While video game cover art is often as carefully designed as any movie poster, this area of graphic design is rarely given much thought. In this post we'd like to change this by high-lighting 40 brilliant examples of game art and explaining why they are so darn good.
40. Diablo II
While many games use a Hellish black and red color scheme in their cover art, no game has ever done this quite so well as Diablo II. The embossing used to accentuate the logo and the outlines around Mephisto's facial (skull-ial?) features are a nice tactile addition, while the wizard style hood Mephisto is wearing and strange runes remind players that this is a dark fantasy game, not just pure horror.
39. Crysis
The washed-out blue/gray of color scheme draws attention to the points of red light on the power suit, as well as to the EA logo, which is cleverly modified for the cover. While the power-suit is distinctly sci-fi, the tropical mountain and palm-trees hint that the setting may not be quite what you expect! The colors are also extremely cold, consistent with the freezing temperatures that you encounter periodically throughout the game. This creates an interesting contrast with the tropical setting subtly depicted on the cover.
38. Resistance: Fall of Man
This game's cover art uses the classic image of a helmeted skull in a battlefield with a new and striking twist. As you can see, the skull is thoroughly mutated, suggesting that the world is no-longer as we know it. The intricate detail in the logo design is also worth mentioning.
37. Killzone 2
While the 'helmeted figure glaring out at viewer' is a game art cover standard, Killzone 2 does this really well. The burning points of light in the character's eyes are extremely intense and provide a central point of focus. This edges it just ahead of its rival in this cover style, Fallout 3.
Killzone 2
Fallout 3
36. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
The Baldur's Gate game covers were all designed to look like mystical, leather-bound books with a central emblem. This demonstrated the game's high fantasy setting while also unifying the cover art across each game and expansion pack.
35. Sim City 2000
An idyllic, colorful city. An absurd space-ship bordered with pink neon. An art deco logo. The cover is that special brand of Maxis-weird that you won't find anywhere else. The signatures of Will Wright and Fred Haslam (the game's designers) are a really nice touch and emphasize the craftsmanship behind the game.
34. F.E.A.R.
This cover art throws a spanner into the workings of the traditional 'shooter' cover. While it features action and armored, armed figures, the whole scene is overseen by the ghostly--and in this rendering, larger than life--Alma. As this image is really the iconic image from the game, the graphic designers have cleverly made this the centerpiece of the cover.
33. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
The central theme throughout this cover design is the powerful Force-wave being unleashed by the central figure. It shapes the entire composition. The designer's have also cleverly warped the game's logo, as if it too is being affected by this explosion of power. While the game may not be an instant classic, the cover certainly is.
32. Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
This cover packs plenty of detail without cluttering the composition. By rendering the background illustrations in shades of the same color, focus is not drawn away from the three central figures and the game's logo.
31. Gears of War
While 'armored guy with weapon' is a front-cover cliche, this one stands apart from the pack by virtue of its attention to detail. The characters and even the background setting are meticulously rendered, creating a rich overall image.
30. Jade Empire
The game's regal logo and mythic concept artwork results in a cover that cleverly represents this oriental fantasy game. The cover offers a whirlwind introduction to a genre with few precedents.
29. Sins of a Solar Empire
The cover's brilliant blue at the bottom contrasted with solar red at the top focuses attention on the game's striking logo.
28. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
While the cover art isn't flashy, it's remarkable for its clever use of texture. The design appears to be rendered on an ancient, fraying canvas. The game's cover entices you to touch it.
27. Deus Ex
This cover is note-worthy because of the way it uses color and representative imagery to perfectly capture the mood of the game.
26. Alone in the Dark
While the Alone in the Dark games have been re-invented since the first debuted in 1992, the game's covers have retained a remarkable sense of unity, paying homage to the original classic cover design with a modern horror update.
Alone in the Dark (1992)
Alone in the Dark (2001)
25. Lego Batman
The 'LEGO' games as a franchise have featured covers that blend established pop culture figures (Indiana Jones, Star Wars characters) with Lego imagery, adding a clever new twist to images we're all familiar with.
24. Mass Effect
A classic space opera cover featuring the BioWare designed Commander Shepherd character. Though you could customize your character's face with a variety of facial modeling features, BioWare's default model was so realistic that it quickly became a representative for a new era in human realism in video games.
23. Little Big Planet
This cover fuses gorgeous hand-made elements with controlled explosions of color.
22. Contra
Another retro title, Contra is renowned for being one of the most difficult games in history. Its cover is remarkable for its clarity of message: "This is a game about being a bad-ass and shooting alien scum!"
21. World of WarCraft
The visual style of this virtual world is part of its branding, and this is portrayed faithfully in the cover art. The gold, circular frame around the central image is carried through the cover art for the expansion packs also, creating unity between each World of WarCraft product.
20. System Shock 2
The image of SHODAN, the game's insane AI antagonist, is one that has become an icon in sci-fi/horror video gaming history.
19. Far Cry
The first installment in the Far Cry series was, at the time, a pioneer in the development of realistic natural environments in games. While other shooters focused on dark corridoors and gloomy, linear areas, Far Cry rendered a lush tropical environment. The cover conveys this perfectly and would have stood out brilliantly against the other dark and clichéd shooters on the shelves.
18. The Sims 2
'The Sims' franchise of games are among the best-selling in history. Here, the graphic designs have cleverly incorporated the 'mood diamond' (an essential part of the games' user interface) into its logo. The figures chosen for the cover cleverly represent the key aspects of gameplay in The Sims 2.
17. BioShock
The BioShock logo is certainly one of the coolest in modern gaming, and the cover art ticks all the boxes when it comes to featuring iconic images from the game: the Little Sister, the Big Daddy, and the water that spills out everywhere. BioShock is all about mood, and this cover captures it perfectly.
16. Half Life 2
Every Half-Life fan recognizes the distinctive face of Gordon Freeman, the game's silent hero. Though the game features many stunning visuals that could have been used to represent it on the cover, the designers cleverly simplified down to Half-Life's most distinctive image.
15. StarCraft
Alien eyes stare out at you from the cover of the original StarCraft. The expansion packs unified the visuals by featuring different exotic faces on their respective covers.
14. Pokemon Blue
The Pokemon games for Game Boy were cleverly designed. Call the game a color, feature a Pokemon colored to match the game's title, do the same with the background. It seems simplistic, but for the legions of kids who wanted these games it meant that you could spot who had what Pokemon cartridge from across the playground. The end result were arguably the most memorable Game Boy game covers ever created.
13. Halo
The Halo cover stands out from other first-person shooters with a lush green color scheme. This ties in perfectly with the lush green of Master Chief's combat suit. The Master Chief character has since become a gaming icon and is the center-piece of the covers for the three FPS games in the Halo franchise:
Halo 1
Halo 2
Halo 3
12. DOOM
The DOOM franchise is remarkable for the way the games have, cover-art wise, stayed true to the original. The retro-horror logo and flame engulfed color scheme features right through to 2004's Doom 3. By the time of the game's released the DOOM games were widely-recognized pioneers in the FPS genre and the cover art for DOOM 3 was clever to remind us of this.
DOOM for DOS
DOOM II: Hell on Earth
DOOM 3
11. Super Mario Galaxy
The slick and vibrant graphics of this cover are true to the 'galaxy' setting while also updating Super Mario for a new console and a new era in gaming.
