Namco Bandai's Fragile isn't short on interesting characters. The latest is Shin, a brilliant (but socially weak) scientist and the latest addition to the game's ragtag cast. He'll be voiced by Toshio Furukawa (all of the game's dialog will be spoken), former voice star of Dragon Ball Z, Gundam, Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, and Jann Lee of Dead or Alive fame.
Though Fragile still can't match the oddball quotient of No More Heroes, it's encouraging to see Namco Bandai isn't falling back on stock RPG characters. We were going to mention how Shin might be the oddest-looking Fragile cast member yet, but then we remembered this guy. Join us past the break for a look at the game's eye-catching Japanese boxart, and catch 14 new screens in the gallery.
Well, not literally, but it would seem that THQ has thrown out its lawsuit against Activision over the boxart for Baja 1000: Score International. Activision has altered the boxart for their game (catch the image past the break), but, seeing as how the game has been available for a short while now, what of the copies that have already reached store shelves? THQ isn't too concerned about that, apparently.
They also released the above image, which will be used as the boxart for the Wii release of the 2.5D fighter. It's totally classic Shinkiro, semi-realistic, detailed, and -- yes, vaguely reminiscent of the star of Ocean's Eleven. We like how it's cleverly laid out to fit the Wii box: Viewtiful Joe, standing atop the PTX-40A, fills the narrower part of the white "Wii" band that will go at the top of the box.
Gallery: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes
Posted Oct 29th 2008 12:40PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
A Portuguese Nintendo fansite happened to notice the appearance on Amazon of the Animal Crossing: City Folk/WiiSpeak microphone bundle. Only just now after looking at it have we realized what Nintendo has done here: they've guaranteed City Folk's bestseller status by making it yet another first-party Wii game with a bundled peripheral. It now joins Wii Play, Mario Kart Wii, and Wii Fit. People really love big boxes!
Amazon's price for the bundle is a cause for concern. Either they never bothered to update to the $59.99 price or the price is back up to $69.99. We'd like to make an official announcement at this time: Wii Fanboy endorses the lower price this November. We think it's the right decision for this county.
Posted Oct 27th 2008 1:34PM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
One of this week's releases might have flown under the radar, if not for the fact that the publisher is being sued over the boxart. It may not even end up being one of this week's releases! THQ has filed suit against Activision, claiming that the boxart for Activision's PS3/360/Wii SCORE International Baja 1000 infringes upon THQ's copyright, in that it looks too similar to THQ's PS3/360 Baja Edge of Control.
According to THQ, both the front and the back of the boxart are "virtually identical," but we think THQ's seeing patterns where there are none. Sure, both games feature red trucks displayed in a distorted perspective with their right front tires coming into the camera kicking up rocks while the passenger holds on to a bar on the front with his right hand; and both feature blue and white trucks behind them and to their left, descending from a jump; and both feature cacti on the right side in roughly the same position; and they both just happen to have yellow-on-black distressed "Baja" logos tilted up ten degrees. But that's all.
Through this lawsuit, THQ hopes to delay the release of Activision's game until they can produce some different artwork.
Even before the boxart for MadWorld was unveiled, we found ourselves to be in love with the game. When we got our eyes on it back at E3, we entertained thoughts of pushing our way to the front of the crowd of journalists there to see the game, ripping the controller out of Atsushi Inaba's hands, and playing it for as long as we could before security came down to the area Platinum Games demoed the title for us and forcefully ejected us from the premises. The game just looks that good.
What do you think of the boxart? Hate it? Love it? Indifferent?
We've got some fresh screens for the game, as well as boxart. The boxart is, well, quite pleasing to us. We have Mama looking over the shoulder of our new wouldbe chef, smiling happily and ... wait, what is that? Mama, how could you? The first rule of the kitchen is to turn off all unused burners on the stove! Are you trying to get someone killed?!
Tsk tsk, Mama. We guess we can still love you. And play your game.
What's the best way to show off the fact that you've been spending the last few days of your life being punished severely by a video game? Other than the murderous look that comes from spending too much time in Dr. Wily's Castle, we think that the official Mega Man 9t-shirt is the most effective method of sharing your pain.
Capcom's online store is now taking preorders for the black shirt featuring the American Mega Man 9"boxart" for shipping on September 30. It costs $24.95 plus shipping, which is actually quite a bit more than the game costs -- but it's entirely worth it when you consider that the "proprietary MegaWeave™ technology provides improved gaming performance in Mega Man® 9 and all other Capcom titles." Sorry, Roll's Item Shop shoppers -- Capcom doesn't accept screws!
