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Final Fantasy Tactics' beautiful box art
Not too many games are big enough to warrant a box art story. Well, this one is. The Japanese Final Fantasy Tactics is as pretty as the game itself. Click the image above to see a full, high-res version of the box. What do you think? Does it get you any more excited for the game? [Via PSP-Vault]
Kanji Ken's boxart: the legend continues
Kanji Ken's packaging doesn't look like anything you would expect from other "training games," but you could say the same about its teaching methods. The educational title eschews traditional academic themes, opting instead for a style that drills students on Chinese characters through kung-fu battles that play out on the handheld's topscreen. The game's cover art shows its martial arts hero at the crest of his flying kick, clutching a Nintendo DS Lite. A collage of characters surround his dynamite pose, each one more enthralling than the last! There's a drunken kung-fu fighter, an inviting blonde with no visible end to her dress' plunging neckline, and a sinister robot looming in the background. The Great Wall of China is thrown in to sweeten the deal.Head past the post break for a better look at Kanji Ken's casing and a new screenshot of the menacing automaton.
DS Daily: Welcome, new DS owners!
We're sure that a lot of you are just getting back from stores, where you picked up your $19.99 Konami's Best Edition DS Lites. We're glad Konami solved that DS shortage, and at such a budget price! Welcome, new DS Fanboys, to the fold.We thought it was a little presumptuous of Konami to label the whole system as "Konami's Best", but we must admit, a lot of Konami's best work has been on the system-- two Castlevanias, Lunar Knights, etc. We can accept that. So what do you think about your new systems? And are any of you existing DS owners getting one at the budget price?
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow for five dollars
Just several months ago, gamers were still complaining about Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow's rarity and unyielding price point. Even if you were lucky enough to find a used copy, buying it would still cost you about $30 at GameStop. Several stores eventually put the game on sale for $19.99, and Konami released a greatest hits version with dreadful boxart, making Dawn of Sorrow available and affordable for everyone to enjoy.The good times don't end there, though. The frugal folks at CAG noticed a couple of weeks ago that Best Buy has been selling the "Konami's Best" version of the game at an astonishing $9.99. Combining this rock-bottom sale with "$5.00 off" coupons scanned from GamePro brings the price down even further to about $5.00! We usually miss out on these insane deals, failing to get to the store in time before eBay hounds pick the shelves clean, but we drove to Best Buy anyway to see how we'd fare. We were surprised to find that our store had over a dozen copies, and that the GamePro coupon worked like a charm! Success!Make sure you take advantage of this sale now, as it ends on April 1st, punishing the fools who've missed out. Head past the cut for the "$5.00 off" coupon.
Opera browser boxed, demonstrated
Siliconera got a chance to check out the American release of the Opera browser at SXSW, and they handily took some video of the demonstration, so we can see ... what Japanese and European DS users have been seeing for quite some time. We've been waiting so long for this application. Could it really be on the way?They also got some pictures of the US boxart, which says that the DS browser puts "The Internet at your fingertips". That's somewhat of a strange choice of slogan; as far as we can tell, the Internet is always at your fingertips, except when you use a stylus-based input method.
Mankind ill needs a boxart such as this
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Worst_box_art_branding_ever'; So, uh ... remember that Amazon Castlevania deal that we got all excited about, and encouraged you all to take advantage of? Yeah, about that. NeoGAFfer Reilly bought a copy of Dawn of Sorrow from Amazon, and what you see above is what arrived. Konami has started their own "Konami's Best" branding, and rebranded Castlevania with the lovely new label. If you don't know what the original boxart looked like, it's the one pictured on the new box. We knew nothing of this when we sent you all to Amazon. At least there's still a fantastic game in there.You want to know what's really sad? We kind of want one of these "Konami's Best" copies for our collection.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings boxart unveiled
We don't normally display boxart here on DS Fanboy, but we do tend to make exceptions. Revenant Wings dresses to impress with minimalistic flair; its DS predecessor was also rather impressive. A beauty, no?Square-Enix is bombarding the DS with meteor showers of love. Here's a little "DS Bi-Daily" for ya: do you think Square-Enix's support means as much as it once did? By diversifying its game library and stepping into the realms of spin-offs and direct sequels, many feel as though they've watered down the intense quality of software they once provided. Or are we just insane? Still, We await FFXII: RW with open and eager arms.