10. Tomb Raider
Every Tomb Raider game, from 1996 to 2008, has featured Lara Croft on the cover. The iconic Lara Croft image has always featured the protagonist in shorts, a singlet, gloves, and wielding two pistols -- so recognizable that the designers behind 2008's 'Tomb Raider: Legend' were confident you'd be able to recognize Lara even with her face obscured. The only deviation? 2000s 'Tomb Raider: Chronicles', where Lara is wearing some kind of freaky black body-suit. Nine years on that cover sticks out like a sore thumb, but the others have helped keep the iconic Lara image alive.
Tomb Raider (1996)
Tomb Raider: Legend (2008)
9. Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy is one of the most successful game franchises in history. Its covers hinge around a Final Fantasy logo backed by a chromatic illustration of key themes/characters from the game. The logo is simple, yet the chromatic element provides enough interest for the game cover to feature nothing else but a white background. While there are many variations on this theme, the Final Fantasy X cover demonstrates the power of this simple logo to its best effect.
8. Ultima VII: The Black Gate
Once you've reached the 7th game in a franchise, people know what 'Ultima' means. That's why when your game is called 'The Black Gate', you can afford to have a black cover with nothing but your logo on it. This brilliantly under-stated design allowed the Ultima brand to speak for itself: a clear statement of self-confidence. The game is widely regarded to be the best in the Ultima franchise and one of the best RPGs of all time.
7. Mortal Kombat
The encircled dragon logo has featured on the cover of every single Mortal Kombat franchise game ever released. It's a brilliant icon that captures the spirit of the game. Of all the covers featuring this logo, the first is arguably the best: featuring the dragon logo, the game title and its distinctive red, yellow and black color scheme, the cover is an example of powerful graphic design that simplifies the subject down to its essential elements.
6. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
In a large franchise like MGS, it's essential that each game cover ties together with other installments in the series. Except for the original Metal Gear Solid for PlayStation (1998), each cover has featured key characters illustrated in manga style, emphasizing the game's Japanese roots.
5. Grim Fandango
The imagery of Grim Fandango, with its art deco style and skull-headed characters, was always going to make for a striking cover. The game's warm colors, mysterious characters and old-school intrigues are brilliantly portrayed in this movie-poster style game cover.
4. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The sword, shield and red 'ZELDA' logo have become pop-culture icons. In the limited size environment of an SNES game cover, it's best to stick to what matters. That's what the designers have done here. Even the background color choice -- gold --helps to communicate that the game is a fantasy journey.
3. Super Mario Bros.
The first in a franchise of dozens, this cover marks the beginning of the iconic 'Super Mario' image. While Mario has been depicted in many different ways since this game's release in 1985, Mario in all his pixelated glory has remained the most recognizable.
2. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box
The Orange Box cover design doesn't feature complex Photoshop techniques and over-complicated imagery, and that's what makes it great. It stands out on game store shelves and in your own collection due to the bright 'safety' orange of the plastic and cover and iconic imagery representing the content in the package: Gordan Freeman's face representing Half Life 2, the portal symbol, and one of the distinctly recognizable characters from Team Fortress. The unique branding has also allowed Valve to tie this in with Half-Life 2's web presence at orange.half-life2.com.
1. Grand Theft Auto IV
The legendary Grand Theft Auto games utilize a design theme that is recognizable from across the room. Covers feature split section artwork capturing the characters and scenes you'll find inside the game, all illustrated in a distinct style by Ian McQue, lead concept artist at Rockstar North. The GTA logo with its iconic type-face has been consistent since Grand Theft Auto III. What's special about the cover design is that it focuses on what makes the Grand Theft Auto games great: the characters.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )alberto March 11th
wow these are awesome covers
( )bodhi March 12th
It is fantastic .. but “Call of Duty” was not mentioned … for me it is great!
( )Ad March 13th
COD are amazing games & also have some great covers, but I wouldn’t say they are amazing covers.
Then again, COD4 should be featured simply because of it’s game play! haha
Anon April 1st
That and mercenaries for ps2.
Todd Landry March 12th
This was a pretty pathetic list. There are DOZENS of covers better than this. The fact that the japanese / european Ico cover is not mentioned is proof alone that the writers of this article are clueless.
( )Boomer March 13th
need some left 4 dead cover is amazing
Kou May 7th
It’s clearly just a list of games they like, I saw a few covers that are pretty boring. Two I can think of right off are the Pokemon Blue and The Sims 2 covers.
Yasir March 23rd
Orange box cover is horrible, very bad, thats why i didnt buy the game :S
( )RyRy March 11th
I agree, these are all awesome covers, MINUS The Orange Box. Ugh, that covers is horrible.
( )Crysfel March 12th
I agree, The orange box is horrible hehehehe
( )Johannes Leuchovius March 12th
I also agree!
( )Jeff March 12th
The orange box is one of the worst covers I’ve ever seen. Arguably the most significant component, Portal, is advertised by a sole icon that only makes sense to those who have played the game. Granted, Chell isn’t a strong enough protagonist to be feature alongside Freeman or Heavy, but perhaps that means a different approach should have been taken for all 3. Maybe go the mario/duckhunt route and display each game separately.
( )Allison March 12th
I think the cover fits its purpose, but most readers would probably prefer to see “complex Photoshop techniques” instead of an admitted lack of them in the top slots. Certainly some worthy mentions on the list, though.
( )Christian Tobler March 11th
not sure how some of these made the list… neverless very cool, props on the article
( )Colin March 12th
i felt the same
( )jbcarey March 12th
I agree… the orange box for example.
Tim March 12th
I think orange box made the list purely because the games design did a fantastic job of branding the game. it’s a combination pack of three very contrasting games. one is a gritty, urban FPS, the second a sci-fi game with smooth chrome objects and a gun which shoots glowing portals, and the third is a retro-styled FPS come brawl-fest, with very little grounding in reality.
How do you package this in a way that will make people instantly think about these games in a way that stands out from the others on the shelves? MAKE IT BRIGHT ORANGE XD XD XD
FatRedDeadSadBadMadMax March 12th
i also think some of them were voted because of the game itself and not of the cover..
altough some very cool covers!
( )X-Site March 12th
I agree. Often the brands speak for them selfs, but good design is capable of promoting a game even without popularity.
ok March 12th
Third-ed… I also think that every FPS ever made is on this list, regardless of quality.
Bamboo Forest - PunIntended March 11th
Some of these covers are creating such nostalgia!
( )IPOX studios March 11th
What a great collection. There is a lot of inspiration to be seen in video game covers. I was just admiring the new Prince of Persia cover from Xbox 360. I’m glad you saved the best for last. Grand Theft Auto 4 rules!
( )bugsy March 11th
I admit that I’m not a video game wiz or anything. But I don’t see any progression from #40 to #1. Especially with #2. *shrug*
( )RickB March 12th
I agree. It looks more like the title should be “Forty Random Covers of Video Games the Author Likes to Play”.
I mean, with quotes like “Background Color: Gold – it helps to communicate the fantasy game setting.” What kind of bullshit is that?
( )Will March 11th
Some of these bring back some memories…HA
( )Ryan Imel March 11th
While I wouldn’t dream of putting the Orange Box ahead of Super Mario Bros on the list, for the most part I concur. Nice work, I can tell a lot of work went into this.
( )Radical Bender March 11th
Eh. Too FPS heavy.
And where’s Katamari Damacy?
http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx2/katamari_front.JPG
Beautiful, colorful, quirky, visually appealing.
