10 Cases Of Seriously Misguided Video Game Box Art

2008_01_12_megawhat-1 The purpose of a video game box is to entice potential customers into picking up a copy of the game. Usually such things are achieved through simple means: throw a semi-nude female on the cover, or decorate it with explosions and guns (preferably you just do all those things at once) and a gamer will have no choice but to take your product into their hands. But the years have shown us that video game box art is an untapped resource for generating both serious confusion and uncontrollable laughter. Just check out the 10 weird and misguided video game box covers we've assembled for inclusion on this list - all of which are bound to either freak you out or have you scratching your head for hours. What do they mean? Don't ask us: we have no idea.

10. Winning Post 3 (PlayStation)

Gz48H

The Box Art: Oh, Japan. Aside from being "that place where they filmed Lost In Translation," it's also the country that gave us... uh, this game cover. And the game, a horse racing sim from a company who own three separate horse racing sim franchises (Techmo Koei), is a rather dull state of affairs: there's none of the deeply unsettling J-horror aspects that the case implies. It's just horse racing. Just racing pretend horses. Presumably the Japanese will stop at nothing to include a school girl and a creepy old man in absolutely everything they create. The Pitch:
President of Techmo Koei: "Okay, Techmo Koei, listen up. Not every Japanese video game company makes it to their third horse racing simulation game, so congrats. But we gotta talk seriously now, 'cause it's box art time. This is arguably the most important part of the process. How do we grab the public's attention? Shinji... what you got?" Techmo Koei Marketing Man: "We thought maybe, we'd, like, make it, like, fetish-themed. Like, say, a girl with a mask on her face... a school girl with a mask on her face... and then it's, like, she's got four or five leashes in her hands, and she's just staring out like, 'woaah,' like, deadpan." President of Techmo Koei: "What's on the leashes?" Techno Koei Marketing Man 2: "Miniature race horses. Small horses." President of Techno Koei: "Small horses, you say?" Techno Koei Marketing Man: "And then at the bottom of the case, we'll just have a guy's face... like a man's face... and he's got a mask on. He's just, like, staring at the customer, saying, 'Hey, man, c'mon, buy this game.'" ... President of Techmo Koei: "Draw it up."
 
Posted On: 
Contributor

All-round pop culture obsessive.