[General Discussion] Game cover/packaging/artwork thread

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I really like the PAL SH2. Not just the cover, but the packaging too. It was one of the first "fancy" game packagings I can remember (at least since the SNES days of cloth maps and posters).

The thick cardboard slipcase held another case inside which opened up, like a fancy "collector's edition" DVD case. The bonus DVD with documentaries was nice too, though it was removed from the Platinum release.

That's some nice stuff. A lot better than the old North American SH2 I got when it first came out in October 2001. It would've been nice to get my hands on all the collector's goodies.

On the topic of Silent Hill, here is the Japanese cover of the original Silent Hill, which is much more subtle and abstract than the US version.



Here's the US version:



And the PAL version:



This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by aesop

Qwarky, the Silent Hill2 package came with a collector's card too right, or maybe a sticker?

I don't think it did. Just the bonus DVD and the fancy case as far as I remember.
Oh wait, I just checked and you remembered right, there really is a big sticker there. I'd forgotten all about it. "Welcome back!" it says, with a picture of the zombie nurse
I'll see if I can get a picture of it later if anyone wants.

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

On the topic of Silent Hill, here is the Japanese cover of the original Silent Hill, which is much more subtle and abstract than the US version.

I've always liked the PAL Silent Hill cover, it had that diseased, disturbing feel to it that carried over to the game, but now I really like the Japanese cover better. Very effective, at once more powerful, yet doesn't give that "oog, monsters!" feel the JPN and US covers of SH4 do.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Although I absolutely love Ikaruga as a game, I don't really like the cover of the PAL version. The layout of the Japanese version is nearly the same, but much more stylish than the PAL one, which is definitely too colourful. On the other hand there is the US version, which looks completely different from the PAL and Japanese version, but also has an additional charm.

That's a picture of the US version:




That's the Japanese version:




And compared to that one, that's the PAL version:



How ya doing, buddy?

Im surprised ATARI didnt go with the PAL and JP version for us, If american cover art has taught me anything, its that its rare for us to get actual artwork on the cover.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by David Deluxe

That's a picture of the US version:

Ah, the North American Ikaruga Gamecube art. It's great except for one thing, the ship. Why the hell does it look like it's made out of fucking building blocks?

Here's the artwork the picture is from.



Notice the Ikaruga actually matches the same style of the rest of the picture, and it sort of looks like a bird as well. None of that building block nonsense.

FELIPE NO

I love Kosuke Fujishima's artwork.

Tales of the Abyss (NTSC/J)


What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Lets not drop Silent Hill untill we have looked at Silent Hill 3
US Cover:

UGH! But you did get the soundtrack, we in Europe got Silent Hill 3 before anywhere else and still got a nice cover
PAL Cover:

I couldn't find a picture of the Japenese cover but it was nice too

Jam it back in, in the dark.

This's the US cover for Dark Cloud 2. It's bright, vibrant, and features the two main characters. Score in my book.



However, this is the Japanese version, and I like it a bit better. It's not quite so cluttered as the other one.

And this last one is, I guess, another PAL version of the game.



There's nowhere I can't reach.

Here's the Japanese "Silent Hill 3" cover you couldn't find, randomweb.

Silent Hill 3 (NTSC/J)


This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

PAL's Silent Hill 3 cover is the best out of the three.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Timberwolf

PAL's Silent Hill 3 cover is the best out of the three.

Agreed.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Sorry but the Dreamcast box art of Ikaruga is SO MUCH BETTER.





















Good taste or what.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I don't like the Grandia 2 boxart. Pretty boring. Otherwise the DC boxarts look good.

FELIPE NO

Yeah, Grandia II boxart = fail. Love that Space Channel 5 cover.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Really? I like that Grandia 2 boxart more than the American Grandia 2 box for the DC.


Jam it back in, in the dark.

They're both bad.

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The art for the PS2 version of Grandia 2 is pretty good:


And Southjag, Europe got the same cover for Dark Chronicle as the japanese version. I think the last one is for the Korean one, if i can read the characters good enough.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by NovaX

They're both bad.

Amen. And I don't like the PS2 cover either.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

I really like the PAL SH2. Not just the cover, but the packaging too. It was one of the first "fancy" game packagings I can remember (at least since the SNES days of cloth maps and posters).

The thick cardboard slipcase held another case inside which opened up, like a fancy "collector's edition" DVD case. The bonus DVD with documentaries was nice too, though it was removed from the Platinum release.

I remember feeling so ripped off with this. ;__; Not only because it was $10 more than any other PS2 game at the time, but because the DVD was Region 2, yet the Australian PS2 only plays Region 4. By the time I got a real DVD player with no region lockouts, I no longer had the game. It shall forever remain a mystery!

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Infernal Monkey

I remember feeling so ripped off with this. ;__; Not only because it was $10 more than any other PS2 game at the time, but because the DVD was Region 2, yet the Australian PS2 only plays Region 4. By the time I got a real DVD player with no region lockouts, I no longer had the game. It shall forever remain a mystery!

You should have gotten one of these babies ;_;



(though I have the version which makes a tiny file on the memory card. It's still better than the first version which used its own card you had to put in the slot =x )

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Neat! I've never seen that before. =( I knew whatever version of the Action Replay around at the time offered the function, but it was almost as expensive as some sort of island resort made of gold and Panzer Dragoon Saga discs!

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Speaking of Panzer Dragoon Saga, lololol at the awful PAL and US cover again


The US version came in a case that much bigger than the PAL! Honest!

compared to the Japanese cover



Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Grubdog

LIFE WIN

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Here's a collaboration of the Ratchet and Clank cover art.



From top left: Ratchet and Clank US, Ratchet 2 US, Ratchet 2 PAL, Ratchet 3 JAP (check out those eyebrows), Ratchet 2 JAP, (bottom left) Ratchet 3 PAL, Ratchet 3 PAL Greatest Hits, Ratchet 3 US, Ratchet Deadlocked US.

Now, the two PAL Ratchet 3 covers -- both of them are Greatest Hits covers. At least that's how I found them on Google. I don't know if that was a mistake or not, but I bet one of them is the original with the GH stuff around it, and the other is a re-release cover for GH. In any case, there you have it.

How ya doing, buddy?