Also agree with the above commenter about the Orange Box. Boring. If you pasted some business imagery over the middle of it, it could be Turbotax or something.
( )Henry Hoffman July 27th
I concur.
( )Zack March 11th
I don’t think you have the official MGS4 Cover art, at least not what is on my box. lol
( )Allison March 12th
Yeah, mine either: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metal_Gear_Solid_4
Although I did like the old art style of MGS a lot!
( )notcurtis March 11th
Where is Burnout Paradise? I love the contra cover
( )Bryan March 11th
diablo 2 is the first rpg game that i played i love it! i wish that diablo 3 will soon came out!
( )Chris March 11th
you forgot call of duty modern warfare and world at war lol
( )Jason March 12th
Yeah I would agree with that except too many covers featuring soldiers with guns running could feature within this list. I’m quite surprised that Burnout Paradise didn’t feature…very striking cover.
( )Marotte March 11th
You mean, that’s the top 40 WORST video game covers, right?
( )Irvall March 13th
You mean, that’s the top 1 of WORST comments ever, right?
( )MK Owens March 11th
I’m pretty sure there’s a considerable amount of nostalgia based bias in the ranking of these. Some of the top 10 are considerably worse than those in the 20’s and 30’s, and there are a number of amazing covers that did not even make the list (i.e. Soul Caliber IV [or the whole series for that matter], Neverwinter Nights, the original EQ box, Magic Candle series [specifically #3], the original Warcraft [and subsequent games], and much of the Command and Conquer series games). Even for its time, the Super Mario Bros box art was mediocre. Compare it with Donkey Kong (an early 80’s release), Captain Skyhawk (a 1989 release) or Deep Dungeon (a 1986 release). Those game boxes are so much more artistically relevant.
( )Earl March 12th
This list is seriously lacking. I remember when starcraft and war3 came out you could pick the box of your favorite race.
( )Andy March 11th
Hmm… The Orange box at number 2 was ripped to shreds and rightly so by gamesradar for its bland, unfocused cover.
http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-worst-box-art-of-2007/a-20071211165037654003/p-2
But otherwise nice list, glad you put some ‘pioneers’ in there as well as today’s effect-laden covers.
( )Adrian March 12th
At first when I saw the Number 1 Game Cover, I laughed… but then I thought about it, and it’s the only game I have in which the Lettering on the Cover Art is slightly raised, and I guess that makes it a little unique.
I actually like the Japanese/EU Metal Gear Solid 4 Game Cover better than the U.S. version, and the same thing goes for KZ2
I really can’t pick my own personal favorite game cover though… there’s just so many good one’s that I like:
Uncharted (very colorful, and I like Drake’s pose)
Gran Turismo Game Cover’s (especially GT3, GT4, and GT5P)
ICO (EU and Japanese cover)
Shadow of the Colossus
GTA Vice City
Hitman Contracts
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Jak and Daxter series Game Covers
God of War 1 and 2
….and the list just goes on, but those are just some of my favorites…
( )Robles March 12th
I disagree with this list. Like someone says, I don’t see any progression from #40 to #1…lego batman…c’mon!
( )VertigoSFX March 12th
Good list but there are a lot of better covers out there. Regardless it is a good collection. I think the orange box design is brilliant, same with Crysis.
I’m also surprised to not see Far Cry 2, considering Far Cry made it. Far Cry 2 has a great looking cover…mirror’s edge is also a great cover.
Oh well, still good list, not many times you see a top 40 video game cover list.
( )Jay March 12th
I’m agree in that the Far Cry 2 cover should be there. It’s much better than some of the others
( )SE7EN March 12th
I like Fire Emblem, Tales of… and Harvest Moon game series covers
( )Jimmy March 12th
Good list but no MAX PAYNE 2: The Fall of Max Payne ?!?! That’s one of my favorite pieces of art ever!
( )saltesc March 12th
If it’s counting down to #1, I would have definitely had the Crysis cover in the top 5. You can stare at the flawless detail in the image for ages. Plus the pose paused in the middle of a journey to that massive mountain through the jungle thanks to a single leaf. In fact everything is rich with detail and matches perfectly except for the 18+ badge. I’d swap it with Mario Bros.
^ And I agree with ya man. Mirror’s Edge is a wicked cover
( )aletsis March 12th
Wow, if anything this list is kind of sad. While some covers are awesome, for the time they came out, the lists actually shows the bad trend in video game covers. Such an amalgamation, it’s all the same, but, with different characters. Except for a few examples that do something different (like GTA4, or Super Mario Bros.).
If anything, list could easily be condensed to a Top 10.
( )Loveleen March 12th
very inspirational..!!
( )I love the detailing in games’ graphics…
kodos to the artists for making them and the collectors for bringing them to us…
yasin March 12th
It seems kind of random. Maybe not a top 40 but more of a 40 game covers of wich some are very good.
( )Alex Beltechi March 12th
So we’ve had a game cover tutorial, and an inspiration post on them too. Sounds like everything’s set for a game cover contest
( )Sean Hodge March 12th
Alex, good suggestion. We’re working on a website design contest for next month, but a game cover design after that sounds like a good idea. I’ll work on it. Thx.
( )tibô March 12th
idd n1 Alx B)
Sean Hodge March 12th
Alex, I’m rethinking this. A video game cover contest might be better to launch next. We’ll see. I’m working on it. Thx.
( )Alex Beltechi March 12th
What ever you guys decide. It sounds like a fun topic anyway
Mark Mayers March 12th
Wow, this post seems to have hit a nerve with a lot of people, and shows you cannot please everyone! Did I start this all off this with my gamecover tutorial?
Allison March 12th
Cool!
Shimun March 12th
Nice List,
( )but i wonder why there is no part of the Monkey Island-Series, Sam ´n Max and other stuff…I think Bioshock should number one because of the rockin steam punk theme.
In focus on the school shooting we had yesterday over here in germany and the now following discussion about games that turn kids into killers, it´s good to see some focusing on the art side of computer gaming.
Hans Vargas March 12th
ooh….. that would be great, a new contest… and about a game….. cool
( )hader March 12th
So wrong.. Just wrong.. Never let nostalgia take control over your brain.
( )Allison March 12th
Anyone passionate enough about video games to write about them suffers from nostalgia creep. S’how it works!
( )justvisiter March 12th
Where is Moneky Island ? =(
( )AnggaRifandi March 12th
great cover from great games. very inspirational. nice article
( )Shaw March 12th
Great collection! Rezzy 5 should be up. Can we get a tutorial?
( )WilhelmR March 12th
I know “top x” articles are more about personal preference than anything else, but i felt you missed so many great game covers and included some just because.
Here’s only one of the game covers i think should be in the top 20:
-Seaman, a game for the Dreamcast:
http://i40.tinypic.com/2zi2edu.jpg
( )Ferruccio March 12th
and Silent Hill?
( )There are more others GOOD game artworks (and some of artworks posted by you is not real GOOd)
tifa March 12th
what about ICO?????????? that is by far the best cover i’ve seen and the only work of art….
( )the surreal landscape .. the solitude … everything about that cover illustrates exactly what the game experience is about ..
ahmicro March 12th
amazing collection thank you so much
( )xQlusive March 12th
Diablo
… brings back memories
( )AoL March 12th
yea i know all the time wasted on that game
( )David Macphail March 12th
Ah Pokemon Blue……that takes me back.
