest Japanese RPG franchise worldwide, we expect a little more than something that qualifies as the bare minimum.

But it's not too late! March 9th is quite a long way away, and though Square Enix doesn't listen to its fans as much as a company like Capcom -- who changed the cover to Street Fighter IV for the American and European versions to the same as the Japanese cover -- but that's not to say it's not possible. Just don't be surprised if it stays the same. And in that case, there's still hope for a limited edition with a different cover.

A few months back, I made a post praising XSEED for getting titles other publishers, specifically Namco Bandai in this case, passed on for some odd reason (they're pretty notorious for this). And hey, that praise still holds completely true, as they still intend to release both games next year, though Fragile is being called Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon -- that's perfectly understandable too, since I'm sure plenty of people would have gazed at the old title on the cover and said "Fragile? Fragile what, exactly?" Naturally, the cover has changed slightly to reflect this.

Looks pretty nice too, and completely in-fitting with the previous style. As for the game itself, opinions on it have been mixed, but I hope it's successful for XSEED and that people who happen upon the game enjoy it. It releases early next year.

XSEED is also releasing The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces for Wii early next year as well. It's a game created with the assistance of Namco's much-vaunted Project Aces -- you know, the Ace Combat guys -- and also based on the Mamoru Oshii anime movie of the same name, which itself was an adaptation of a novel. Like Fragile, they've also changed the cover to this game (though not the name). Unlike Fragile, it's definitely not for the better.



Really, I don't know what they were thinking here. Perhaps the last cover was too good. So good, in fact, that they decided that if it looked like a piece of random shovelware, it would sell better. Baffling! That sounds like the same line of thought that went into The Wizard of OZ: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road's cover, and from the sounds of it, it really didn't work in its favor. Though it admittedly is a lot easier to spot shovelware on Wii, it's reputation has been soiled in the last year or so. Also, third-party games are a pretty hard sell on Wii, to the chagrin of dedicated gamers everywhere who own the system -- though some niche titles (Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Guilty Gear XX: Accent Core) have managed to beat that stigma. So, what gives?

Look, I'd really like for XSeed to be successful -- especially when they have their titles swept from right under their feet -- but it's tough to defend decisions like this. It would have been best to adhere to the recent Atlus standard of merely using the Japanese cover for the American version (unless they think they can improve it), especially since this is the audience they're aiming towards with both of these titles. It's not too late to change it though! Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of faith in that happening.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a lot of gamers who know what Shiren the Wanderer is, even among a subset of them who happen to like RPGs. Shiren has both the fortunate and unfortunate reality of belonging to the roguelike genre, a set of games whose itinerary it is to be very challenging, and force the player to think about every decision they make lest they suffer the consequences. It's not a popular genre due to how nail-bitingly hardcore it is, but gamers with a masochistic streak would like them.

(Note: This excludes the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games.)

Considering that, it's probably not a surprise to see that Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer for DS -- a remake of the original SNES game -- sold pretty poorly in both America and Europe. Sega admittedly took a chance on publishing it, though they could have given it a better cover in the process. One of the best aspects of the recent Shiren titles is the great artwork, so who knows why Sega decided on a 16-bit era throwback for release outside of Japan. Covers usually don't affect a game's sales too much in most cases, but this one was so bad that it definitely hurt it. It's one of the worst Japanese-to-American cover transitions in recent memory.

Fortunately, the franchise is getting another chance, this time from Atlus with Shiren 3 -- though it's understandably being called Shiren the Wanderer in America, likely because no one knows the previous game existed! It's going to be tough, but they have a good chance of making this game a cult hit when they release it in Spring 2010. This is a company that knows how to market a game towards niche audiences to an almost frightening degree, so I think a new audience could gravitate towards it. Even if it is on a console whose third-party sales are sadly mediocre; though some niche games still manage to sell well on it -- see Muramasa: The Demon Blade. They're starting on the right foot, at least:

Nice to see the cover uses the Japanese art this time to a tee. There's no word on if Atlus is localizing the recently announced PSP port, due for a Japanese release on January 28. They localized both the PS2 and Wii versions of Baroque back in 2008, so there's a chance. A pity it's not enough of a frequent occurrence to guess whether they'll actually release both. Details say the PSP version is being made more accessible to players new to the franchise, so releasing this one would be a better idea than the Wii version.

