13 Iconic Video Games That Were Sold With Hilariously Terrible Box Art

Physical or digital, it doesn't matter - the fastest, most efficient method a company has of persuading you to make your cash theirs is by making a product - food, films, video games, whatever - so irresistible that even the briefest of glances will have you hooked and ready to be reeled in.

With the exception of certified Twitch and YouTube junkies, the act of browsing a storefront is where the all-important first impressions are formed. If the latest and greatest creation isn't dressed to impress, that could mean the difference between the big bucks or relegation to the bargain bin.

Luckily for these artistic offenders, they have the benefit of being well-established, iconic franchises, no botched job (within reason) could stop them from flying off the shelves, but that doesn't mean we can't point and laugh at how spectacularly their box art missed the mark.

What would you rather see covering the face of a video game case? Alluring, appropriate artwork, or a flurry of critic quotes and arbitrary numbers?

Tough choice.

BioShock Infinite, the game from industry auteur Ken Levine that, like the original, has fronted the strongest argument to date that film and music should move aside and make room for another form of entertainment to be considered art.

As Rapture was before it, Infinite's floating city of Columbia suffocates the player with its personality and attention to detail, and yet, despite promoting that strong selling point on Infinite's skin, Irrational decided instead to slap a posing, brooding Booker DeWitt on the front, shotgun shouldered and ready for action.

Sometime after the stink subsided, Levine revealed in an interview that Infinite's cover was born out of a desire to reach as wide an audience as possible.

In other words, you have the uninformed casual market to thank for Booker's boring face hogging the limelight.