Dear SquareEnix: We hate your boxarts.

Dear Square Enix,

In an earlier thread, the official North American boxart for Final Fantasy XIII was posted. It was met with criticisms towards its over-simplicity and bland design.

Ugly and plain.

I commend the asymmetry, but that alone isn't enough to keep this cover from being one of the most boring ones I've ever seen in my life, and that's not an exaggeration.

Scianix-Black

Boring and uncreative. Plus the rating should be moved away from all the "action".Pneumonia-Hawk

In my opinion, it is boring and lacking in both creativity and imagination. Most any of us could have done better. A lot better.

Oh well...

nyc05

Since simplicity is no longer cool, it appears that your North American and PAL marketting teams have screwed up big-time. Americans don't want to stare at white; they need explosions and things that move fast.

I come to you today to offer you a better alternative. I'm certain that this new boxart better suits the ever-changing demographic of gamers you wish to supply, and will most likely push sales further than your previous estimations. Please take a good, hard look at your fanbase for next time, since they obviously trump any professional media designers you house at your company.

Simplicity is out, craziness is in:

To compare the above (badass) redesign to your recently announced, boring one, see enclosed the standard boxart below:

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See how knowlegable we are at boxarts?

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~Sincerely, the PlayStation 3 forums.

Maybe you hate them, but I find them to be extremely well done

It is simple and I like it. Could have been better but oh well.

could be better.way.

Lol Chuck Norris HAD to be on it.. Haaha :lol:

I like the original over that redesign. Chuck Norris and his whole following is old Doomtime

[QUOTE="Doomtime"]I like the original over that redesign. Chuck Norris and his whole following is old hazelnutman

lol am i the only one who really likes it? i relly do :P its awesome!!

Just a couple of other fanmade concepts for comparisons:

I'd rather it just be a white case with the title and logo

I actually really like that last one. raven_squad

Agreed, the last one sure is good but im not kidding i find the official one to be really good

Just a couple of other fanmade concepts for comparisons:

TehSonofUgly

The top one is beyond ugly. Cluttered, busy, and confusing.

The bottom one is a little better, if only they had removed the XIII in the background as well as the phantom image behind it.

I would totally buy a game with that cover.

Speak for yourself, TC.

Speak for yourself, TC.

Shad0ki11

They let their games speak louder than boxart

I actually really like that last one. raven_squad

agreed square enix needs to hire the person who made that

I honestly love the boxart. That's my favorite pose of Lightning (see avatar :P) so I have no complaints. It would have been better with the pink gradient as opposed the to the gray gradient, but I still won't complain. It's not quite as eccentric as past NA SE boxarts hve been, but its still got enough to be visually pleasing so I think the simpler art is a welcome change. I always found the plain white background with the logo to be too bland, but with the character art in addition to the logo I think its looks nice.

I like the official boxart.

Speak for yourself, TC.

Ya, count me as one who likes the boxart. Simple, clean, yet "eye-catching" enough to stand out. There's a little room for improvement, but overall, I like it.

Lol i like the square enix one.

well the thing is, if you look at all the other final fantasies, especially 1-6 the covers were plain and white but the artwork was hand drawn (maybe watercolored) and it had an artistic flair to it. this.... this is just a cgi shot of a character in the game and while the character is assuredly important in the game, is that the defining point of the game? i thought the game was also supposed to be part of the new tale of the crystals, if so can we not get something with them tied into it. i don't have photoshop but i'm pretty sure i could puta transparent crystal artwork from a previous game over that cover and add some luminescence and that would give it some more flair without being over the top or tacky.

from a longtime and now questioning fan, i give you square an F for effort.

i really like the last one on the first page by xxdunexx, the dark one, that works well. somebody give that man a job already.

Im surprised no one has commented on the simplicity of some of the MGS games cover art; namely, MGS1 and most recently MGS4 (non LE ed.) Now THATS simplicity at its finest! I have no problem with the box art at all, maybe if she was ugly that would be one thing :P

But I must say the Gurren sunglasses and mushroom cloud are pretty stellar...

I like the SE cover for the game. glad they went the minimalist route, no need to put all that extra crap in there. though honestly I would have preferred it to just be the name and emblem. simple clean classy.

To be honest, when it comes to Final Fantasy. I prefer the all white look, the logo and the (forgot his name) usual artwork around that logo. I think it's a better look personally.

Just this in the center:

The rest is white.

I think it's current one looks a little "lame" because it just feels like some amature photoshop job. It is very basic. But I think my suggestion speaks more "volume" compared to this. Like a stylish book of some kind.

The Kamina glasses.

That's all you needed to add to this boxart and I would've gladly eaten my words.

I lol'd hard.

Anyway, here's my argument:

Simplicity is nice. I can enjoy simplicity, but the problem with that boxart is that it's too simple.

I can take simplicity, but when you make the background the same pigment as the majority of the character's clothing it just comes off, as everyone in the other thread claimed, boring. From an artistic standpoint, the message is being sent that "we're not worried about grabbing people's attention because people will buy this game just for the name on the front" and it makes Square Enix look really cocky.

ahaha that was awesome !

it's not bad, a lot better than killzone 2's faceshot.

The Kamina glasses.

That's all you needed to add to this boxart and I would've gladly eaten my words.

I lol'd hard.

Anyway, here's my argument:

Simplicity is nice. I can enjoy simplicity, but the problem with that boxart is that it's too simple.

I can take simplicity, but when you make the background the same pigment as the majority of the character's clothing it just comes off, as everyone in the other thread claimed, boring. From an artistic standpoint, the message is being sent that "we're not worried about grabbing people's attention because people will buy this game just for the name on the front" and it makes Square Enix look really cocky.

Scianix-Black

Saved. Will print out, and insert into case when I get it.

Not a fan of the official one; I don't like 3D renders in boxart. Not like this is a new trend though.

The question we should all be asking ourselves right now is, "Does it really matter?"

I mean come on people. As long as the game kicks a**(which I'm pretty confident it will), who cares what's on the box. I don't care if they put a picture of some chicken on the front, as long as the games good, I'm good.

The question we should all be asking ourselves right now is, "Does it really matter?"

I mean come on people. As long as the game kicks a**(which I'm pretty confident it will), who cares what's on the box. I don't care if they put a picture of some chicken on the front, as long as the games good, I'm good.

KH-mixerX

Word! I will probably spend a total of 1 minute looking at the box... cuz once it gets within 5 feet of my ps3 thegame will be in and the box will be on the shelf.. never to be seen again for many many hours/days...

TehSonofUgly

That one's the best.