Speaking of Shiren's art, it's a shame to see that they're changing the art style for the Japanese release of Shiren the Wanderer 4 for DS. It looks as if the franchise's developer, Chunsoft, wants to aim the game towards a wider audience. That's perfectly fine and all, but...ouch. Another interesting tidbit about the game is that Spike is publishing it in Japan, not Sega. Spike is also publishing the aforementioned PSP port of Shiren 3. Apparently, something happened between Chunsoft and Sega's relationship.

Logic would follow that if Shiren 3 does well enough in America, hopefully on both consoles if applicable, Shiren the Wanderer DS 2 (a remake of the GBC game, not Shiren the Wanderer 2 the N64 game) and Shiren 4 would be localized. Atlus has been able to get roguelikes to sell well before with the Izuna titles, but Shiren's much more of a beast in terms of its difficulty level. Wish them luck, because they're going to need it.

Upon reading over that Cover Art Chronicles installment I made yesterday about the PSP rebranding, I realized that I forgot to do a comparison between the old covers and the new. Well actually, I didn't really forget, per se, it's just that I'm fastidious enough that I need the same cover to make a comparison. It's a disease.

But today, I noticed that the Official US Playstaton Blog, amidst the PSP Digital Armageddon, posted box art for Gran Turismo for PSP. New box art. And they were also nice enough to leave the old box art up so the whole internet could make comparison pictures. Pretty lucky for this feature.


Now you can get a good feel for the change they've made. So, what do you think? I can't say I like the yellow strip, so hopefully it looks better in person. This also means that Gran Turismo looks to be the first game to release under this new design template worldwide today. I say "looks to be" because I still don't know if this is happening in Europe, but I would be surprised if it wasn't. The PSP needs a rebranding worldwide to show consumers it's still alive, even if this isn't a particularly ideal design. So I suppose the next update will be about a comparison in the flesh.

So here we are on the advent of the all-digital PSP Go's release in America and Europe, and to commemorate this occasion Sony has decided to, uh, rebrand their lineup of physical software? They have, actually. Somewhat similar to the way that Sony has rebranded the PS3 with the release of the slimmer iteration, PSP covers will also sport an alternate design, though the results aren't quite as extreme in this case. The first game to arise with this new design was Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds Tag Force 4, but now plenty of other games will appear to sport the cover as well in America.

Again, it's really not that much different from the initial design, this time with the same psuedo-gray label the new PS3 covers have instead of a solid black. Interesting that they didn't change the look of the logo to match the new PS3 one now, though that seems to be the Go's job if its box is any indication. I can't say I feel too good about the yellow bar dividing the logo(s) at the top and the box art, which looks hideously out of place. At this point, plenty of American game covers are popping onto the web pages of retail sites showing the design, but we're not going to be the only territory receiving this; Japanese PSP titles are also receiving it.

Aside from these, it also looks like Gran Turismo for PSP will also have it in Japan, which should make it the first title released to have the new design (it releases worldwide tomorrow). I didn't use that cover here because the only picture I can find of it is at Play Asia, and their enlarged version has an awfully obtrusive watermark on it. As of this writing, I can't find any European covers with the new design, but that's not assuming they won't have it eventually.

So all of this begs the question: is a rebranding of the PSP's software line, however minimal, really necessary?

Absolutely. The intent of this is Sony basically saying that, no, the PSP is not finished yet; despite what the abysmal lineup from last fall and brick & mortar retailer selections would have you believe. Only a year ago, it seemed like the system had nearly completed an atypical four year cycle, but all of a sudden the software lineup has completely rejuvenated. And that's happening worldwide too. For the last two weeks, Japan's Famitsu Magazine has featured more PSP games than DS games, which further adds to the evidence of a resurgence of development for it.

Whether the design is right for it is another question. I really think it would have been perfect if it wasn't for that yellow strip, which looks horribly out of place. The new PS3 covers have a red strip separating the logos and art, which is a fitting "cool" color for the console itself. Whether you like them or not, you'll have no choice but to have them on your shelf.

(Well unless you're buying a Go, that is.)

