The Lost Art of the Box Art (no.1)

As we move further and further into the digital age, it's becoming clear that game box art is becoming obsolete. Why buy a boxed game when you can easily get the same game online and subsequently save on shelf space?

But no matter: If box art is truly heading on the way out, I thought I might may take the time to pay tribute to this art form and talk about some of my favorites. After all, if the box art catches the eye of the potential buyer and convinces them to hand over their cash then the box art must've done something right.

So, to kickstart this series of posts, let's start with classic: May I present, all the way from the eighties, the box art to the Intellivision port of Donkey Kong!

One thing that looks hilarious with the passage of time is to see the box art to console games from the eighties: The box art is really putting an effort to make the game look exciting and inspiring the imagination. And so they had to: When your game is of limited shapes and sprites, one had to somehow sell their game and convince any newcomer to make a purchase. Indeed, one can only imagine the disappointment and frustration to see an exciting box art bear little resemblance to the game inside.
So with that in mind, let's take a look at the box art to the Intellivision port of Donkey Kong:

 I like this box art for two reasons. The first, and most obvious, being this box art is hilariously misleading. For starters, Mario has become muscular and ditched his cap to reveal a mullet haircut (!!!). And the setting has some how transformed into some weird landscape that would do MC Escher proud. But at the same time, Pauline is looking more desperate and Donkey Kong is looking more monstrous.
And the second reason why I like this artwork? It's misleading nature actually works! This game looks far more epic and desperate then the actual game itself! This in turn yields an angle that was never in anyway associated with the original game. Forget all the cute and cartoony charm of the original: Your girlfriend is looking desperate being imprisoned by a true monster!

And hey, the situation must be desperate if Mario is relying on (what appears to be) Mjolnir....

Come Out and Play

So with a new Nintendo console comes the announcement that a new iteration of the Super Smash Brothers is on it's way.

The Super Smash Bros series and I have something of a weird history. I became aware of the series through the first title on the N64 - but the first game I played in the series is Melee. But I could not get into it: I've played many fighting games and enjoyed them - even if I've been relying on the time and tested tactic of button mashing. But the Super Smash bros is a series that will have none of that: As such I was both flattened time and time again and puzzled by how the game works (how many hits can this asshole take?! Oh so being knocked out is instant death....). As such it's kind of embarrassing for me to see people who have every character worked out and mop the floor with me.
Still I did end up obtaining Brawl for my Wii and whilst I did have a hard time getting into the swing of things, I did enjoy it (even if I'm no more wiser as to what the hell I'm doing). In addition I also acquired the original Super Smash Bros from the Virtual Console but somehow it didn't really make an impression on me.
Yet somehow it is kind of telling that Brawl, the maligned of the series, is the one that did indeed make a connection with me....

Anywho, with the latest Super Smash Bros, more and more cast members are being teased out as 2014 draws nearer. Yet this is coming in the wake of Brawl which featured a large character roster and reports are indicting that said roster will be trimmed of the less unique characters for the new game. Reports also indicate that deciding which characters get the flick is not a decision made easily.
Personally I'm in two minds over this: On one hand the shortened roster will be easier to keep track of certain faces and remove any duplicate characters. But on the other hand I've used each and every character in Brawl and I don't mind them (except maybe Wario) so somehow having a familiar face been given the boot would be disarming to say the least.
So far we have mainstays Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Samus, Kirby, Fox and Pikachu. Bowser, Pit and Olimar are also making a return. But in the terms of newcomers we have Mega Man, Villager and Wii Fit Trainer - the latter of course being an odd choice.

Still this is but the early stage - what more will eventuate between now and the release date would be interesting to say the least...

Aging Disgracefully

Here's something I never noticed before: The combatants in Virtua Fighter 4 all have birth-dates! So taking that into consideration, in the year 2012, Akira is 44, Pai is 37, Lau is 72, Wolf is 46, Jeffry is 55, Kage is 42, Sarah is 39, Jackie is 42, Shun is 100(!!), Lion is 33, Aoi is 33, Le-Fei is 37, Vanessa is 43, Brad is 40 and Goh is 34.
It's funny thing about adding a birth-date to a video game character. It gives them a sense of history, more so with each iteration of the Virtua Fighter series, and it suggests that these characters have been around a long time, and are still able to get back up on their feet after being knocked around numerous times - which, coming from a fighting game series, is hardly surprising.
But at the same time, it does suggest that these characters are aging - and as this is a fighting series we're talking about, it won't be long before the blows render them unable to get back up again.

To be honest I've never been a fan of 'floating timelines'. I personally like to see characters age and grow wiser with experience. Therefore I find it kinda silly that Bart Simpson is forever a ten year old even when his birth-date was established as April 1st 1980 (which would make him in early thirties by now). That being said, one would think a hero who ages would be an interesting concept for a game hero.
Think about it! Each game hero goes on a journey and by the end of it, they come out the other side wiser and/or have killed lots of dudes. Thus it would make an interesting series concept to have a hero who goes on multiple journeys - and as he does so, his appearance changes, injuries and scars he suffers are there for good and the experiences he gains are there with him for ever after. And after all, what is a video game character when they're without dudes to slay eh?
I mean similar things have been done before with game characters aging: Red Dead Redemption featured a player character who is a grizzled, scarred veteran, Donkey Kong Country presented the character of Cranky Kong and even Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had a little meta joke through Princess Zelda being of twenty years of age.

But alas, I doubt it would take off: As is often the case, a game without a young vital, pretty face will never sell as it's the youth portion of the market will balk out at playing an aging hero. I mean can anyone imagine a wrinkly, decrepit, Kratos still marching to battle insisting on having his vengeance?


Didn't think so.