Ken Levine Gives an Excellent Explanation for Bioshock: Infinite's Disappointing Box Art - Polidicks

People say that box art doesnt affect a game because smart people will buy the game anyway if its good, yet two times in this thread Ico is brought up, a game which during its original run, was not played at all due to its horrendous american boxart, which even the developer admits ruined its sales for PS2. So thank god the PS3 version with SoTC has good boxart, plus reversible boxart as a nice touch.

[QUOTE=Meatpuppet;38759326]it seems like people just put random nouns with the suffix 'ware' to sound smart horseware spoonware breadware when does it end[/QUOTE] Shovelware has been an established term for decades though.

I'm really struggling to find the game cover that showed the changes from Russian to German to American for a ww2 rts. essentially, the american box art swapped the Russian flag for an american one and game all the men a 5 o'clock shadow,

I like how he used salad dressing as an analogy.

Ranch is for casuals.

[QUOTE=A big fat ass;38760070]I like how he used salad dressing as an analogy.[/QUOTE] Specially when you could conceive that quite some people do have certain preferences in salad dressings. I personally only buy Hidden Valley ranch...

[QUOTE=evlbzltyr;38758583]Those covers are the representation of a games company making a game for a mainstream market, trying to pretend that their game is something incredible. Bioshock Infinite's cover is the representation of a games company making an incredible game, trying to pretend that their game is for a mainstream market.[/QUOTE] eh, it just feels odd since there's no background except the sky

[QUOTE=Zally13;38757024]there's no way that's the american box art[/QUOTE] Trust me. It is. I have it on my shelf and I fucking hate it compared to the origami box art.

[QUOTE]“I wanted the uninformed, the person who doesn’t read IGN… to pick up the box and say, okay, this looks kind of cool, let me turn it over. Oh, a flying city. Look at this girl, Elizabeth on the back. Look at that creature. And start to read about it, start to think about it.”[/QUOTE] wait what there's none of that there it's literally a dude with a gun, they didn't even put the awesome floating city or the robot bird on the background So basically they moved towards "fratboys and uninformed gamers" yeah, that speaks of the quality this game will have.

Are they still doing that thing where the equivalent of Plasmids are pretty much arcadey power-ups?

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38761783]wait what there's none of that there it's literally a dude with a gun, they didn't even put the awesome floating city or the robot bird on the background So basically they moved towards "fratboys and uninformed gamers" yeah, that speaks of the quality this game will have.[/QUOTE] this looks kind of cool, [B][U]let me turn it over.[/U][/B]

[QUOTE=evlbzltyr;38759212]Yes. You're the only one. The two or three other people who said more or less the exact same thing as you were just lying. You're the only person who doesn't care about box art. Congratulations.[/QUOTE] Because everyone reads every single post of a sensationalist headlines thread, right? I mean, it's totally not possible that someone might pop in here, read the article, and respond to that without bothering to attempt to sift through the bullshit and flaming that inevitably follows them all, correct?

[QUOTE=Mingebox;38761792]Are they still doing that thing where the equivalent of Plasmids are pretty much arcadey power-ups?[/QUOTE] that fuck up the main character, in the trailer he sets himself on fire

wtf where is the 12 year old girls showing her titties this an atrocity 0/10.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38761783]wait what there's none of that there it's literally a dude with a gun, they didn't even put the awesome floating city or the robot bird on the background So basically they moved towards "fratboys and uninformed gamers" yeah, that speaks of the quality this game will have.[/QUOTE] Where's bad reading when you need it? Seriously, bring that shit back.

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38761783]wait what there's none of that there it's literally a dude with a gun, they didn't even put the awesome floating city or the robot bird on the background So basically they moved towards "fratboys and uninformed gamers" yeah, that speaks of the quality this game will have.[/QUOTE] Fuckin developers wanting more people to look at their game.

The sort of people who are interested enough in gaming to care about the box art, won't even see if when they buy it on steam :v:

[QUOTE=latin_geek;38761783]wait what there's none of that there it's literally a dude with a gun, they didn't even put the awesome floating city or the robot bird on the background So basically they moved towards "fratboys and uninformed gamers" yeah, that speaks of the quality this game will have.[/QUOTE] I wasn't aware that video game boxes somehow magically only had one side.

