My Take on the boxart + other boxart (Spoilers)

First, we must review previous boxarts. Almost all anime boxart (for the naruto series) have two things in common, faces or bodies of main characters taking up the main portion of the page, and secondary characters in the background, often cluttering the screen.

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I know, box art is unimportant, but one would think that since Naruto is based on a graphic novel, that they would take more pride in the art. Namcobandai seem to be the only ones to care. Though the Japanese box arts are very good, NBoA attemt to give NA fans unique boxart as well, which shows they actually care. Plus our choice that may influence Storm?

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Namcobandai manages to make boxarts much better than the rest, but let us review other games, shall we?

Nintendo Consoles

Clash of Ninja


http://www.ebgames.com/common/images/lbox/220580b.jpg

Pretty generic, but Zabuza and Haku in the background are a nice touch

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JPN Clash of Ninja2

http://image4.play-asia.com/350/PA.03421.019.jpg

Too much on at once

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US Clash of Ninja 2

http://www.ebgames.com/common/images/lbox/220608b.jpg

Pretty much the same, but removed the clutter on the box, revealing Orochimaru better

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JPN Gekitou Ninja Taisen 3

http://bemmu.pp.fi/3038.jpg

The Sannin and Itachi in the background along with the team battle characters is pretty cool, but yet again

US Clash of Ninja Revolution

http://www.wiisworld.com/images/boxp...olution-US.jpg

A Huge improvement over the JPN art. I find it odd that Itachi gets crows on the box but his Crow substitution was removed in the US (based on EX engine, where Itachi turns into crows when using a substitution)




Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4

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http://www.wonaruto.com/images/jeuxv.../packaking.jpg

Generic Angry Main Characters with secondairy characters in the background. Shidori v. Rasengan does not look impressive either

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Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX

http://www.mywii.com.au/img/game/Nar...aisen-EX-1.jpg

Cramming

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Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 2

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http://i1.tinypic.com/7xmihiv.jpg

More the same

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Now to look as Namcobandai's boxart

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Ultimate Ninja

http://www.ironicgamer.com/wp-conten...ps2-rental.jpg

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Cramming, but they do it in a way that doesn't suck



JPN Ultimate Ninja 2

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1...uketype5yu.pnghttp://img81.imageshack.us/img81/645...2ps2dvdci4.jpg

Cramming, but it looks cool. Plus Sasuke is win.

US Ultimate Ninja 2

http://www.gamepro.com/sony/ps2/game...s/118528-1.jpg

I was unimpressed, but I suppose it does have its good points



JPN Ultimate Ninja 3

http://www.1sourcegaming.com/PRODUCT...ARUTO3-PS2.jpg

Highly detailed cramming with an awesome Naruto and Curse Marked Sharingan in the background

US Ultimate Ninja 3

http://www.ebgames.com/common/images/lbox/281856b.jpg

Somewhat artistic, but generic Good Side v Bad Side with character cramming

UN Accel

http://www.toysnjoys.com/psx2/naruto...imateaccel.jpg

Generic compared to the others

UN Accel 2

http://www.toysnjoys.com/psx2/Naruto...mateAccel2.jpg

Cramming with two main characters, but done with cool posing and much detail to the art. Really cool looking

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Now let us look as Our Choices

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A

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_ab.jpg

I admit is has a cool look to it, but it is the same angry faces of the main characters.

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B

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_bb.jpg

The Chidori v. Rasengan adds a little more to this that A

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C

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_cb.jpg

3 main characters + andagonist faces, plus secondary characters, not much to see (though the orange on the others makes it look cooler)

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D

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_db.jpg

The Art style reminds me of something Masashi Kishimoto (author and writer of Naruto) would draw for a chapter cover. The colors are very unique, and even though we would have secondary characters, they would not be noticeable. The Clash of the two Jutsu and it's effect are a nice touch

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E

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_eb.jpg

If redrawn, this could look like a screen right out of the anime, though this scene never quite happened.

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F

http://www.hokagesroom.com/dropbox/package_fb.jpg

This is another Unique Take on the Box Art. It reminds me of Rurouni Kenshin DVD cover art for some reason

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If I had to Rank them, it would be F, D, E, B, A, C

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B A and C just seem like generic anime covers, no matter how cool they look.

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It sounds stupid, but a lot of ignorant people by games based on boxart, and if they see a simple anime face character cluster, they probably won't take notice, where if they had something better, they may pick it up just because the cover looks cool (I used to do this before the internet have reviews.)

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What is everyones else's take on my little rant?

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LOL, I agree.

Box art is the first impression of games so it is important to have cool cover art.

However, I like the cramming, but that's just me.

THe most successful is probably where it shows cool attacks, so F would probably be the best choice.

I never picked out games based on box arts I always used reviews and gamplay vids of the games that I was going to buy to make my decision. But I see your point how maybe some people will be like "Oh thats it??...the front cover dont seem as interesting. I don't think I will get it." So I guess box art should be important.