ICO and Shadow of the Colossus has reversible boxart, Last Guardian not at TGS

@Cavall
Much as I want Ico and Shadow of the colossus, I REALLY need more info on that last guardian.

@Cavall

Much as I want Ico and Shadow of the colossus, I REALLY need more info on Trico.

@Faenix

They did, do you see how it's the gorgeous Japanese version instead of that hideous excuse for box art they threw on the US release?

@merdbrue8


The original boxart for Ico in the U.S. was abysmal!

@psnNukdollars

cool.story.bro.

@psnNukdollars I'M.A.LUMBERJACK.AND.I'M.OK.I.SLEEP.ALL.NIGHT.AND.I.WORK.ALL.DAY

@psnNukdollars
I AM.
A MAN.
OF THE SEA!

@FinalFantasyXIIIsucks - ...I thought I was the only one that wore women's clothing and hung around in bars. Brother!

@psnNukdollars

Fortunately the rest of the world does.

@kentuckyfried, you're wrong, I don't care about it either. In fact, I intend to buy this as a download. I suppose you're still collecting LP covers as well.

@psnNukdollars REALLY? How could Joystiq have forgotten that psnNukdollars doesn't care about boxart?

Thanks for righting the ship, man. I know that, just to appease you, Joystiq is NEVER going to post a thing about boxart again! Never!

@Ruinkind
I guess if you like artsy crap, it's good, but to each his own. (I like it if anyone's wondering)

@KirbyCommando

I think the art may have its own stand-alone appeal, but it does a lousy job of representing ICO. For example, look at the cover of Shadow of the Colossus. One glance and you're thinking "Holy crap, is that little guy on a horse about to fight that huge stone thing?" You immediately grasp the epic awesomeness contained therein.

Then look back at the cover of ICO. What jumps into your head? "Are those two shapes in the center of that unadorned cement-scape meant to be tiny people? It think one might have a sword, although I don't see any enemies he could use it on. Maybe he could have fun climbing that ladder. Oh wait, that ladder goes nowhere. Huh. Maybe the game has something to do that windmill, since it's the biggest thing in the picture."

In short, the cover for ICO doesn't do a good job of representing the game contained inside. If you're a developer, this is generally a bad idea. When a casual customer wanders into GameStop, you want them drawn in by the cover. And if the cover doesn't do a good job of representing the game you're selling, it's a lot less likely to do that.

@Ruinkind

Actually, I think the ICO cover represents the basic gameplay fairly well. For instance, were I to see this in the store, I'd guess that the game was a platformer type, that it involved escape in some way, and there was a partnership in the escape.

The gameplay is represented in the artwork, but on a more abstract level than blatantly showing the actual game. Plus, this cover would guarantee to get my attention way more in a game store, because of its simpleness, and because of its contrast to the many other covers already on the shelves.

@davek

Hrm! This response comforts me. Here I had been assuming other people's reactions were largely similar to me own and that they were more or less shooting themselves in the foot with that cover. Apparently not, which is good. Thanks for responding!

@Jakintosh

i wish it kept the top Playstation 3 banner and spin, so it doesnt look out of place in the collection.

@The Joy of Painting w Bob Ross
Except it's been announced and has actual footage.