Why was American box design so rubbish compared to Japanese?

Americans are worse at every aspect of design, so what would you expect?

>>3777558

It grew out of pulp fiction and VHS tape box covers.

>ignore this space

I'm trying to, but you just had to put text there.

>>3777558
Cost.
Shit gets redrawn to either fit the altered packaging layout or to appeal to western audiences more -- but it's done as cheaply as possible. It's how you end up with shit like the NES Megaman box art (like, all of them, although I kind of like 6's box).

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contribooting

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classic

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A NUDE WOMAN? NOT ON MY WATCH!

>>3777909
As a box cover, the Japanese one is incredibly inferior (i.e. less legible and informative). It looks like the box for some soft hentai VHS.

>>3777694
True except for the NTSC format

>>3777969
b-b-but muh glorious nippon anime

fucking stupid western baka gaijin

>>3777916
>They wanted you to say Guys are Us
>People called Gay R Ass cause LOL
>The Japanese intended to be GaiaLESS

>>3777913
That spaceship looks awfully phallic shaped

>>3778018
>implying it's something awful

>>3778018
or maybe youre just a retard with misplaced nationalism?

>>3778018
>on a *chan
>trying to shame people for liking Japanese stuff

low energy b8

>>3777694
You're gay

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>>3777916
This is the true version.

>>3777694
fag

>>3777913
the usa box art is the best
i have the game it's actually really good

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>>3777558

>>3778408
That's one of the few cases were the jap cover is just awful. I think the original cover is usually better, japanese game = japanese cover, western game = western cover. But nips just cared more about box art.

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>>3778408

Japanese packaging design philosophy
>Look at our awesome game! It's for Super Famicom by the way.

American packaging design philosophy
>LOOK! OUR GAME IT'S FOR THE SUPER NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM! WE PUT SUPER NINTENDO IN BIG BOLD LETTERS BECAUSE NONE OF YOU TRAILER TRASH USE THE CONSOLE'S PROPER FULL NAME OR ABBREVIATION! NO, IT'S NOT A GENESIS GAME.

European design philosophy is the same shit, only they put "PAL Version" underneath.

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>>3778475
>European design philosophy is the same shit, only they put "PAL Version" underneath.
Yeah, no, only ameritards have shitty taste

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>>3778484
Ico was an exception and the Japanese boxart was made later anyway ('murrican version was made first).

I was talking about the boxart template they used anyway. Both, PAL and NTSC-U/C PS1 cases had PlayStation written in big bold letters, as if the little PS logo wasn't enough to let you know the platform.

From PS2 and onward they started standardizing boxart designs for every region, so now we have to deal with ugly blue bars atop every PS4 case.

>>3777694
weeb on deck

>>3777909
the american one is far better

>>3777913
i actually like this us box art. its memorable and weird. i can't imagine the thought process behind it. the jap one is just a metal cock flying through space

>>3777916
neither of these are great, but the american one is much more colorful and well composed

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Sometimes the box art is equally not good in both regions.

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>>3778526
Then there are times where I feel the US box art is clearly superior to the Japanese ones.

(sorry, I mostly have these cart only, and no box, so I had to take pictures from google images)

>>3778526
they all look asian on the japanese cover

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>>3777909
I'd rather the Japanese version.


>>3778530
Sometimes it's just based around the artist's reference images. It was the days before accessible consumer internet was widely available for an image search.

>>3777558
Japanese carts are worthless. Who cares if they have pretty art?

>>3778551
>>3778554
Samefag

>>3778529
The JP boxarts are not that bad. SFC Dracula and FC Contra probably more game-accurate. My only gripe with Contra Spirits was the fact that Lance Biehn looks nothing like Stallone. Who the fuck is he supposed to be anyway?

>>3778297

You sound like the least fun person to be around ever. Seriously dude, lighten up.

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>>3777558
The SFC design is closer to the golden ratio so it objectively has better aesthetics

>>3778605
>pretending to have ever had a friend

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>>3778529

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>>3779485

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>>3779491

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>>3779496

I think it can be argued this way.

For display: JP/EU
For advertisement/looking good on the shelf: US

I missed out on a lot of games because I was too put off by the shitty box art.

>>3779491

The right is way better.

>>3777909
The exception that proves the rule.

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>>3777909
Funny thing is, as americanized as these can be, as pieces of work, they're pretty damn good ilustrations.
The catch is how good they are at representing the game.

>>3777558
>Do Burgers have poorer aesthetic sense in addition to lower IQ compared to Nips?
>
>This isn't even a cherrypicked example, I can find much worse.


Atleast they had different art.
Today shit looks all the same.
I dont mind different boxes im sure there are examples for nice ami arts

>>3777558
They thought Americans liked the Atari box art garbage style.

>>3780014
That one is pretty spot on and quite sexy.
Fuck SNK for pasting their logo over the artist's signature, though. That's poor form.

>>3779691
...that's the point.

>>3778484
Explain Ricky Gervaise's career

>>3781308
those ameritards have really done it now

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This shit is kvlt as fuck

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>>3780701
while phantasy star ii's US boxart can't compete with Yoneda's amazing talent, it has a nice classic sci-fi look to it - like the type of art you'd find on a paperback.

>>3780014
>americanized
Wasn't that drawn by Bob Wakelin? He was a Britbong.

>>3782265
Correct. So maybe we should draw comparisons between japanese, US, and British as well.

>>3782210
I dunno, I think it competes pretty solidly. I'd like to know who the artist was.

>>3781321
Ricky Gervaise had a career?

>>3782608
Extras was top-notch.

>>3777558
Japs generally have higher visual IQ.

