For years, we have been buying video games with shitty package design and there has never been a reason to change. We don’t usually buy based on the attractiveness of a package when it comes to gaming. We know what the game is before hand, so for all we care, it could just be a brown box with the title written on it in sharpie. That has caused a huge amount of laziness with game box art. Take for example the US box for Resident Evil 4.
This formula is very common.
-Main character in front
-Enemies/secondary characters in back
-Concept art for backdrop
-HUGE fuckin logo smack dab in the most obvious location (i.e., upper third)
This pattern is used for one reason: its safe. It shows just the right amount of info in the most boring unoriginal way, that you cant miss it. It gives no reflection of the product itself, it just says “hey its resident evil with evil zombies and guns WHOOO!”
95% of game packaging follows this pattern in some way. See for yourself:
But for some reason, Capcom Europe has some balls:
Its simple, its moody, but most of all, it leaves an impact. It uses 2 colors, red and black. But its used in a way to create a tension in the visual shapes. You see the character with a bagged head and a chainsaw standing there in the trees, and you know this game is most certainly NOT for the faint of heart. It doesn’t show any other characters, no concept art, no fancy type effects. Just a few shapes and a logo.
laziness is where the danger resides. As much as the hardcore seems to hate this new casual audience, it is necessary to help keep the hardcore lineup of titles existing. And this audience doesn’t know what’s out there so when they take a trip to the local electronic purveyor, all they are exposed is design. And lemme tell you, even the casual games have shitty boxes.
I applaud Nintendo and the approach they took to the Wii packaging. Rather than smother it in foreign (to them) game characters and bright colors, they focused on the design of the hardware and brought a concept out of that: simple, approachable, clean, and bright. Not only that, but they made the unpackaging an experience. Rather than a cluttered form of cardboard and Styrofoam, the Nintendo designers knew exactly what they were doing in making this as simple of a process and possible. Upon opening the flap for the first time you are greeted with two trays, with icons showing what each tray contains.
In closing, the game development community needs to wake up a bit. While you may not give a damn what’s on the box, I promise you, graphic design DOES matter, and it DOES affect what people want to buy. We cant keep producing good games with shitty boxes for much longer. While there are shining examples, (GTA IV had an excellent use of purposefully mis-kerned Helvetica, a reflection of the generic and commercialized Liberty City) they need to start hiring designers that know what the hell they’re doing not just in the visuals of a package, but the impact of the product as a whole. A box is your first taste of what the whole product is, and smart, clever, intelligent design can make all the difference between an underwhelming experience and a "holy crap this game is gonna kick ass" experience.
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Man, I never really noticed that formula until you pointed it out. It's so true. o:
Dude, I'm sorry, but the truth of the matter is that safe works. Whilst it would be cool if all packaging was arty/moody, the fact is that generally works best for unknown names, where an impact is needed to bring the game to the consumer's attention. In general, the name is the most important factor and the focus is shifted to that. To use an exmaple you used youself, The Simpsons game will sell purely because it's The Simpsons. No other reason. If the packaging tried to be too fancy it could easily detract from the name.
As sad as it is, I have to admit that the game developers - businesses - care more for Joe Bloggs, who will buy The Simpsons game because it's the Simpsons and he loves thecartoon than me, a "hardcore" gamer who knows that the game is a tie in to other media and therefore likely crap, as I'm more likely to look for something different, like that Resident Evil 4 cover, as I can look beyond names. Joe Bloggs buys more games than I do.
MY GOD YOU'RE RIGHT!
I've always disliked the American box art for the Final Fantasies. Granted the simpler cover art doesn't exactly push the envelope, but I've always liked the cleaner look:
Do want:
Do not want:
In summary: I agree with thomasa.
It's interesting how my favourite cover art evar and least favourite belong to the same game
As always, I love your posts. Good point too. I totally love the cleaner game covers.
"It doesn’t show any other characters, no concept art, no fancy type effects. Just a few shapes and a logo."
And if you didn't know the series, it doesn't show what the hell the game is about.
While often following similar layouts, game covers generally give you an indication of what you do in the game. If I didn't know that series (and saw that cover) I'd be thinking: "Do I play as that guy? Is that the boss? Which character am I? Is it an action game? Horror/puzzle?" and so on.
I do like the cover, but average joe might be off-put by the fact it gives little information other than that it's a 'scary' game.
Wow. I never really thought about it before, but yeah, you're right.
Nice write up.
@blackhat
But my question to you is, is that all vital information necessary to be shown on the the box itself?
Agreed.
Any basic inquiry into package design will show the US to be the asshat majority recipient of lazy and uninspired design.
There exists people who try hard and want to do it well but the whores of marketing will consume their souls to reach the lowest common denominator.
It's okay, I'm not bitter or anything :-) Like many things the irony is that without all the mediocre, the good stuff wouldn't shine like it should.
excellent post, excellent blog, your awsome, congratulation!
It's the exact same situation with Cereal boxes. For example
Here's the American box for Cap'n Crunch:
And here's the European box:
Something must be done about this.
I agree with your blog post. Good job, don't stop blogging and don't let the assholes on this website bring you down.
I actually like the RE4 American box art, because as nice as the European box art looks, the American one better captures the mood of the game. It's much more action-based, with lots of enemies at a time, as opposed to a slower, creeping horror implied by the European one.
I don't think these designs are laziness, though. Each market responds better to different designs, each of them intentional. To use the Ico box art posted above as an example, the Japanese cover better conveys the artistic side of the game. Americans, however, respond better to character portrayals, hence the protagonist on the front cover. I like the Japanese art a lot better, but there's a deliberate reason for why Final Fantasy games lose the simple logo on a white background and gain pictures of the characters in America.
Great work ExtraSensory!!!!