I'm BRINGING IT BACK Y'ALL
As it was, this thread is for the appreciation of video games in their physical forms. Packaging, cartridges, manuals, and the like. Always feel free to post your own too.
Let's kick it off with a personal fave.
GRADIUS (Konami, Famicom, 1986)
Gradius has probably my favorite package art of all time. I have a print of the NES version's box front hanging in my cubicle at work (which means I haven't seen it in 5 months). The horizontal layout of the Famicom box gives a better view of the ring-spittin' Moai. I love the silver triangle with the Konami logo at the top, and the big chunky yellow letters spelling out the title. It's just a bold presentation that knows exactly what it is.
The cute logo with the puppy says something like "Win original stuff! Speed lottery included!" Whatever this referred to, it wasn't still in the box. And of course there's an original price sticker, which unlike most collectors, I like to see on my packaging. This one is from a place called "Popy," which was also the name of a famous Japanese toy company. I have no idea if it's related.
The back of the box has some screencaps (including, amusingly, one of the final boss). Packaged inside is a two-tone manual with the same cover art as the box.
The stage list in the manual has illustrations of each level, which remind me of the screencap illustrations you'd often see in American Konami manuals. The Japanese manuals don't have the over-the-top writing style of the American ones, though.
Of course the enemy list is what I always flip to first. I love the space backdrop.
The cart itself has the classic custom Konami style with a label that wraps over the top. In case you've forgotten, the default Famicom carts have no top label, so a Famicom collection often ends up looking like a rainbow of blank plastic rectangles. But some companies used custom cart designs, in particular Konami and Namco, which added top labels.
What else to say about Gradius? It's one of my favorite games. It's an awesome port of the arcade version. I've actually beaten it, too, with no deaths, although some may say my use of a controller with autofire was cheating. This is actually my second copy of the game on Famicom. I love it so much that I picked up a boxed one. Great game, great art.
Do you have a game you've bought more than once out of appreciation for its visual design?
As it was, this thread is for the appreciation of video games in their physical forms. Packaging, cartridges, manuals, and the like. Always feel free to post your own too.
Let's kick it off with a personal fave.
GRADIUS (Konami, Famicom, 1986)
Gradius has probably my favorite package art of all time. I have a print of the NES version's box front hanging in my cubicle at work (which means I haven't seen it in 5 months). The horizontal layout of the Famicom box gives a better view of the ring-spittin' Moai. I love the silver triangle with the Konami logo at the top, and the big chunky yellow letters spelling out the title. It's just a bold presentation that knows exactly what it is.
The cute logo with the puppy says something like "Win original stuff! Speed lottery included!" Whatever this referred to, it wasn't still in the box. And of course there's an original price sticker, which unlike most collectors, I like to see on my packaging. This one is from a place called "Popy," which was also the name of a famous Japanese toy company. I have no idea if it's related.
The back of the box has some screencaps (including, amusingly, one of the final boss). Packaged inside is a two-tone manual with the same cover art as the box.
The stage list in the manual has illustrations of each level, which remind me of the screencap illustrations you'd often see in American Konami manuals. The Japanese manuals don't have the over-the-top writing style of the American ones, though.
Of course the enemy list is what I always flip to first. I love the space backdrop.
The cart itself has the classic custom Konami style with a label that wraps over the top. In case you've forgotten, the default Famicom carts have no top label, so a Famicom collection often ends up looking like a rainbow of blank plastic rectangles. But some companies used custom cart designs, in particular Konami and Namco, which added top labels.
What else to say about Gradius? It's one of my favorite games. It's an awesome port of the arcade version. I've actually beaten it, too, with no deaths, although some may say my use of a controller with autofire was cheating. This is actually my second copy of the game on Famicom. I love it so much that I picked up a boxed one. Great game, great art.
Do you have a game you've bought more than once out of appreciation for its visual design?
