Here are some examples of box arts for some games:

(Left: Japanese | Right: American)



























Source (and for all picture comparisons): http://www.gamesradar.com/f/why-japanese-b...729123833874037

My vote goes to the American box arts. The Japanese box arts try to get to the point, but fail (IMO), while using similar artistic Japanese styles. At least I think, the American box arts seem to convey the image of the game more clearly.

I think the Japanese names for games give away more than the box art. Prime example is Biohazard (aka in the US as Resident Evil). The title clues you in before you even buy it that it's a biohazard incident type of story while Resident Evil clues you in as you play the game.

my vote goes for japanese.

It's completely random, each box art looks better than the other on each game, no region's box art actually looks better than the other 100%. And then there's PAL games.

I've always liked Japanese ones better. This selection of box arts does have a few in favor of American, though.

PAL covers range from great to flocking pathetic and horrible. For examples of the latter, check box arts from 505 GameStreet's/505Games' budget releases. What also gets me with PAL releases that during the entire lifetime of the PSX, every single game had a black and white manual while Americans and the Japanese always had full color manuals. No final Fantasy game had any cover art apart from the stylished logo on a white background either.

While this practice is much rarer in the PS2 days, it still happens. With the advent of the PS2 some part of the publishing arms also though that translating manuals to other languages (i.e. Finnish, Swedish, etc.) was a good idea. Not a bad idea per se, but the translations were sometimes so off and filled with mistakes that you'd feel embarrassed for your country.

To add insult to injury, if you have to rely on a translated part of the manual to understand anything about the game, despite the being being 100% English and the manual also had an English section, you shouldn't be playing the game in the first place. Other times, the manual would add things not mentioned in the US manual; things that proved to be completely false in worst cases.

Ah, enough ranting for now.

It's hard to pick, but I will go for the Japanese ones. Their covers seem to feature more of the characters, really zooming in on them and profiling them more then the US covers do, and I like that.

I think it goes both ways depending which perspective you like better. For some, I like the japanese box art better and I like the American perspective on other box arts.

lol at backyard wrestling.

It's about half and half really. Some of the japanese box art just looks plain better than their american counterpart and vice versa.

The japanese psy-ops box art seems vaguely familiar.

It should; it was designed by the same guy who's in charge of SNK's artwork and designs in its games. (FALCOON?).

Just to chime in on the PAL Final Fantasy cases- I always liked the fact that they just had the logo on a white background. Looks more stylish than some of the stupid compositions they knocked up for the NTSC versions.

of the ones u posted, i like most of the japanese ones more. i love the jap soul calibur boxart

I can't really choose between the two. I can't even say some of them look better than others at all, they all look different, none of them look terribly bad or good.

I always preferred the Japanese game covers, they have that distinct diverse flavor of creativity. In a sense, they are much more artistic in a way. I'll take ICO's box cover for example:
Japan's - U.S's

Shinkiro

Also, this topic was on 4ch that keeps coming up. Americans want an angry or agitated character on their boxarts complete with action poses.

I lean more towards the Japanese art in most of the ones you have shown. There's something about them that gives me more of an urge to dig deeper into the soul of the game. I know that statement was pretty full of cheese but if you captivate me visually, you've won me over.

Can I vote for both?

Yea I can't choose either. I saw no definitive winner in those examples. And... well... I haven't really seen (or noticed) any Japanese covers before. So what do I know.

There are still instances where American box arts are quite bizarre, esp. the retro games such as the first Mega Man.

IMO, Japanese ones are more direct to the point with their box arts.

im too lazy to upload the pix, but we all know the best example ever was Casltevania SOTN


but im glad all the FF remakes have been using the simple cover art, sometimes less is more

Well... I think Japanese covers look better.... and if you feel troubled about the manuals and Asian titles... then try to learn that bloody language once for all! lol

American art work caught my eye much more than the japs did.,

Orochi Saga: America

Orochi Saga: Japan

I think the quality found in boxart is very subjective for a variety of reasons. For one, you have to consider the region. In Japan, KoF (as an example) is big, so not much is needed to advertise what it is for the sake of appeal. The market is already knowledgeable as to what the product is, it just needs to know the specifics. In America, conversely, the market for KoF is much smaller, so something more artistically engaging is needed to attract consumers.

Also, the perception of artistic merit belongs to the individual, so, overall, it's all just a matter of opinion. To gauge the overall quality of American boxart versus Japanese would be tedious and, ultimately, futile. People will still have their opinions.