Ever bought a video game just for the box art?

[XYXZYZ]

Do you ever buy video games just becaue the box art looks cool? I mean, I wouldn't pay too much if I didn't like the game, but if I think somethng would look cool on a shelf next to similar items I may get it. Not too often, mind you. I'm a sucker for the old anime style girls/mecha imagery you saw on PC Engine CDs.

And I'll have to get a boxed Phalanx for the SNES if I find one. Is there a cooler video game package?

What about you?

[Daria]

When I was a kid that's how I used to buy games. My family didn't have any magazine subscriptions so I pretty much had no clue what was available unless a friend had it or I saw it sitting on a store shelf. This shopping technique yeilded gems such as Hydlide and Yu Yu Hakusho, in Japanese no less. ROFL

[Lady Jaye]

For me it was the other way around: back in the day, fugly boxart was a turnoff (especially in the NES days). So I never played Final Fantasy till much later cuz the boxart didn't appeal to me. Same goes for Dragon Warrior (I probably would have been more interested by it had it kept Toriyama's boxart, even though that was a few years before I ever heard of Dragon Ball).

[mailman187666]

the only game I bought for cover art was Guilty Gear XX but it turned out to be pretty good. I also ALMOST bought Disgaea when it first came out for that reason.

[theshizzle3000]

Yeah all the time its usually what catches my eye a couple of examples for a couple of systems:

Genji: Dawn of the Samurai (PS2)
Go Go Hypergrind (GC)
Phantom Dust (XBOX)
Trog! (NES)
Skies of Arcadia (DC)
and I am sure there are thousands of others but I can't think at the moment.

[JPeeples]

Silpheed: the Lost Planet is the only one that jumps out at me right now as one that I bought mainly to stare at its cover. The game itself was no great shakes, but its cover still rules.

[mailman187666]

would you have bought Custer's Revenge for atari 2600 for the box art...ha ha ha..

[Dangerboy]

Sylphia on the PC-Engine CD2.

http://battleship.ibbun.com/html/pcengine/soft_target/sylphia.gif

Greatest Cover Art Purchase Ever.

[skaar]

I bought Phalanx for the box art. ;)

http://www.ioffergames.com/gimg/605411-Phalanx-Kemco-1992.jpg

[Greg2600]

When I was a kid that's how I used to buy games. My family didn't have any magazine subscriptions so I pretty much had no clue what was available unless a friend had it or I saw it sitting on a store shelf. This shopping technique yeilded gems such as Hydlide and Yu Yu Hakusho, in Japanese no less. ROFL

I fell into the same trap, although my friends always had Nintendo Power, I often went by the box art, front and back, on those laminated cards in the Toys R Us. Which is how I bought the worst NES game I've ever seen, Airwolf. Either that way, or simply one of us would almost dare the other to buy a game, swearing it was good. Stupidly we did it, which is how I wound up with City Connection, which you need to be high on LSD to play.

[XYXZYZ]

Sylphia on the PC-Engine CD2.

http://battleship.ibbun.com/html/pcengine/soft_target/sylphia.gif

Greatest Cover Art Purchase Ever.

Sylphia's also a damn good game. I can't afford a real copy. :(

[Steven]

Nope, but back in the day I rented NES games based on the cover. I still remember renting the likes of Yo-Noid, Beetlejuice, and Totally Rad just b/c of how cool I thought their covers were!

[alec]

Well it wasn't the box art, but rather the label art (which is the same as the box art) of Truxton for Sega Genesis that made me buy it at Funcoland for 1.99 one day. Although I had never heard of it before, by the looks of it I figured it must be one of the coolest games in the store. Its been one one of my very favorite Genesis games ever since.

[Arasoi]

http://www.digital-retribution.com/images/other/g0013.jpg

One of the coolest cover arts, back in the day. Zelda 1 and its gold box with the shield was another.

[scorch56]

I have several I've bought for that reason.. but the one that immediately comes to mind is the US/NTSC release of Sagaia for the Genesis. As a matter of fact.. my copy is still shrinkwrapped and unopened. I hear the game's actually OK.. but I can't bring myself to open it. I just think the cover-art looks cool. I'm not really a big shmup fan.