( )mmmfish March 12th
An awful, awful list. A lot of hard work obviously went into this, but you picked the most tedious and cliched images of all time. You obviously have very little taste worth a damn. Only a tiny handful of those are genuinely good. Where’s the beauty, the spark, the originality? Somebody mentioned the Katamari Damacy cover and the Ico (Japan and Europe) cover. Perfect examples of the rare hand of artistry in video game covers.
What the hell is Envato doing posting this crap? Way to sully a strong brand with rubbish Digg-bait. I’ll think twice before clicking through to PSDtuts next time I have a spare moment.
( )Andre March 12th
Ico
( )was Fresh!!
Josh C. June 9th
This is exactly why I’m afraid to express my opinion on the internet.
( )Jasperio March 12th
Wow. + for effort, but this list is full of mediocre designs. So much better cover art out there.
( )7twelve March 12th
how could there be no wipeout? TDR started a bit of a trend in design in general with the creation of that branding
( )Supreem April 13th
Very very true. WipeOut and WipeOut 2097 were gems. I still flip through the manual from time to time because it’s so awesomely styled.
( )Jason March 12th
Great list! I personally would have added the Quake cover designs as well.
( )Sister Nancy March 12th
horrible list… where is Dead Space???
( )mrp19 March 15th
agree.. dead space should be in the lists..
( )Josh C. June 9th
Agreed, Dead Space and Left 4 Dead both feature hands and are still very powerful images that have different meanings given the context.
( )Josh C. June 9th
..Although, I don’t think it was a horrible list, although I do disagree with some
Pedregosa March 12th
Where is Donkey Kong 1 Cover? That’s brilliant!
( )pantheon March 12th
I like covers from Monkey Island series, too…
( )Foobar March 12th
Orange Box?! WTF. Most of these covers seem to have made it on here because the GAME itself rocks, not the cover. And as much as love Mario, the cover just ain’t that great.
( )hater March 12th
james brown would have put together a better list…
( )Mark March 12th
Terrible list!! Missed so may better ones.
( )Timothy March 12th
How is this relevant?
( )Rishi Luchun March 12th
Some nice ones, some bad ones, and some didn’t even make the list!
( )Drew March 12th
Nice list, but you missed a couple…
1) http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/nes-games/14-1.jpg
2) http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/nes-games/49-1.jpg
( )pete March 12th
This list is fucking awful, what about ICO?
Pokemon? Orange box, get a clue please.
( )Jason March 12th
Not impressed, hardly a list of ALL TIME! Trciky to do this I’m sure but not a very good job IMO.
( )Irvall March 12th
Great collection – i smiled inside when i saw SimCity 2000.
Memories <3
I’m sure some of the covers could be re-arranged, but anyways:
Thanks for the post!
( )JohnGreenArt March 12th
You picked Grim Fandango over any other LucasArts game? Monkey Island 1 or 2, Zak McKraken, Fate of Atlantis, The Dig… pick any!
( )4q March 12th
Good article, bad selection. i miss more covers from the Arati era. The orange Half Life one sucks.
( )FeroxX March 12th
i dont see any command & conquer stuff here ! EPIC FAIL !
Red Alert 1 cover FTW !!! =)
( )dx March 12th
Deus ex. Good game or best game ever?
( )Roberto Blake March 12th
It just goes to show you how essential design is to branding, and selling a product.
( )Brent Nelson March 12th
Starcraft box ’series’ was pretty slick cover design for its time. I was pretty captured by it.
( )Guybrush March 12th
Monkey Island 1 has the best cover ever!!!
( )Athens March 12th
Wow, people are harsh on here. Anyway, decent list. I would have preferred to see the GTA III to GTAIV (including all releases in the middle) posted like you did with Halo, because they are all phenomenal work.
( )Craigsnedeker March 12th
Nice. AOE FTW!!!
What happened to COLIN MCRAE DIRT? That cover PWNS!
( )Ruben de Vries March 12th
90% is kinda similar to each other and useless to me. Like the idea though.
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
SImply, Don’t look it in designers view
( )Ruben de Vries March 12th
Sadly, that’s sort of why I’m here for.
lawrence77 March 12th
me too, but sadly what to say,
whatever they post, we forced to read here!
so only, but it’s funny
lawrence77 March 12th
they prove, PSDTUTS always rocks in all topics……
David March 12th
The Japanese cover of Ico is amazing and is easily better design than any covers on this list… like what has been said previously a lot of this list seems to be based of nostalgia and a persons preference of games (theres a lot of fps near the top). Some of these covers are great… others are just horrid.
( )Ahmet March 12th
Crysis and GTA better than all and may be too half life
( )wiley March 12th
sim city 2000 made me the person i am today
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
what?
( )Simon March 12th
Awful list so much is missing!
( )Evan March 12th
YUP! good start. But its missing a bunch of way better covers and cover concepts. (saints row 2, metal gear solid 3, black, full auto, Rainbow Six 1 & 2, dead space, left 4 dead, etc. etc.) Not to mention crysis, fallout, and K2 are all the same cover. No concept what so ever. Check out http://www.petrolad.com for examples of really good photoshop work, concepts, and the amount of work that goes into gaming covers and similar work.
I would like to see this list re-written please. grade of for now. Could be if it was written with some more thought.
( )Kenn March 12th
Wow Amazingly bad choices, I mean many didn’t make sense. HL Cover is the 2nd. That shows you don’t know what your talking about dude. Plus you have recent covers. Next time do all system not just the ones you have.
( )Jennifer March 12th
Yeah I agree, just picking all the Halo games because you happened to like Halo really isn’t good enough from a design perspective. There are some REALLY amazing covers (like Katamari as I’ve already mentioned) that are completely missing and in their place are some pretty bad picks.
( )Adam March 12th
You brought back some great memories here… Contra was seriously an awesome-as-hell game… To bad I never owned it (I had one of those friends-that-are-friends-because-they-have-awesome-video-games, so that took care of those needs)…
Good set of covers here, I like that you included the retro stuff.
( )mrn March 12th
Silent Hill cover, ftw ;p
( )Randy March 12th
Yawn. So many of these are derivative of the previous and others in their genre. There’s a serious lack of creativity in this segment of the industry if you ask me. I’d venture to say 80-90% of these all have centered type and a face on them for instance. Centered type is such a scape goat way of handling titles….
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
Collis write this article again, ie, suitable for now
I too love numbers!
http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/news/numbers-schmumbers/
hey skille, where you taken your Avatar??
( )ask collis to write such things!
thanks!
Jennifer March 12th
I think Katamari Damacy should have been up there. I’m really shocked that it wasn’t.
( )Jennifer March 12th
http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx2/katamari_front.JPG for reference.
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
it seems to be good!
but it is not better!
xin0 March 12th
complete waste and a failure attempt!
( )Warren March 12th
cmon….lol…what about
( )Eidos – Hitman 2 – Silent Assasin
Electronic Arts – FIFA 2008
Max Payne 2 – The Fall of Max Payne
Radical Games – Scarface The World Is Yours
jeeeeezzzz
Zaldare March 12th
MGS4 Limited Edition, Prince of Persia (this gen) should of been there together with Street Fighter IV.