Say, did you hear that Sony decided to honor the request for a re-release of both God of War games on? It's true! In something that will assuredly serve as viable pre-release hype for God of War III, Sony's releasing both games on one Blu-Ray disc in November for $39.99. But they're not just mere ports; both games will be upgraded to run at 60fps and in full 720p. It hits store shelves in November in America, though unfortunately you guys on the other side of the pond won't be getting it this year. Well, unless you import.

Since the game is coming out pretty soon, it's normal to see the cover making its way around retailer websites. And it's...well, it's interesting. For all the wrong reasons:

God of War Collection!
God of War!
God of War II!
God of War I & II!

As you can see, Sony really wants to make sure you know precisely what you're getting when you buy this package at retailers for the holiday season. It's pretty hilarious, honestly; your average shopper going around for PS3 games is probably aware of what God of War is, and could surmise what's included in the package by glancing at its name. Or, you know, to preserve the cover art, Sony could just list the contents on the back, given how many shoppers know to take a glance back there to check and see what they're getting. But nah, that's too logical.

At this point, no one knows what the games will look like. But there are rumors going around about it! Some of which are even extreme enough to say that the games are basically remakes with the God of War III engine. We'll hopefully see soon enough if the game is really due for a release in mid-November. Even if it doesn't have too many enhancements, it's a good package for anyone that missed both of these games upon release. It may not be as good as a deal as Metroid Prime Trilogy, but it's well worth your time.

Why, hello there! As (almost) promised, here's the fifth Final Fantasy cover art feature. This one will talk about the remaining DS covers, though I covered Final Fantasy III back in the first part (back when the feature didn't have a focus). (Oh wait, it still doesn't.) It wasn't until I began this particular part, though, that I realized how many Final Fantasy games there are on the DS within nearly five years -- with 4 Warriors of Light hitting Japan in late-October. There covers are all very interesting, which should make this one the antithesis of the intentionally shamelessly phoned in last part.

First are the covers to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, which is another case where each region has a different cover. Opinions tend to vary around the internet as to whether the American or European cover is better, though most of them agree that the Japanese version is the clear winner. Personally, I like the US version better because of the chapel window effect, but this isn't about my opinion here.


Meanwhile, here's the cover to the second Crystal Chronicles game for DS, which also had a Wii port: Echoes of Time. There aren't as many different covers here, but there's something really unique about this set: The Japanese and American covers are the same, but the European one is different. Huh. I prefer the Japanese and American cover here because the nice logo is given more attention, but the European one isn't bad.


This one I'm kind of cheating with, since the Japanese version doesn't even have Final Fantasy in the name. But Square Enix's overseas companies realize that the Final Fantasy name sells (which is why I'm hoping that Saga 2 gets a better chance at a localization if they can sell it with that name). But Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales is definitely related to the franchise. Here, the US cover is different, and I think it's better than the cute-though-awkward Japanese and European version.

Next, we have another spin-off! Now I'm just noticing that the DS has a plethora of these. This one is an RTS sequel to Final Fantasy XII, this time given the subtitle Revenant Wings. It's also a game fans like to pretend doesn't exist because of its genre, and apparently it's a merely OK take on it. Anyway, notice how the American cover is similar to the PSX Final Fantasy games, the Japanese and European covers, of course, are similarly simpler. I'm not to big of a fan of the American cover, but the others are fine.


This one is for a more standard Final Fantasy game, though some people also like to pretend the game doesn't exist: Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. Again, the Japanese and European covers are the same, but the American cover is different. But the clear distinction is that the American cover is pretty good this time, and perhaps even better than the others. It also looks really good in person. However, they've both very nice.

Last is Final Fantasy IV for DS, which also has a different cover for each region. Though I liked Final Fantasy III's Amano-drawn cover, I'm not a big fan of this one. Something about it just looks pretty awkward. But I really like the American and European version. The former probably wins because of how shiny it looks in person, though it's possible the European cover has the same effect (which is kind of hard to tell in any picture; even in a photograph of the actual cover).

Thankfully this one was less mundane than the last comparison, but it'll probably be the last really interesting one. Sorry! Not to say any following this are going to be boring. However, I do intend to give this feature a bit of a rest for a little while, since I think it's getting a little excessive. Some features lend themselves towards numerous follow-ups well, but I don't believe this is one of them, mainly because of the depth of its content. Also, I have a few other things planned.