[NES_Rules]

Almost all my purchases are based on the game's cover, if it looks like fun, I'll buy it. As long as the game is cheap anyway.

[bangtango]

Yes, I did it regularly before learning to consult reviews a little more often. Obviously, a few of them turned out to be pretty bad games.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (NES)
River City Ransom (NES)
Checkered Flag (Atari Jaguar)
Space Channel 5 (Sega Dreamcast)
NCAA College Football 2003 (multi-platform)
Yars Revenge (Atari 2600)
Xevious (Atari 7800)
Power Moves (Super NES)
Quarterback Attack (Sega Saturn)
NFL QB Club 2002 (Playstation 2)
MLB Slugfest 2003 (XBox)

[Pantechnicon]

Never bought a boxed game for the art, but I am after all the Mythicon 2600 releases in either loose or boxed format precisely for the artwork. Lousy games but beautiful paintings on both the boxes and labels.

[Steve W]

I've bought a few games just because of cool artwork. Pretty much any Psygnosis game for the Amiga falls into that category. Amazing artwork.

How many people bought Mobile Light Force 2 (I think that's it's name) on the PS2 just because of the artwork? (I unfortunately have to raise my hand here...)

[Daria]

I fell into the same trap, although my friends always had Nintendo Power, I often went by the box art, front and back, on those laminated cards in the Toys R Us. Which is how I bought the worst NES game I've ever seen, Airwolf.

I too had Airwolf, but I never would have picked it out. It was my brother's.

Also on a different twist, I have bought games now soley for the box art. I have Super Hydlide for the PAL Megadrive just because it's nicer looking then the US edition, which I also have. Despite the game not being all that good.

Then there's buying a game just for the box when you already own it. :P

[Thrillo]

No, until I moved to Japan. That's how I picked out which Famicom games to buy. Obviously, it's a total gamble to buy games that way, so now I look very closely at objects in the art, the art style, and copyrights/dates to determine if the game might be good or not...
And it's true that Japan gets much better boxart than we do; a large number of these games have friggin' masterpieces on their covers. It's hard not to buy them when I know the game sucks. This applies more to '80s-early '90s games more than modern ones though.

[Rabid Peanut-Butter]

Twice, I imported "Crying" because I thought the name along with the box art were both cooler than the domestic "Biohazard Battle". I also ordered the limited edtion of Border Down with the cover being the primary reason.

[cyberfluxor]

I've bought quite a few games soley from the looks but I didn't pay more than a few bucks, that's for sure. I don't drop too much money on something unless I know it's a sure good time. Today (for example) I bought Warzone 2100 and Armed Core, but I've been wanting AC anyhow and I mainly bought WZ due to the mouse compatible RTS it spoke of on the back. Most of the time it's NES games that I randomly buy off looks, can't say the same for SMS carts. :-P

[evildead2099]

Mickey Mousecapade (NES)

[Single Player Gamer]

The only one that jumps out at me right now is Phantom Dust on XBOX. I was scanning the shelves looking for some games to buy and that one just looked cool. So I bought it. Still have no idea what its about other than what the back of the case says since I dont know anyone who owns it and havent played it yet. Oh yeah and the game Vanguard Bandits on PS 1, I bought that based on looks alone and I ended up enjoying that one a lot. Too bad I dont still own it. That was pre collecting days and I traded it in to fund some other game purchases. I gotta buy it again soon.

[Fighter17]

Most Sega Megadrive Japanese cover arts (Thunder Force IV, El Viento)..

[Kamisama]

Hmm when I buy games from ebay shops or so I usually also get some I never heard of before, and thats usually decided on the cover art :) But I play them later on of course and stuff.

[Bronty-2]

Hmm when I buy games from ebay shops or so I usually also get some I never heard of before, and thats usually decided on the cover art :) But I play them later on of course and stuff.

I enjoy the painted box art on a lot of the Koei NES and SNES titles a lot more than I enjoy the games themselves.

[scorch56]

Phantom Dust is an excellent game.