( )0305 March 12th
this list is horrible…
( )Watcher March 12th
Orange Box shouldn’t be listed and where is Shadow Of The Beast? psygnosis titles all had amazing artwork on the boxes
( )squidyj March 12th
Just as a note. Gordon Freeman is NOT Half-Life 2’s most distinctive image. Not by a long shot.
( )wut March 12th
I have no freakin clue how that craptastic Bioshock cover got onto this list. The collector’s edition of it was infinitely better. It didn’t seem like a cheesy action game.
And the Orange Box? Are you retarded?
( )Jimmy Jones March 12th
This is easily the most bullshit article on ANYTHING I’ve read in a long, long time.
( )Jeff March 12th
you missed the entire collection of ‘Psygnosis’ game covers. Some of the best covers and boxes ever put to market.
( )tcd March 12th
Clearly a list that requires MUCH more research. The fact that so many FPS games made it, and very few adventure, fighters or rpgs made the list is highly disappointing.
Where’s Shadow of the Colossus? Any version of Tetris? Chrono Trigger? Any version of Gran Turismo? Too much of an FPS focus here to really swallow this list.
( )Nick March 12th
Good article, but I’m a bit disappointed to find no mention of any of the Oddworld games on here. Not even Abe’s Odyssey gets honorable mention?
( )G March 12th
cute, but this doesn’t seem to be in any order that makes any sense, and yet, that’s OK, it’s not like this is an empirical study.
Oh and BTW, Contra wasn’t hard, n00b.
( )seansteezy March 12th
great break from the monotony of work. thanks for the distraction! I agree with #1! hells yeah, and fallout is tight too.
( )dub March 12th
I can’t believe you have Orange Box #2 and GTA IV #1. Shows that the young generation of gaming has no ideas of the true origin…
( )MP March 12th
The cover for Contra shouldn’t be on this list… while a undoubtedly a classic in it’s own right, it highlights a severe lack of imagination, and plagiarism (or heavy inspiration at the very least) from Alien and Predator. The two protagonists are nothing more than paint-overs of Arnold Schwarzenegger from promotional photos for Predator: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1876462080/tt0093773
( )and
http://www.reviewbusters.net/images/movie/predator_001.jpg
MP March 12th
^ My message wasn’t meant to be a reply directly to Jennifer. Sorry.
( )fluke March 12th
Completely arbitrary arrangement.
( )Anton March 12th
some of these are great games but not good covers at all…especially some classic games like zelda (it just says ZELDA, love the game but not a great cover) Medieval 2 should be included and so should knights of the old republic
( )Ruan March 12th
Haha.
Very Very goood.
I remember for the Super Mario Bros. I played in my Nintendo. Good times
( )razkazz March 12th
This is the worst ‘top something’ list I’ve ever seen. Beyond the terrible choices, the explanation of why they’re good covers was just bad. It wasn’t about the artistry at all, but about how well they illustrate what the game is like. And most of these covers are way too new to be considered top anything, Killzone 2 just came out. With the older selections I understand that nostalgia is a big factor in choosing them, but like the Contra cover, that’s back when they were just tracing movie poster images and changing the heads lol it’s just an awful copy of Arnold from the cover of ‘Predator’ with a different head and an ‘Alien’ rip off in the background, no way that’s one of the greatest covers of all time. Also, the FFX and MGS4 covers you chose aren’t the US versions.
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
i hate Games except Age of Empires I, what a mind blowing game it is! Masterpiece from Microsoft!!!
Where is the poster of Age of Empires I……
( )Lawrence77 March 12th
and also i like GTA Vice City…
( )still now i finish 60% only, i search to improve from 60%, but still i can’t
Lord Gabriel March 12th
Hmmm… nice!
It makes me think about beautiful games’ covers and makes me remember some good times
( )Johannes Leuchovius March 12th
Awesome, but where is war craft!?
( )KTK March 12th
IMO, You could swap the names on more than half of these covers and not be able to tell the difference, they’re almost all just variations of “main character staring out at you.”
There are so many truly striking and original game covers out there that this list comes off as lazy, or at least lacking thought. I’ll add “The Ancient Art of War” as a game cover that popped off the shelf for me.
( )JC March 12th
As I recall, the original Half-Life box didn’t show Gordan Freeman’s face, but cut off at the shoulders. Once it was a hit, they issued one with the now recognizable face. But at the time, at least some people panned the decision to stick a face on there, saying that by not having one, it was easier to project yourself into the role of the character.
( )Philip March 12th
Dude, you said “Gordan” in the Orange Box article.
( )ds March 12th
Some really great covers in there… but I have to agree with some of the posts above in that plenty some of the choices are bad taste. Top marks for effort, it’s a great idea.
( )Req March 12th
I’m sorry but this list is pretty poor. Some exceptional omissions as previously mentioned. The Sims 2? Really?
( )Dustin March 12th
How about seaman? That cover was pretty awesome..
( )Patrice March 12th
I saw somewhere on the GTA game cover that the girl has 6 fingers on photoshop disasters blog. I’m not even sure if the source is sure but what ever.. If you count the thumb she actually got six fingers.
Link : http://photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com/2008/05/gta4-how-many-fingers.html
( )JT March 12th
Star Control II is not on here why?
( )Diego SA March 12th
Wow! Incredible! Games of my childhood and present time! But there’s a lot of game covers you guys didn’t bring to us, all cited here in previous posts, and some covers should . But I loved this list, reminds me a lot of childhood moments. Fucking awesome! Congratulations!
( )Diego SA March 12th
…should be removed from this list.
(sorry, forgot to finish the typing, hehe)
( )franklin March 12th
i dont agree with 2/3 of these. honestly.
( )deaddays March 12th
This seems more like a list of Top 40 Covers of Video Games YOU’VE Played. Seriously, “All Time?” Literally about HALF of them came out in the last 5 years! And LEGO BATMAN? THE ORANGE BOX? THE SIMS 2!?!?!?!
This is easily the “Top 1 Least Impressive Game List of All Time.”
( )stevo March 12th
Glad to see Super Mario Bros, but no Atari 2600 game packaging?
( )Number1 March 12th
Great stuff! Good job!
( )Andre March 12th
I was up to Final Fantasy when I decided to post a comment.
I think this is PERFECT!! These are usually artist within the company who do this. It is nice to get re-commendated. Is it possible to do vinyl album art tribute, c.d. booklets, movies covers.
Lets keep moving with this and if you need help I am down for whatever.
Thanx guys
( )Wayne March 12th
The 7th Guest is my favorite cover. Anybody?… anybody?
( )lawrence77 March 13th
mortal combat?
( )acm1pt March 12th
What happen whit sonic 2, is epic…anyway..
( )sonic riders zero gravity is a piece of shit of game, but is one of the most beatiful box art on the wii.
windu March 12th
Looks like you haven’t seen a lot of game covers. It’s just a random collection, a lot of which are pretty awful. I think you liked the games so much it’s affected your judgment. I’m thinking it wouldn’t be hard to come up with 40 covers better than all 40 of these.
( )Prouve March 12th
Interesting… My fav is the world of warcraft cover.
An intesrting stuff to know : on the Super Mario Galaxy cover, u can see little shiny stars on the title. Look at the letters, u got it ? U, R, G, A, Y ” U are Gay”
( )Sammo March 12th
There are stars on the lower parts of the M and R though too, so it doesn’t make any sense with those two added.
( )Mike M. March 12th
UM, HELLO??
YAR’S REVENGE??? AND OVER HALF OF ATARI’S COLORED BOX VCS, ARTWORK?? NOT A SINGLE ONE???