[QUOTE=Aurora93;38757259]tbh it even looks shitty even for a "person with a gun" box art. the composition is honestly p weird when you compare it to something this [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Battlefield_3_Game_Cover.jpg[/img] [img]http://ps3media.ign.com/ps3/image/article/109/1099404/killzone-3-20100616055042869.jpg[/img] of course they're bad since they're both "person with a gun" box art, but i mean, come on, you see some sort of background in them and more what the game is about. the bioshock infinite art is just like...it feels vaugely like '90s shovelware. at least these boxes TRY to present some more specifics about the game[/QUOTE] am I the only person who thinks these look worse than the bioshock infinite cover art? I mean it's kind of generic sure but it still looks nice

It sounds like his entire defense is "We want to appeal to dumbass frat boys who know nothing about games".

[QUOTE=Generic.Monk;38765402]am I the only person who thinks these look worse than the bioshock infinite cover art? I mean it's kind of generic sure but it still looks nice[/QUOTE] Those covers are boring shooters trying to pretend they're something bigger and the most hardcore shit ever Bioshock is already something bigger

[QUOTE=Used Car Salesman;38765453]It sounds like his entire defense is "We want to appeal to dumbass frat boys who know nothing about games".[/QUOTE] Well of course it is, how long do you think the company would last if they exclusively catered for hardcore PC gamers?

[QUOTE=CatFodder;38766259]Well of course it is, how long do you think the company would last if they exclusively catered for hardcore PC gamers?[/QUOTE] Exactly, some people have to realize that we're not the demographic that makes their major profit.

[quote]“I wanted the uninformed, the person who doesn’t read IGN… to pick up the box and say, okay, this looks kind of cool, let me turn it over. Oh, a flying city. Look at this girl, Elizabeth on the back. Look at that creature. And start to read about it, start to think about it.”[/quote] I miss these days when I was younger and only gamed on the original Xbox and Gameboy Advance. I wasn't a follower of any game news and each time I visited a game store, everything was new to me. Like when you're browsing a book store; you don't know what's there and you're looking for something that will interest you. I'd pick up a game like Oddworld, Mechassault, or Splinter Cell and be interested enough to buy it, and then going home to play it was such a unique experience. Now I'm aware of most games that are released these days, and when I go to a game store there's no mystery when I see them because I've already seen trailer upon trailer or know what it's about, and I'm more careful with my money so I don't regret a purchase in case the game ends up being crap. I was easily entertained when I was younger; I wasn't nit-picky about games. I guess that charm gets lost when games become more of a hobby.

I think Ju-On The Grudge is the worst offender when it comes to box art, with the EU getting the shitty one this time North America [img]http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/147625-/juonna-noscale.jpg[/img] EU [img]http://bulk2.destructoid.com/ul/147625-/juoneuro-noscale.jpg[/img] what the fuck is this

[QUOTE=Sardonus;38765458]Those covers are boring shooters trying to pretend they're something bigger and the most hardcore shit ever Bioshock is already something bigger[/QUOTE] how are they "trying to pretend they're something bigger"? they're just pictures of soldierguys with guns i'd say it's a pretty efficient advertisement of what's in those games

Well at least it isn't just a big American flag with the words "Bioshock Infinite MURICA!"

[QUOTE=Sardonus;38756934]Sweet! That's more the cover I wanted for the game. Sad truth is North America really does not get the artsy covers. Compare Amnesia the Dark Descent. [/QUOTE] Amnesia's eu cover doesn't seems creepy, but... I don't quite know what it looks like. It looks gorgeous. It doesn't quite look like a horror game and it doesn't quite says "I'm a horror game, see?" I find that the letters needed either a different, more toned down font or just to be smaller, to go along with the rest of the picture, and have a tamed, refined look. US boxart? Some guy who looks like he smoked the biggest joint ever and doesn't knows where the fuck he is or what the fuck is happening, being chased by one of the monsters in the game, which apparently got some kind of censored makeover. His face and his jaw aren't as disfigured as normal, and the eyes are wrong. It looks like the average boogeyman monster going AROOOOOO trying to spook someone. Looks like one of those awful movies/games made by developers who nobody ever heard about that will never ammount to anything other than a few low budget games. Heavy rain's JP and EU boxarts are deep. (2deep4u) US's are the usual "people posing with menancing or actual 2deep4u looks" Also, that guy has the finger on the trigger aswell. :v:

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/XlWlH.jpg[/IMG] Is there even a contender for this