Wow, we sure called this one. Like the rest of the game, the boxart for the DS version of Chrono Trigger is very similar to the original. Of course, in some cases, less (effort) is more, and this just may be one of them. Was there any way Square Enix could have improved on Chrono Trigger's boxart?
Renegade Kid's Jools Watsham recently posted this Moon boxart on his IGN blog, along with the planned back of the box. So, armchair analysts ... what do you think?
Further proof that Konami's decision to dump its anime-inspired art direction was the right choice for the Castlevania series! This boxart for Order of Ecclesia, revealed at the game's Amazon product page, puts the previous two entries' covers to shame, especially the Konami's Best packaging for Dawn of Sorrow.
Also, we're amazed (and a bit confused) to see that the game will feature a giant plastic cocktail sword as a wieldable weapon! Why fumble with a vampire slaying whip when you can brandish a rapier that doubles as a drink stirrer?
Jump past the post break for comparison shots of the previous two Castlevania DS games' boxarts!
Looking to satisfy the legions of perverts interested in its upcoming homebrew release, Half-Elf Tentacle Assault, doujin-developer Team-DSX has posted a potential design for the game's CD-ROM cover -- to cut down on costs, the group plans to release the ROM on CDs instead of traditional carts, so that customers can transfer the game to their flashcarts.
The screenshots featured on the packaging give you a good idea of what to expect from the visual novel (if the Half-Elf Tentacle Assault name wasn't descriptive enough) and are, naturally, very NSFW. Even with stars and white spots covering all the naughty bits on the images, we've hidden the cover past the post break, away from chaste eyes.
Just one last quick caution -- the boxart depicts half-elf Colin and another heroine in suggestive scenes of forced sodomy. Also, a green pig-man with killer abs has his head totally slashed off. You've been warned!
Rising Star Games has planted a European release date and the first English language media for Flower, Sun and Rain on the internet. Although the release date (October) is old news grandad, everything else is new, including the very lovely and understated boxart above, featuring a passenger airliner cruising across a calm, salmon-colored sky, a bomb presumably tucked away somewhere on board.
Some (very) minor details/impressions we picked up from the screens:
We've now got our first look at the memo pad that can be used to make notes. Handy!
Somehow, vampires are involved, thus escalating Flower, Sun and Rain's awesomeness.
The 3D sections look more crude than we recall. We wonder: will Rockstar be able to better this?
Look what just arrived at the ball in our inboxes! As promised earlier today, Natsume has distributed lots of fresh media for its localization of Cave's Princess Debut, complete with talking animals, an entire wardrobe of accessories, and (of course) lots of dancing with charming Princes. That Cesar is such a dish! Pirouette your way into our gallery for plenty of new screens and art.
It won't be long before you'll have to break open your piggy bank -- Rhythm Tengoku Gold will be out in Japan as soon as July 31st! If you never had a chance to play the original critically-acclaimed rhythm game for the GBA, consider it your mission to import this DS remake later this month.
Hit our gallery below for a handful of screenshots from Rhythm Tengoku Gold! They're mostly larger versions of the images shown on Nintendo's fact sheet, but they're still a good preview of how the touchscreen-enabled title will play on the system, book-style. Besides, as this upcoming release shows, the world needs more Rhythm Tengoku.
Posted Jun 26th 2008 8:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News
Finally, conclusive evidence of what the new 5th Cell game's title is going to be! It would certainly be a waste of a logo if the name were to change.
Nintendo.com's page for Lock's Quest is the first to show the game's boxart, tiny though it may be. It's definitely big enough to see what's going on: Lock, slightly Sora-like in his short pants, poses triumphantly with a big old wrench over the ruins of some Clockwork enemies, as the game's signature structures (and more enemies) loom in the background. A huge red inset advertises the Drawn to Life connection, suggesting that Drawn to Life really did well!
Even in a tiny image, we can tell that the art is excellent. 5th Cell's artists remain on top of their game. According to Nintendo.com, the game is out September 8.
Can we just say, Nintendo: loving the boxart for Pokémon Platinum. Whereas the art for Diamond and Pearl relied on darker, more subdued colors, Platinum's box employs a striking combination of red, black, and white, blasting out in beams from the center of the cover. It's almost as though cover star Giratina is leaping right out of the box at the viewer/shopper. He's coming to get you, kids! That will be under your bed tonight! Muahaha.
As well as the cover, GAME Watch also has a small pool of character art (featuring Regice, Registeel, Regirock, and Regigigas) and screens (which can be found in our gallery). It looks ... well, pretty much like the samegame you bought last year. Will that stop you buying it? Nope, thought not.
Posted Jun 18th 2008 8:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns featured some fairly risque alternate boxart in Japan, where initial shipments were packaged in H-game-like boxes with art of Izuna and Shino bathing in an onsen. The American box for the game may not be modeled after erogames, but it does feature some extra pinup-style art of the title character.
In an absolutely lovely trend, the Izuna 2 boxart has been revealed as reversible, like the boxart for Victorious Boxers Revolution. However, instead of alternate boxart on the other side, the reverse of Izuna 2's cover is a mini-poster of the title character. Nice to see Atlus treating a niche game like Izuna as such a deluxe product.
Off the top of our head, here's a quick list of questions we immediately asked after noticing several odd details with this The Sims 2: Apartment Pets cover:
What are those lines on the woman's pants? We swear to Pete, those better not be some damn convertible pants. It is 2008, lady. You should know better.
Why is she walking around the building's hallways, puppy in hand, teasing kittens with toys?
Is that cat on the bottom right corner cuddling with the PEGI rating? This might be the only creature in the world who has actually taken a liking to the unsightly box.
Why didn't this guy block the door when he opened it to grab the morning paper? He could have prevented this gang of animals from spilling out of his apartment.
Is that stoic rabbit doing the shoulder lean?
Grab a leash and meet us past the post break for more insightful commentary!
As ominous as the quiet subway scene in the first 50 seconds of this video might be, there's little in this new trailer to convinces us that Twilight Syndrome: Kinjiraneta Toshi Densetsu (Twilight Syndrome: The Forbidden Urban Legend) will be even half as scary as Twilight Syndrome: Search for the PlayStation.
Check out the old commercial we embedded past the post break to see what we mean! The animated skeleton and bugs are a bit goofy, but the smiling girl that pops up at the end for half of a second freaks us out every time!
Fun trivia: Did you know that famed game designer Goichi Suda worked on the original Syndrome games during his tenure at developer and publisher Human Entertainment? More fun trivia: Did you know that we have Twilight Syndrome: The Forbidden Urban Legend's boxart after the break? It's all true!
Shortly thereafter, a release date and gameplay details emerged from the primordial ooze a Newsweek interview, and an involuntary chemical reaction a Joystiq hands-on session soon produced screens. Then, for some time, nothing. Until this morning, that is, when we found that the screens had suddenly multiplied in number, and had inhabited our gallery!
The newly developed screens were joined by boxart for the Japanese version of the game, which sort of reminded us of Pokémon Trozei!'s box, and a Japanese release date: September 11th.
So goes the ongoing story of the evolution of Spore Creatures.
It's not that often that we hear about the creative process behind designing a game's box -- our own interview with Konami's contracted illustrator and packaging designer Julie Giles is a rare piece. Most people would rather read about the people who designed the actual games.
Seeing an opportunity to share his experiences with packshots, Atlus creative designer has posted an update on the publisher's informative series of Production Diaries, detailing the adjustments that were needed to adapt Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2's Japanese cover for the U.S. audience. Join us past the post break for comparison shots and a scan of the surgery sim's new print ad!