This list is total shit. There’s nothing pre-NES – Even Magnavox had a few good Odyssey 2 box covers, that are better than half the ones mentioned in this article, put togeher. But totally omitting Yar’s Revenge is tatamount to blashpemy.
( )Nicco March 13th
Methinks super metroid (japanese cover) should be on here
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.nintendowiifanboy.com/media/2007/08/mw-boxart-10-nwf.jpg
( )shila March 13th
all games are nice
( )Kayzah March 13th
Some of the covers are really good (Oblivion, Little Big Planet, Bioshock and more..)
But most of them can’t convince me. Sorry Dude -__-
( )Nintendo Wii Fan March 13th
Wow… Sim City II, What a game that was!
Thanks for the trip down memory lane
Tony.
( )Stepaan March 13th
I thing the two variants of the Black and White game could be here. There is a concept of donating to the charity by buying the slightly more expensive game with the white version of the cover behind it.
( )Jesus Christ March 13th
Dude, the original release of Ico had by far the best cover art ever.
( )odd March 13th
A list of this kind sure is a matter of taste but I think your list is quite one-directional. Most of the covers are of contemporary origin and many share the same art-style. There are tons of covers (especially japanese ones) that are more ambitious. You should also take a look at some older games.
I personally find most of the covers you mentioned rather boring (but that is just my opinion).
It is ok to highlight a few good covers but then you missed your headline.
( )Tusefomal March 13th
Most of the covers in the list are the same, a big guy doing some pseudo-posing-epic action with any extra figures in background… I’m not an expert, but I thing this list must be titled “top 40 clonical covers… and some good ones too”.
I agree with some of them: Mortal Kombat, Resistance, SIM city 2000… But, for example, kill zone 1 cover i better than kill zone 2 one, and where’s Mirror’s Edge?
( )shinigamiboi March 13th
that is awesome.
( )damn right GTA IV is first lol.
Bob DeMarco March 13th
Hmmm what about:
Sim City 4? http://www.gamershell.com/static/boxart/large/uk/3340.jpg
Mario Kart Double-Dash? http://s4.tinypic.com/2duf19y.jpg
NBA Hang Time? http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1203526699-00.jpg
Golden Eye 007: http://redzonegamer.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/gold007.jpg
Next time, make sure it’s not in order, just unorder list
( )Rick March 13th
MechWarrior 2 was the best game cover of all time. There, I said it.
Crusader: No Remorse should be on the list also.
( )Michael March 13th
Best of all time? I hardly think so. It’s a sad state of affairs when an in game model posing with a gun (read: not using it) constitutes a good cover design. Also, just because it’s new and recognizable doesn’t make it good – there are a lot of actually drawn and painted covers from the old days that didn’t make it to your list. It’s like you didn’t do any research and just picked forty popular games and arranged them somewhat.
( )Ryandc March 13th
Good lunchtime read. Not sure why some of them are in the list tho: WOW, Orange box and Zelda are pretty awful designs IMO. Their recogniseable, but that doesn’t make them good video game covers
( )wasdeeh March 13th
good topic – horrible execution. except of a few classics it seemed you just skimmed you software collection and took a some at random…I mean – Orange Box? All three Halos? SIMS? And so on… WTF?
( )juanito March 13th
MONKEY ISLAAAAAND !!!!!!!!
( )pixeladdict March 13th
orange box, #2 in “Top 40 Video Game Covers of All Time” ????
( )come on
Chris March 13th
It’s like reading a teenager’s top 40 album’s of all time.
( )Missing:
- No international covers
- No classic Atari covers
- No Home computer covers: Amiga, ST, C64, Spectrum, Amstrad
- Few JRPG covers in fact the whole list seems to be compiled from a PC/Xbox slant, way to many FPSs.
Weezy March 13th
I think Mortal Combat was the best example of what good branding has the power to achive over the design aspect of things…
p.s. Resistance should have been WAY higher… that skull effect rules!
( )Aibaleet March 13th
What a lousy list. It’s bad and all of you should feel bad for thinking otherwise. I’d say maybe 5 names of that entire list are even worth being mentioned.
( )stasia March 13th
most of the covers are utterly rubbish!
( )not a bad idea but really badly executed.
s
Rui March 13th
Hellgate: London’s cover should be on that list!
Otherwise, nice list, though I wouldn’t pick Orange Box for #2.
( )Beard March 13th
BS! This guy has just scanned all his games. Most of this list is uninspired crap. No artistic merit really.
( )Rob March 13th
Was this a joke? Did you just take a list of games and randomly pick 40? Some of those games have awesome covers. Many of them aren’t good enough for the dumpster!
( )Mike M March 13th
Is this a joke?
( )lawrence77 March 13th
After a long time the comments gonna reach 200!
( )hats off to Skille and Outlaw for this wonderful post!
Geil van Straaten March 13th
Where’s ‘The 7th Guest’?! That had a beautiful cover…as did its sequel.
( )GorrillaMcdouglas March 13th
It seems like everyone should read the article a little more closely. I agree not all the covers are the best display of artistry, but I think the author was looking at some different factors.
From the descriptions, it seems like “effective use of imagery to convey mood” was a big factor in picking some of the covers. (Orange Box maybe?)
Even if there are some not so great covers in here, there are some really good ones too, like Crysis, Half-Life, and Ultima 7. Several people have also admitted that a lot of work went into this list.
If anyone thinks it’s that bad, go get a blog and post your own list and let the scathing comments fly. Because anytime anything video game related is posted on the net, people will argue, it’s just human nature.
( )DarthVain March 13th
Interesting article, though I am sure there are better covers out there than that. Zork Nemesis was pretty nice, and I am sure there were plenty of bad games with good covers as well… this list seems to concentrate on the best games throughout the years…
An article I would like to see would be the worst BACK cover representations of games. Not so much a problem now, but I remember back in the day any images you saw of a game in magazines or on the back cover of the game would be one of two things, artists rendering, or picture of a cut scene. Then thinking that was game play graphics you would buy the stupid thing, and when you went to play it were sorely disappointed by what you actually got!
( )Khoality March 13th
Most of these games are great as well if not ground-breaking games. There are a lot of bad video games out there with amazing cover art. Great list though!
( )richard March 13th
It seems like you started from the best and gradually ran out of games you’ve played. Terrible list.
( )jon March 13th
weak list. this looks like a list of someone’s favorite games, not a list of the best cover art of all time, or even a list of games with above average cover art (i’m looking at you zelda and final fantasy!). This is a completely unobjective list. i believe you’ve simply chosen games that you think will get you more readers. This is evident in the fact that every game on this list was very successful when it came out.
( )franklin March 13th
definatly the worst thing on this website…sorry…..should probably delete it….and do a revision later on………perhaps with a POLL…and no one can argue that fact after that…
basically….who are you to say these are the “top 40 game covers”….just an opinion….and def a bad one…
EPIC FAIL.
( )myname March 14th
horrible list, 50% of them are terrible designs and your justifications are very weak. Your knowledge about the actual games is often wrong.
( )roflbad March 14th
proberly searched “game covers” in google and pasted the list he found here…
( )TTC March 14th
40 covers and no Indiana Jones – The Fate of Atlantis cover / Monkey Island I/II cover – unbeliveable!
Who selected crap like Bioshok, Sims 2 or The orange box?
