Re-viewing Box Art, A Closer Look: How I overcame my Fixation
By d0rks 1 Comments
I'm easily amused distracted.
While staring at box art looking for "Game of the Year" Edition and 'Box in Box Art' box art a few weeks ago, I came across what looked like an intersection of both concepts and started collecting samples. Box art in this subset would at first glance appear to meet the requirements for either or both concepts, but upon further inspection would fail at least one category. An example:
A candidate for both 'Box in Box Art' and 'Game of the Year'? I rejected this sample for either, because it's obviously not a Game of the Year Edition and the 'box' in the box art wasn't boxy enough for me. Pretty arbitrary, but I wanted to draw the line somewhere. I'm also aware of the alias 'Boxart in Boxart'. Anyway, what was more interesting to me was the prominent display of review scores and quote, something that I thought was a more recent thing directly related to the trend of (re-)releasing Game of the Year editions. Through further collection I learned that it is and wasn't all that uncommon and featured awards or accolades aren't limited to "Game of the Year".
This category illustrates (steps in) the evolution from "Gold/Complete Edition" to today's "Game of the Year Edition".
Proof-of-Concept? Case Dismissed
My initial idea was to suggest the introduction of a wiki-concept, something like "Endorsement in Box Art", but I have since abandoned it.
Considering:
- Similar to the Box in Box Art concept, regional differences are a factor. Publishers for the the various territories handle collections and bundled (re-)releases differently.
- In conjunction with the above, because it's mostly about collections, bundles and re-releases keeping track of 'what games do this' is probably far less meaningful.
- In addition, 'box' art for digital distribution or even variation in 'boxes' between downloads from different digital vendors further dilute the concept.
Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that pursuing this idea is not worth wasting spending any more time than I already have, and this summary serves as a personal reminder of that. Perhaps it will make more sense in a future version of the wiki, or I might revisit this if/when images or galleries can serve as the subject/object for list making.
Reconstruction: Circumstantial Evidence
Nevertheless, here are few brief 'case studies' illustrating the idea/concept. And by 'case studies' I mean a bunch of pictures to look at.
Criteria:
Box (front) art for this concept would have to feature at least one instance of:
- Review Score (from a gaming related magazine, website or other publication)
- Review Quote (from a review or article)
- Award decoration, symbol or icon (from individual gaming related publications, or 'industry collectives' that give these awards)
Examples:
