Chapter 1: What are the most memorable video game box arts from the past?
Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the Video Gamers Podcast. Can you hear a game and instantly recall the box art for it? Do you remember the days of picking a game solely based on the box art and the screenshots on the back? What about some of the incredible modern art we've seen for game releases?
Well, on today's episode, we're going to be drafting the best video game box art from the memorable to the iconic. We're going head to head to see whose team will reign supreme. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host, Josh. And joining me, he's the Earl to my toe jam, the clank to my ratchet and the knuckles to my Sonic.
It's Ryan. You got me a little worried now about my picks going deep with that. You're going deep, buddy. We're always worried about your picks.
I don't know if you know this, but anytime we do a draft, we're always a little bit worried.
You should be scared. I got fired today.
Okay, we'll see. You do have the age to remember some of the better box art, at least. So you do have something going for you on this one.
Call me old buddy. All right.
And joining us, he had to ask us what we meant when we said box art, which led us to Googling the more modern answer, and apparently it's called key art now since games don't come in boxes anymore. It's Ace.
You know, they say to never judge a book by its cover, but they never said anything about video games.
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Chapter 2: How has video game cover art evolved over the decades?
So it's like, you know, whatever that picture is, when a game is announced and you get the picture, that picture that is what you see when you Google the game That's what we're talking about. That's what we're talking about, people. Box art, cover art, key art, whatever you want to call it. There have been some iconic ones out there.
I mean, that's why I said in the intro, man, you just close your eyes and it's like, boom, I can picture this instantly. There will be some nostalgia, I'm sure, because for the older gamers out there, they remember what it's like to You go to the store and walk up and down the aisle and look at games that you didn't know, you know, and go like, oh, this game looks cool.
And then you pick it up, you turn it around, you start looking at the screenshots on the back, you read the description and then you go, yeah, I want this one. It was that way if you were in a blockbuster or any video rental store renting a game. I mean, like I said, the OG gamers will understand. But don't worry, newer gamers. Y'all get some really, really cool art nowadays, too.
And so we're not restricting it to just older games either. So yeah. Guys, this is going to be a fun draft. I'm really curious to see if we have overlap, if we are going to snake some picks from each other on this one. But to explain it to the listeners that may not be aware of how we do these drafts, we are going to take turns.
So we have randomized the order using our AI overlords and the order that was picked today. I will go first and then it's going to be ace and then Ryan. And then because Ryan gets the last pick, he's going to get the first pick in the next round. So Ryan will actually go back to back and then it'll be ace and then me.
And then because I was last in that round, I get to go first in the round after. So we're going to do five rounds, which means we're going to pick five games each. For this draft, and we are going to see who puts together the best team of video game cover art. I got to ask you guys, did you get nostalgic at all, like looking up some of these?
Did you start kind of looking through these and going like, oh.
man immediately like i especially um i don't mean you josh like because we did a lot of that and i know you did two ace but like this was like in the 90s like the cover art and the boxes that you would pick up and they don't some of them especially the pcs would have that extra flap on the front you could open and look at more stuff and dude it was uh it was wild because i knew my my ones that came to my head and then i just started googling like game cover art and looking at stuff and
Ones that I totally forgot of, and there was so much there in games that I didn't know that I remembered. So there was a lot of really cool nostalgia that hit hard when I was looking this up.
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Chapter 3: What iconic games were selected in the box art draft?
It was fun research. Research isn't always fun. This was fun.
What about you, Ace? Did you have a hard time coming up with a list? Did you have a bunch that just popped in?
It was less of a list and more of a sudden just burst of memories of all my favorite box arts that I had to sift through like a library. And then I found so many. I was like, oh, this one's great. This one's great. And then I'd see a few. I was like, no one knows what that game is. I can't put that there. And then I remembered what American versions of Nintendo games looks like. Oh, yeah.
With the original Mega Man.
So oddly enough for me, the main thing, because as the oldest one of the bunch, I grew up playing Atari, and they had to grab your attention. There was no internet back then. If it wasn't for the box art, you didn't buy the game. We didn't have Metacritic. We didn't have Steam. We didn't have anything to tell you how good these games were. And so you went by what the box looked like.
And it's crazy because I started...
thinking like and actually looking up some of these really old atari games and it's like bro some of the art back then was awesome dude it's like metal man absolutely really that's the best way to describe it is it was metal like they were trying to just buy me play this game the game looks nothing like this it's terrible pixels it's the worst graphics you've ever seen but you were like yeah this is great
So, yeah. And then I was like, I cannot pick any Atari games because there's nobody's going to know what the heck I'm talking about, man. Now, one thing. So I got a question before we get into the draft, because I want to just preface a little bit about the strategy involved here. We just simply named this the best now best is subjective, right?