( )Chikezie Ejiasi March 14th
Hm I agree, most of these covers seemed biased to the quality of the game. In my bias, I would have chosen:
- Kingdom Hearts
( )- Final Fantasy VIII, IX, X, XII, Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core
- Shadow of the Colossus
- Burnout Revenge, Paradise
- Ace Combat 6
- Mirrors Edge
- Suikoden II, III, IV, V
- Soul Calibur
Flash Paragon March 14th
Where are the Atari 2600 video game covers??? Those are the cool ones…………….Space Invaders, Berzerk, Missile Command……………..those were the days……………
( )Metz March 14th
This list was awful! Truly awful! The person who did it obviously don’t have a clue about the history of games. These were mostly new games. I mean Fear 2?! Come on, could you do a more generic cover than that? And the pockemon stuff… Give me a break! I could go on for ever about this but I’m to upset at the moment… Were are the true classic covers like Pinball Construction Set ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinball_Construction_Set
Archoin http://ps3bloggen.se/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/archon.jpg
Hard hat mac http://www.mobygames.com/game/hard-hat-mack/cover-art/gameCoverId,803/
/M
( )/M
Anonymous March 14th
This is a horrible, horrible list. I take it you haven’t been playing video games for more than about 5 years and you only purchase major, well-advertised titles. Please do not presume to think you know anything about video games. You don’t. I think a better list as already been created here http://fightingamphibians.com/v/res/49761.html and it seems they also summed up exactly what’s wrong with yours as well.
“>15 images of main characters staring forwards
>Ultima VII’s cover, which is a pure black image with a logo
>The orange box, which looks like a greatest hits cover.
>Baulder’s Gate, Age of Kings, Oblivion
>Doom 2 and 3, when Doom 1 was the only one with the good cover
>GTA IV in first place, even though it’s cover is identical to the five games that preceeded it
whoever made this list deserves death.”
( )Dalton Hurd March 14th
I thought most of the game covers listed were great, while others were pretty standard and weren’t anything special.
Given that there really isn’t that many amazing game covers out there, I think the list should’ve been narrowed down more and a little more focused on the unique covers.
MGS4 was on the list, but I would’ve liked to see the limited edition cover as a separate on the list. It was really that amazing, and significantly different than the regular version.
( )Marquest March 14th
AWESOME!!
( )Stanley March 15th
Yes, where is “Call of Duty”
( )Sure is 14 year old art student's first attempt at analysis around here March 15th
Wow, this gotta be one of the worst “Top X” list I’ve seen on the internet, and I’ve seen a lot. Even some trolls had better taste.
( )Bystander March 15th
This article was crap…stop wasting people’s time.
( )Elthar March 15th
That’s probably all the games author(s) have played and/or saw in the nearest game shop. horrible, horrible list.
( )next time you’ll want to share such an great expetience with the readers, go find some wall and write “i won’t do that again” 100 times.
you March 15th
VERY nice list. like how they added crysis up there, its the best
i was wondering, is it ranked #40 that’s the best, or is that the worst? or does the place have nothing to do with it at all?
( )13hazza March 16th
yeah made as, keep up the collection
( )OneFatPanda March 16th
The Orange Box (aka #2 on the list) is a fine example of “copy house design”. I wonder if EA got the covers digitally copied at the same place. Maybe the got a discount?
( )OneFatPanda March 16th
Oops .. should have been “Maybe they got a discount?”
( )dker March 16th
This selection sucks, illustrations are so bad, no idea behind it, except super mario cover everything in this list is not good
( )saurabh shah March 16th
nice list .. but U missed ” Hitman ” , “Max Payne” , “Call Of Duty” parts ….
( )Blackjack March 16th
I think that any of the Hitman covers worth a place in this list.
( )There are also great artworks from old Sonic (Sega) games and more recently Prince of Persia, Assassins Creed and many others…
Great memories from this list anyways, so thanks for shaking my mem dust.
gabriel March 16th
is that a list of games that author likes? i see no design here sorry
( )Jam March 17th
Worst article I’ve seen here. No design value whatsoever. There are sites that you can talk about your favorite games, but I don’t think this is one of them.
( )niko March 17th
I vote the “Street Fighter IV” cover and “”
( )BG March 17th
I am almost sure that is the list of your 40 games you have, and not a top of best 40 video games cover designs of all time…
( )SKYNET March 17th
Terrible list. There are a couple that are good. Not really any classics though.
( )You should try looking at some Amiga box art….
Mike W March 17th
Perfect Dark N64 – http://nintendoforever.free.fr/N64/PerfectDark/Tests/PerfectDark_1boite.jpg
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – http://www.mywii.com.au/img/game/The-Legend-of-Zelda–Ocarina-of-Time-1.jpg – Stands out from other N64 covers
( )Eric Shafer March 17th
Featured here: http://www.presidiacreative.com/web-picks-16/
( )Silver_DICE March 17th
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion could be one of the top 10, because of the hidden words wrote on daedric! But anyway awesome! Just please answer me why did you put orange box on 2
( )Cereal March 18th
Don’t know about you guys, but for me, most of old pc adventure games had the best covers.
( )Discworld,Monkey Island Series,Full Throttle,Legend of Kyrandia, and other Lucasart,Sierra games..
anon March 18th
This is the very definition of “meh”! Pokemon Blue?!?
( )anon March 18th
This site has gone downhill over the last few months. Unsubscribed.
( )Jamie Allsop March 19th
Like anything you design you want it to stand out from the crowd and attract your attention, whether it be video game covers, movie posters, websites or any other type of design, you want yours to be seen first. So for example your in a shop and your looking for a new game, you might have in mind what you are after but if you see something that draws your attention because of an outstanding design you are going to pick it up and have a look, alright the game may look rubbish, but you had to have a look because you thought the cover was good.
( )Alx March 19th
Way too many cliched blokes with guns covers in here.
And number 2? It’s rubbish. It’s just a perfectly good Half Life 2 box, with confusing imagery, no heirachy of information with bright orange thrown in for no good reason.
Monkey Island 2 is the best. Beautiful hand painted artwork which hit the pirate theme spot on.
I’d also say Vice City was the best GTA cover.
( )Brian March 19th
of all time?????!!!
( )Nice To See You March 20th
Wonderful collection.
( )Brings back memories.
John Mack March 21st
Any chance that we could get the raw files of some of these. would love to see the layerd files, I’m aware that they are copyrighted inc logos but hint hint any chance that one of the designers might post up a link to the full un-merged file.. Please..
( )MyGB March 22nd
Just a little error : it’s not “Tomb Raider: Legend” but “Tomb Raider Underworld”.
( )Kow March 22nd
What about the Company of Heroes or Company Of Heroes Opposing Fronts Cover?
( )shaheel March 23rd
No MAX PAYNE ? The All time favourite of mine ?
( )LukeStrike March 23rd
im missing the FULL THROTTLE cover there. Definetely the #1
( )Vicky Nimbalkar March 24th
That was fantastic covers.
I’ve one covered on my blog too : http://insidepcgames.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/the-excellent-pc-game-covers-designed
( )Steve March 25th
Another really great collection, there should be a post on exceptional album covers.
( )jenny March 26th
The GTA covers are actually illustrated by Stephen Bliss. I used to sit next to him when I was on the design team at the R* offices in NYC.
( )feveran March 29th
half life always!
( )Andrew March 29th
I think GTA IV Should not have been number 1. I think that Call Of Duty should have been in there somewhere also.