[Minor update: it appears that leaving an item in your cart and then backing out with your browser's 'back' button triggers a survey pop-up that, when completed, nets you 10% off your purchase!]
When both Capcom USA and Capcom Japan released their (very different) "box designs" for the downloadable Mega Man 9, they each drew on their own histories of packaging for the series -- Capcom USA commissioning a ridiculously over-the-top image with Mega Man rendered as a low-rent space ranger, and Capcom Japan creating a dynamic, cartoony splash portrait of Mega Man surrounded by Robot Masters. Capcom Europe doesn't seem to have done anything in particular.
With Mega Man boxart nostalgia more relevant than ever, we thought we would collect Mega Man boxarts in a handy annotated gallery. But this gallery doesn't feature every Mega Man boxart. Since Mega Man happens to be the most prolific game series ever, we had to put some stringent restrictions on what we would include. These restrictions are reasonably effective hints about just how many games there are:
No spinoffs. Including games not starring the original Blue Bomber would have meant hundreds more images. This is about Mega Man anyway, not those other jokers.
No handheld games. Sorry, Game Boy Mega Man fans! This also means no Game Gear Mega Man, no GBA Mega Man & Bass, and no Rockman Battle & Fighters. The only exception, as pointed out by reader Antonio: the PSP Mega Man: Powered Up, which has really great boxes anyway, and which we forgot we weren't supposed to put in.
No awful PC remakes. Enough time has been spent on those games. Which is to say, any amount of time.
No guest appearances. Sure, SNK Vs. Capcom Card Fighters Clash has Mega Man in it, but it's not a Mega Man game. Same with Cannon Spike and a hundred other games.
Don't worry, there's still plenty left to look at!
For all the, ahem, polite debate that Wii Music has encouraged, we can probably all agree that it has a nice-looking box. Clean, simple, and to the point: we like it when companies use clutter-free boxart, and Nintendo does this better than most. There's simply no way this could confuse Grandma.
In other Wii Music news, Amazon and GameStop have now both updated their release dates for the gametoy: previously, it was due November 3rd, but now both sites display October 20th. A stylish box and a sooner-than-expected launch date -- everybody at GameTrailerswill be happy!
So here we go -- the next iteration of Animal Crossing is on its way, and we showed you the latest (the box) already. The art definitely emphasizes the larger scope of the title, while still using the familiar logo and character design. By now, though, you probably know whether or not you like Animal Crossing, considering you've had two chances to give it a shot. For a game like this, does the box even really matter? Do you thinkt hey should have changed it, or was keeping the characters -- with their familiar looks -- prominent important? Should the franchise's icons, like KK Slider, been more prominent? Do the fruit trees, and the idea of harvesting all that produce, give you nightmares?
Just as Animal Crossing: City Folk won't be abandoning the series' trademark graphics, so the boxart is exactly what you'd expect: a bright, bustling village scene featuring fresh fruit, happy animals, KK strumming out a tune beneath a tree, and Tom Nook waiting to rake in your Bells. A lot of those villagers look familiar to! While a lot of traditional elements are on display, there is a hint of the fresh possibilities afforded by the titular city, and a bright yellow bus to transport us there. Ah, we're excited already! Do you approve, dear reader?
The screens contained in the latest Mega Man 9 media update at Gpara are a mix of old and new, awesome and also awesome. But the real attraction is this amazing artwork, which serves as a Japanese counterpart to the amusing "boxart" displayed on t-shirts at E3. The disparity between boxart styles continues, though it's intentional and hilarious this time: while the American art is a monsterpiece in vaguely realistic proportions, the Japanese art is on-model and anime-style. It mirrors the style of theclassicRockmancoversexactly. Much like the game itself, it could easily have been produced in the late 1980s.
The only bad thing about the WiiWare release of Mega Man 9 is that there won't be a box to adorn with this image.
Posted Aug 25th 2008 11:51AM by JC Fletcher Filed under: News
Hey, remember ordering replacement boxart for your copy of Okami? To make up for the unsightly blemish on the covers that came with the game (sorry, IGN), Capcom offered a selection of replacement art ranging from "the real cover, but IGN-free" to completely new, unconventional box designs, and we all got to pick one.
We've had to wait a bit, but it turns out that we'll get all of them! According to Capcom's Colin Ferris, "Each cover sheet features the cleaned cover art on one side, and the two different new designs on the other." The covers are now on their way out, ready to adorn those copies of Okami that you forgot about or traded in.
If you didn't order a replacement cover, perhaps because you didn't yet own Okami and are an honest person, you can still find the high-quality images available for printing.