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Chapter 4: What strategies did the hosts use to choose their favorite box arts?
Like, so did you try to go with like iconic games? Did you go with what you thought was just the coolest looking art? Did you go with a mix? Like which one did you go with?
I went for like a mix of what's kind of iconic and what stands out. And also what I really enjoy personally to see as a, in my box art for my games and what makes me pick them up. But there's definitely a few of my listeners, people who's like, who cares about the box art for that game?
I did a mix as well. Yeah, I did a mix as well. Just some older, some newer kind of things that really hit for me.
Is Ace frozen for you, Ryan? No. Dude, is it freaking 7 o'clock, dude? I'm not frozen. Ace.
Ace.
I'm right here.
Oh, my gosh.
Not again, dude. Dude, I'm right here.
Don't start with me.
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Chapter 5: What nostalgic feelings do video game covers evoke for the hosts?
Is he frozen for you? He's stray frozen for me, dude. Yeah. It's all pixelated, too. What the heck?
Yeah, I know what you're doing. I'm not a dumbass. I know what you're doing. I can see the upload percentage. We still got you a little bit, though. We got you a little bit. Okay, okay, okay. Oh, I made myself choke. Oh, man. Look at him. Ace is shooting daggers so mad. Right now, man, if looks could kill. Oh, man. Oh, he just kicked over his chair. He just kicked over his chair. Oh, man.
Do you know how much work I've done?
That was so funny. We were like, bro, it's getting close to seven. We got to do it. We got to do it. Worth it. Worth it. You punks. For the listeners that are like, what the heck is going on?
Chapter 6: What are some surprising stories behind famous game covers?
Ace's internet for two episodes crapped out on us. He has PTSD from all of this. Ryan and I before the show were like, bro, we are going to pretend like Ace's internet dropped out. Just to try to get him. I love it. I may have went a little too hard on the chair.
He just broke his chair.
Oh, no. He knocked a leg off. He knocked a leg off his chair. Oh, man. It should just snap back on, right? Yeah, yeah. But, like, if I lean forward, I will fall.
So I'm just going to. Okay, so. Maybe Ace might fall during this episode. So stay tuned. Okay. Yeah. Oh, we're sorry to do that to you, Ace. Man, y'all suck.
I'm not at all. That was totally worth it.
Okay. And then we start messaging Ace, like saying, Ace, are you there? And then he's like, lies and slander. And then we're like, dang it, I don't know if he's buying this or not.
Poor chair.
Oh, man.
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Chapter 7: How do modern games compare to classic covers in terms of art?
I don't even remember where we were.
I'll get y'all back for this.
I'll get y'all back for this.
Ace starts looking around.
He's like, no, no. He's like, I can see me moving. I can see me moving. I can see the upload percentage. I'm not stupid.
Oh, man. Good times. No, we're the stupid ones, Ace, but it's fun to be stupid sometimes, too.
And if you're listening, you should be watching. We have video, so please, please watch this because it's a good time. You get to see Ace break his chair.
Who knows? I might even turn Ace into a rat for a few seconds while we do that little bit right there.
You see his face turning behind the rat?
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Chapter 8: What are the final thoughts on the best video game cover art?
And then some more kind of just ones that I think look just dope, dude. It's a cool looking cover art. People probably don't remember or maybe they haven't seen it, you know, and it's just, it looks, when you look at it, you're like, okay, yeah, that's a good pick.
I kind of went with the mix. I will say that on most of these drafts, especially when it's the topic of best or something like that, I generally try to go with what comes to mind first for me. If I have something that just immediately comes to mind, to me, that tells me that that ranks up there with being some of the best.
And so a lot of mine are like the very initial gut reaction to, you know, what, what came to mind instantly. That's what I'm going to go with. Uh, you know, uh, I'm sure there's others out there that are like more iconic or probably better art or something like that, but it's like, just, I'm going with my gut on these. So, all right, boys, you ready to get this draft started?
Yeah, I think, yeah. I'm winning this one now.
Yeah, with this questionable draft order.
Hey, man. Hey, blame the AI overlords. I even screenshotted and posted me asking AI to say, hey, please randomize these names, so... Because I knew you guys would be like, no, that's not fair. Okay, so let's pause for a second. Do you think there is a clear 101? Is there a clear top pick when it comes to best video game cover art?
Yes, there is for me. I have one in my mind that is the 101 of all game covers.
Okay, I do too. So I'm just going to go ahead and take it right here, guys. So starting this draft off, the most memorable video game cover art for me, the one that came to mind instantly. I mean, didn't even have to think about it. This is a no-brainer. It is Dead or Alive Extreme Beach Volleyball.
I'm just kidding.
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