But they are all very nice and a nice wee look at past and present games.
( )Dialog March 30th
Uninvited – the classic MacVenture
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/dos-games/2140-1.jpg
( )Andrea 'SEXY' Wilson March 31st
That is Awesome!!! All those game covers just took me back a lil’ bit… in a totally good way!
( )SALIMA April 6th
Megaman 9, anyone?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megaman_9
Really makes me interested with the game!
( )murdocss April 15th
just the fact that max payne isnt way up high makes this a total failure , but grim fandango saved the day …however monkey island oh my where is that!?!? =P
( )Gyrel Dagooc April 22nd
Yeah I agree to this collections! I’ll go for Call of Duty, WOW, and Grand Theft Auto.
( )Cary April 28th
I’m glad to see Oblivion’s cover on this list. Love the game (and I’m a girl gamer!)
( )Chriz May 2nd
The Twilight Princess cover is amazing! Wonder why it didn’t make the list…
( )lars May 9th
very good list, except number 1 and 2 :S and you forgot Ico.
( )Technologix May 9th
Super Mario Galaxy is my favorite !
( )Grand Theft Auto IVsucks May 10th
Grand Theft Auto IV Was Crap.. Someone need to stop being paid to say these game are good.
( )Christopher Bell May 12th
As a graphic and interactive designer, i must say that there is HUGE potential for improvement in the video game market, specifically games for more mature audiences. I must say that the Left 4 Dead cover is certainly one of the best in recent years. Reiterating the title through the zombie hand is nothing short of genius. Theme, aesthetic, and title all tied in together.
I also must point out that this list does not acknowledge European or JP cover designs. Ico’s JP cover design is gorgeous and speaks to the scale, atmosphere, & explorative/puzzle-solving experience of the game. The American version ignores all of these and is a complete failure by comparison.
Lastly, this list is rather poor. Yes, there are some strong designs for sure (GTA, Bioshock, Fear, Mario Galaxy, Resistance) but the Halo, Killzone, and Fallout pictured above are atrocious. Fallout is an epic, EPIC world. And yet you focus on one metal soldier that we’re use to seeing in games of this genre? Using common images like this do not stand out. They are lost to us. Fail.
If this is what the game industry has to offer, someone really needs to step in and capitalize on these mistakes. Games can be incredible, interactive experiences and by the looks of many of these, you wouldn’t have the slightest idea.
Cheers,
( )Christopher Bell
mitch May 29th
# 2 IN another site is voted worst or one of the worst covers all time.
( )El'scorcho May 31st
Are you guys fairly retarded? That is the worst design covers list in the world! Pokemon BLUE? Orange Box? Far Cry 2? Jade Empire? What are you guys born in the late 90’s? Like seriously theres 50 better ones out there, do some more research! How bout the old atari and nes covers…
( )**Sigh**
B June 1st
Not that many games come out from The Far East after all I guess.
( )meow June 2nd
Nice covers.
( )But this seems to be a list of favorite games rather than a list of great game covers.
Can’t blame a person for holding a bias towards games of personal importance, but this isn’t exactly a list of the top game covers art-wise. That’d be a great list to see.
joel June 11th
wow, more like top 40 of your favorite video games.
( )Trevor June 12th
Poor overall, I agree with Joel above. This is a favourites list and not inclusive of many many great titles.
Wasteland, for example.
( )http://www.applevault.com/software/wasteland/small/cover.jpg
Duran July 13th
Best game covers were the ones made by the artist Azpiri. A few examples:
http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/zx-spectrum-games/256-1.jpg
http://cronicaszombi.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/azpiri-caratulas.jpg
http://personales.ya.com/web8bits/Anuncios/Software/Dinamic/Graficos/CamelotWarriors.jpg
http://personales.ya.com/web8bits/Anuncios/Software/Dinamic/Graficos/CamelotWarriors.jpg
Etc.
( )chris July 22nd
Where is super smash bros brawl? that was a good cover.
( )McGoo July 23rd
My top 5 :
1) Half Life 2
( )2) StarCraft
3) Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
4) Grand Theft Auto IV
5) Contra
AZELEI July 25th
Awesome!
( )Hussain Raja July 26th
I was hoping to see the Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune cover here. I think that one is a great cover.
( )charcoaljar August 14th
The Dante’s Inferno art wort is looking insane!
http://cincodesign.com/culture/2009/08/13/%E2%80%9Cgo-to-hell%E2%80%9D/
( )medo August 23rd
VER Y GOOD BUT WHERE GOD OF WAR I&II&COVERS?
( )Lord Quinton September 25th
There are some serious problem to this list of video game covers. first off the original super mario cover was included. I agree mario is exceptionally recognizable but put that thing 10 ft away from your average person and they would have no clue what it was, i sure would’nt. There were many games created for the original NES that had cover art created that was beautiful and not some pixel mash that looks just tossed up at the last minute, and there were many bad pixel cover arts for NES games.
Second the article poster states his case for most of these games based on his impressions of the game. This is about cover art not what the game was about. I wish more detail was paid to the quality of the art, as some games (ultima 7?) definitly did not deserve to be here, if your game is so widely known you don’t need attractive cover art anymore then there is no reason it should be in a lineup of the top 40 cover arts is there? I’ll freely admit that i’m a final fantasy fan and probably the cover art that struck me the most was from 7, cloud, with the giant sword looking up and the towering shinra building, with the green, glowing, sparking reactors in the background is incredibly moving to me. Likewise, i’m not a fan of racing games but i’ve seen a few need for speed covers that nearly made me buy the game based on cover alone, i believe it was NFS 4 that had the cars making a tight turn with their brakes on and the speed lines blurring all that into such a frenetic scene you could envision it as if you were right there.
and last but not least, some covers were included but on the wrong merits. Deus ex definitely deserved to be in there, not because it set the mood of the game but because it exemplified the name of the game: you’ve got your slightly non-human looking person looking up at some heavenly light shining onto him from above, it casts him in a godlike perspective. THATS good cover art. likewise F.E.A.R. was great not for the alma vs soldier thing, but that in the bottom you have these heavily armed and armored soldiers sprinting to/ or maybe from? something and in the background this little girl who looms larger than life and is distorted in a n exceptionally creepy way. It implies she’s scaring of the soldiers but thats not a guarantee, especially because other than looking creepy she seems to really be more or less innocent.
so thats it, my 2 cents, hope i was too wordy for you.
( )sfdrummer September 28th
Its a good list, just a shame that its missing every piece of classic Psygnosis cover art ever made. Just off the top of my head: Shadow of the Beast (all 3), Lemmings, Awesome, Agony, Walker, the list goes on!!
( )entertica October 11th
FarCry is amazing. I have seen some of FarCry ads on magazines and *wow* I’m impressed to buy the game!
( )abdelf October 11th
OK list but some of the covers put there are terrible.. Super Mario broes, Ultima the black gate, and Pokemon are terrible and really lazy covers. Just cause you like the game doesnt mean the cover is good.
( )Urbik October 26th
It looks like a list of best games not covers…
( )Truth November 16th
One of these covers is a blank image with a title on the top.
( )That shouldn’t even qualify. It doesn’t even have cover art.
I think this list is just trolling. I mean, some of these are the shining examples of every cliche that genre uses for covers. So many SPACE MARINE POWER ARMOR STANDING WITH A GUN on this.