Well i'm sure the folks that work on the NeoGaf Minimalist Custom Cover Art forum will fix this cover eventually. Those covers look so cool.

@AngelN7: Holy shit I thought the PS3 art was a joke

I will NEVER, for the life of me, understand why people make a huge fuss about boxart.

http://www.gametrailers.com/videos/itmzga/mega64-chin-down--eyes-up

I would of just gone with the actual logo.

I just find it weird that Elizabeth is nowhere on that cover even though she feels more like the star of the game than Booker. The least the cover art could have had was both Elizabeth and Booker as that would've represented the game better but then again I'm getting the Steam version so it won't affect me too much.

@kishinfoulux said:

I will NEVER, for the life of me, understand why people make a huge fuss about boxart.

It isn't just about box art. This is something endemic of a larger problem in current gen gaming. Pandering, dumbing down, homogenizing and utter disregard for any kind of artistic integrity. All based on a (flawed) assumption that homogenizing of games = more sales.

@Cold_Wolven said:

I just find it weird that Elizabeth is nowhere on that cover even though she feels more like the star of the game than Booker. The least the cover art could have had was both Elizabeth and Booker as that would've represented the game better but then again I'm getting the Steam version so it won't affect me too much.

Frankly, if the goal was impulse shelf sales, I'm surprised they didn't put Elizabeth front and center leaning forward to provide a closeup shot of her cleavage. :D

@HerbieBug said:

So Ken admits the cover is pandering in hopes of additional game shelf impulse purchases. Nice. He's essentially saying, if I was some fucking dipshit moron wandering around in Walmart looking for shiny things, this is the kind of cover that would catch my interest.

Well, those are the type of people who are going to make an impulse purchase based on the cover art. They already know that fans will buy it regardless of the box art. The whole idea of cover art is to sell the game. This cover gets across that this game is a shooter. People buy shooters.

@Rainbowkisses said:

@HerbieBug said:

So Ken admits the cover is pandering in hopes of additional game shelf impulse purchases. Nice. He's essentially saying, if I was some fucking dipshit moron wandering around in Walmart looking for shiny things, this is the kind of cover that would catch my interest.

Well, those are the type of people who are going to make an impulse purchase based on the cover art. They already know that fans will buy it regardless of the box art. The whole idea of cover art is to sell the game. This cover gets across that this game is a shooter. People buy shooters.

How about they just take out the magic stuff, put it on land, take out most of the story, use the Call of Duty control scheme and put in fucking deathmatch multiplayer. Cause that's what sells right? How about we make every game from here on out a shooter?

The concept of a person only able to afford/have time for 3 games a year making impulse purchases based on a box cover sounds like such nonsense to me. I don't think these people are being given enough credit here. People are not that frivolous. If anything, they stick with a franchise they know, or base purchases on positive word of mouth from like-minded consumers. People that purchase many games a year are more the type to take those risks.

@HerbieBug: I'm not saying that the game itself should be simplified to sell to the larger demographic. I'm saying that if a particular aspect draws the attention of you average joe six-pack some of the marketing will focus on that part. Then maybe they will buy that game for the shooting and stay for the story, atmosphere, and aesthetics.

@Pr1mus said:

Ken Levine explained the choice of boxart in this interview.

The reasons are perfectly reasonable and understandable, plus the fact they plan on releasing alternate covers could fix the issue for most people.

Was anyone doubting that this was the reason? It certainly doesn't change the fact that it's not even a good 'guy with gun' kind of cover. Also, it wouldn't hurt to have even a little teensy bit of artistic integrity...

Anyway, I think I'm just going to leave this here:

I think everyone should watch this

To me it's totally understandable, if a box art is capable of selling the game to more people then so be it put a dude with a gun on the cover that's not gonna hurt what the game is about.

@Rainbowkisses said:

@HerbieBug said:

So Ken admits the cover is pandering in hopes of additional game shelf impulse purchases. Nice. He's essentially saying, if I was some fucking dipshit moron wandering around in Walmart looking for shiny things, this is the kind of cover that would catch my interest.

Well, those are the type of people who are going to make an impulse purchase based on the cover art. They already know that fans will buy it regardless of the box art. The whole idea of cover art is to sell the game. This cover gets across that this game is a shooter. People buy shooters.

How about they just take out the magic stuff, put it on land, take out most of the story, use the Call of Duty control scheme and put in fucking deathmatch multiplayer. Cause that's what sells right? How about we make every game from here on out a shooter?

should've been a wide angle picture showing the floating city... how could that not intrigue people?

Whats a box? - PC gamers

@AngelN7 said:

I think everyone should watch this

To me it's totally understandable, if a box art is capable of selling the game to more people then so be it put a dude with a gun on the cover that's not gonna hurt what the game is about.

*sigh* He is right but damn it if I'm still not annoyed by it!

I'd imagined a character named Booker DeWitt to have more of a mustache.

So, reversible cover announced by Ken. Includes some potential design choices to vote on. 

@uniform said:

So, reversible cover announced by Ken. Includes some potential design choices to vote on.

Some real cool designs. I went with #4.

Some real cool designs. I went with #4.

Call me a philistine but #5 is my favorite.

Definitely #4. I love the rough pencil look to it.