Fire Emblem Wii site opens for business
Fire Emblem is not like Ice Emblem in that it is, well, hot. When a small portal opened, leading to just a subsection of its fiery domain, we could not resist.The official site for Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami has opened for business, and yes, its entirely in Japanese. For your viewing pleasure, though, you might check out this bitchin' opening cinema, and some excellent box art. We're such suckers for box art. In any case, any FE fans out there owe it to themselves to journey to yon fiery realm. You won't be disappointed.(And what the hell was Bahamut doing in that cinema?)[via NeoGAF; thanks Creamsugar!]
Possible Hotel Dusk boxart
We're not usually all about showing off the boxart. We're really not about showing off what could possibly-maybe be boxart from Korean sites we can't thoroughly translate. This one, however, is a little special. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (aka Wish Room) just has something, some nameless quality, that always seems to catch the eye, and the box is no exception. It looks more like a book or movie cover than a game -- which plays to the fact that the game's focus is the story. And that road trailing off in the distance is definitely a haunting image ... we're crossing our fingers that this is the actual box, and if so, we hope they keep it for release in other regions.
Boxart up the yinyang
We've shown you a few of the major pieces ... Twilight Princess and Red Steel, for instance ... but through the dark voodoo powers they wield so willingly, IGN Wii has compiled a collection of no less than eighteen official boxarts for various launch titles. It's certainly a colorful collage, though the sight serves to remind one that there are perhaps one too many children's games on launch day. Oh well. Twilight Princess has the cojones to offset a hundred Barnyards, and you know it.What are your opinions on boxart? In a perfect world, all consumers would educate themselves with interviews, previews, and various review scores; alas, a large majority of the world still judges by the cover. Can the elegant white stripe lure in the uninformed soccer moms? C'mon, o' bearer of the young. Your kids need this thing.
Official Red Steel boxart [update 1]
That's right. It's red, and full of steely goodness. Alas, we here at the Fanboy think it's rather uninspired. The logo remains unchanged from the serviceable "sword for t, gun for l" setup they've been showing off since E3, but the background is way too Kill Bill. Too bland? Too "I could have made that in Photoshop"? Let us know, o' judges of the box.Oh, and a thousand pardons for the nasty, icky IGN watermark; this seems to be the only copy floating around on the web.[Update 1: Check out IGN's compilation of confirmed Wii boxart!]
Here it is: Red Steel boxart
For a lot of people (read: people who are not obsessive gamers like us), the boxart is their only real window into what a game might offer. That tends to make it a little important in the grand scheme of things. And when it comes to selling an entire system, the boxart of a few key games becomes doubly important. Nintendo is facing something of a challenge when it comes to winning so-called "hardcore" gamers to its side in this round of the console wars, and this box for Red Steel may help shift the balance. There's nothing about this title that is juvenile in any way, but the same could be said for many GameCube games, and yet the notion that Nintendo is 'just for kids' lingered. Having this box prominently displayed next to the spankin' new Wiis come November 19 could win a few more fans for the House of Mario and their new benefactor Ubisoft. It's simple, yet gives the impression of frenetic motion -- something that is often seen on the covers of the better class of Hong Kong action films.How does it strike you? Give us your impressions.
Wii packaging revealed
So now that we know when you'll be able to purchase the Wii (November 19th) and how much it'll cost you ($250 US), I bet you're wondering what the box the retail clerk is going to place into the plastic bag and proceed to hand you will look like? Well, feast your eyes on the box for the Wii including a large sticker declaring that Wii Sports is included. We already knew that, but it's nice to have visual reassurance, isn't it?[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]
Official Japanese Wii box!
Everyone knows that the incredible console, innovative controller, mind-numbing list of launch games and extra features pale in comparison to the all-important box design of a new console. So, without further ado, we present to you: The Box of the Wii!One thing Nintendo failed to mention (or, at least, we didn't catch) were the colors available at launch. White is the obvious default, but hopefully, we can score at least black for the option. Do you guys like the design? Or can you not stop to worry about this trivial little detail, after all the insanity?