>>3782608
Ricky Gervaise is probably the most Fedora-tier comedian I've ever seen.
>I'm an atheist.
>People who believe in God are gullible retards.
>I'm an atheist by the way.
>Let's make a movie where I tell Christians how gullible retards they are by having my character invent religion through lying.
>Did I told you I am an atheist?

>>3782684
You sound triggered
We have a board for people like you, it's called /v/

>>3782704
>Defending Ricky Gervais
>A guy who blocks everyone who makes a snide remark about him on Twitter
I am a non-believer too, but I don't go around tipping my fedora at everything.

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I've heard it's bad but Phantasy Star 3's American cover always looked really cool to me, climbing a staircase into space is a neat visual. The JPN version looks pretty bland in comparison.

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JP art for the Megaman Legends series is much better than the plain American renderings.

>>3782619
>two brit sized seasons is a career
I'd love to hear how you describe that small growth above of your ball sack.
>it's well over an inch long baby

>>3782684
Radical Atheism was all the rage in the UK at the time. Even the high and holy Dawkins himself has given up on sermons like that. I guess they eventually realized that everyone, even their true believers, was just tuning out their sad petty rants.

>>3778449
You're missing out on why it's actually REALLY great.
It reaks of the style when westerners try to copy anime/manga styling without understanding the style at all. It looks like half of all "how to draw anime" books out of barns & nobles.
Shit is seriously meta.

>>3777558
something interesting ive noticed. most asian box art is done in watercolor, ink, color pencil. most western box art is done in oil, enamel or guache. doesn't mean one's better by default over the other, just different sensibilities and tools.

>>3777558
Because they were meant to look like cool toys for kids, and because animu did not became popular until a decade later.

>>3779502
That dude could crack walnuts between his knees

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>ignore this space

Don't tell me what to fucking do.

>>3782210
>US cover obscures the main character's face with a giant logo

what the fuck even

the art itself is fine but how the fuck do you screw up like that

>>3782770
I prefer the US cover for the first Legends on PS1, but aside from that, I have to agree

Dash 64 and Dash 2 look fucking great

>>3783839
I like how it's the same image just in different styles, that's pretty neat

>>3783839
what is he grabbing on the left picture?
air-handlebars for his air-motorcycle?

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Aside from the stupid name change, I actually prefer the US cover.

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>>3777558
The Japanese Game Boy version was the best one.

>>3784062
>that tiny one in the upper middle that looks like bootleg Fist of the North Star

noice

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>>3784072
That's the Famicom version's boxart. Here's a clean version of the artwork.

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>>3777558
We're only the consumers. We don't have any say on the box design for our region. Most of us burgers would pick the right on your pic, OP.

And since you asked, I'd say that white Americans have higher IQs compared to the Japanese, but that's an argument for another day.

>>3784075
It looks like some cheap Tetsuo Hara. Charming.

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>>3784287
I would argue that the U.S. and European subsidiaries of console manufacturers wanted to make their products retard-proof by plastering the name of their platforms all over the packaging artwork. Hence why Super Famicom and JP PlayStation had elegant artwork with only a simple platform logo in the corner, while Super NES and U.S./PAL PlayStation games had to make sure you knew which platform the game was on (as I suggested here >>3778475). Even Sega started adopting color-coded spines for their games in the U.S. halfway through the Genesis' lifespan that displayed the platform's name all over the artwork.

PC gaming never had to deal with this idiot-proof trend thankfully.

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>>3784676
There are people online who mistakenly believe it was his work, but it was all done by one of Technos' in-house artists (Masao Shiroto if I'm not mistaken).

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>European cover

>>3785076
Since there are games that have ports of around equal quality for PC and Amiga, PC vs Amiga cover art when.

>>3785449
Are they fighing for or against satan here? The guys on back even look like they could be sidekicks.

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>>3783810
I never thought about it that way, that's rad!

>>3778529
Weren't those US CastlevaniaIV and Contra covers made by the same dude? I think he did some more pretty nice covers, but forgot the name.

>>3784062
Always had a soft spot for DD1 NES, grew up seeing it in stores. Back then covers were a main selling point.

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>>3786919
>PC vs Amiga
Home computer games often used the same packaging for multiplat versions, with a sticker on the corner usually indicating the format it was for.

>>3777913
>so what do you want to do with this?
>idunno, just have the spaceship fly past the south

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>>3787049
The artist's name is Tom Dubois.
http://www.boxequalsart.com/tom-dubois-interview-page.html

>>3780701
i like how he's not even swinging that hard.
like he's just going to pop the skelly on the head and tell it to fuck off

>>3787390
>complaining about weebs on 4chan
>retro gaming literally dominated by Japs
I'm glad you're so triggered by Tojo gaming.

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Counter example

>>3785449
>Pagan idolatry
>Two dudes who look like they escaped from the short bus and were given machine guns
Honestly, this could go either way.

>>3787396
>Right side: Plok is having a swell time!
>Left side: Everybody is pissed as fuck but hey, the sky is still blue!
They both kinda suck

>>3777909
Yes, the Nip one looks better, Op already proved his point.

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>>3787053
I have to give credit to the U.S. Master System version for trying to make it more like the U.S. flyer art of the original arcade game what with the logo its used and the Hammer and Spike tattoos on their shoulders. They even combined Technos' own backstory for the NES version with what Taito wrote for the U.S. flyer

The Hong Kong film-looking Mark III version with the Asian Lee brothers is not half bad either.

>>3787404
Well everybody in that game IS pissed as fuck trying to kill you. Plok himself is even pissed in the game. Its more about the quality of art though, and you can't deny the E/US cover looks pretty crisp