Pack this! PS3 box style revealed [update 1]
IGN has managed to get a glimpse of the PlayStation 3 case for The Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom (you can tell by the IGN logo they so elegantly plastered on the cover girl's left breast). The PlayStation 3 name, Spider-Man typeset intact, aligns the left side of the case, as it did during the PSOne era, so as not to intrude upon Blu-ray's dominant upper banner. The PS logo has undergone a minor alteration, now showing up against a white backdrop.The rest remains unchanged -- an ESRB rating located in the bottom left corner, the publisher's emblem in the bottom right. Since the title is made by Sony Online Entertainment, we're unsure how other titles are going to market each game's online capabilities or exclusivity. The Xbox 360 case, for example, has the Xbox Live logo emblazoned in the top right corner of every title, and stamps "Only for Xbox 360" on the upper middle. Will Sony push its online capabilities on its title's box art, or just rely on other outlets to advertise its features?Continue reading for more side-by-side comparisons.[Update: it should be noted that, while the graphic itself is legitimate, its inclusion on the Blu-ray box is a mockup done by IGN. However, note the dimensions of the graphic -- it matches that of the dimensions of the cover art on a Blu-ray movie. Also, Sony producing a custom Blu-ray box when it already is manufacturing Blu-ray movie boxes is not cost-efficient. It may be conceptualized, but we believe the final case will not look much different.That said, sorry if we confused anyone.]
GTA: Vice City Stories boxart
So, what does it mean when PSP Fanboy resorts to putting up box art and "Top 5" lists? One of two things: The game featured is the sequel to the best selling PSP game so far: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. That game has made over $51 million in revenue. You could buy a lot of hot coffee with that kind of money! It's a slow news day. Okay, so both might be true. Regardless, now we know for sure that the game will release on October 17 and come with the same premium price tag of $50. Rockstar knows that you'll buy it no matter what they charge you. You can pre-order it on their pretentious official website.[Via Gamespot]
Pokemon Diamond and Pearl: Return of the Friend Codes
Japanese magazine Corocoro has several scans that reveal a plethora of information regarding the upcoming Pokemon incarnations Diamond and Pearl. While plenty of trivial boring inconsequential details were given about specific Pokemon and moves, the highlights are as follows: The tentative Japanese release date for both games is September 28th, 2006. The new legendary (read: boxart worthy) Pokemon are Diaruga (Diamond Version), who controls time, and Parukia (Pearl Version), who controls space. The antagonists are known as Team Galaxy, who will be featured in Pokemon Ranger as well. In battles, the bottom screen will be used for menus and the like. Easy viewing of other Pokemon's status? WiFi features will be in full force, but they utilize...gulp...the dreaded Friend Code system. That's right, folks, Friend Codes are back. Nintendo seems unwilling to let go of this rather archaic system, though it might be slightly more excused in the Pokemon universe...a grand list of fifty thousand players offering and looking for certain Pokemon types might make things a bit too easy. The ability to pick up a quick match with a stranger, however, would not be unwelcome...[Thanks Nushio, Matt T., and Thousand Dragoon Link!]
Final Fantasy III's beautiful boxart
Boxart generally isn't interesting enough to post, but this beautiful work is obviously an exception to the rule. This is the final Japanese boxart for Final Fantasy III, the most anticipated DS title in Japan...and probably everywhere else, too. Though there's no confirmation, the visual style appears to match long-time Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano, who has completed numerous works for the series over the years.Though we're quite loathe to say it, the handling of North American boxart tends to be a bit, ah...bungled. But what soulless, fiendish monster would replace such splendor? Final Fantasy III (and its amazing boxart) is scheduled for North American release on September 12th of this year.
Retail boxart for Xbox Live Arcade: Unplugged
German site Gamefront.de managed to bag some shots of the relatively uninspiring retail packaging of Xbox Live Arcade: Unplugged. The pack includes offline versions of Geometry Wars, Texas Hold'em, Wik, Bejeweled 2, Outpost Kaloki X, Hardwood Backgammon, a free 1-month Gold membership, 100 free Microsoft points, and should be available in early September.We realize that trying to package six games together limits the freedom you have to be creative, but maybe the design team should have taken a look at Microsoft's parody of their own box designs. Simple? Yes. Attractive? Noooo!!![Via BritishGaming]
View Opera Browser box art through a web browser
These web browser things are fantastic innovations. We fully understand why Nintendo would want to have one on their DS. They no doubt envisioned situations such as these, where you could use the newfangled technology to actually look at images online, images depicting anything from adorable kittens to Japanese box art. The guys at Game Watch were quick to take advantage and have "uploaded" the two versions (one for each DS model) of the Opera Browser packaging. We know. Being at the helm of cutting-edge technology can be quite frightening.Larger images "after the break". Whatever that means.[Via Nintendo Gal]
