Best Game Box art?

[Daniel Cygnus]

Oh common you can't forget this old one.
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/1/563441_29030_front.jpg

I laugh every time I see it.

I've seen it a thousand times, and I just now realize that the city in the background looks like something Escher would draw. If he was high.

Wow, I had no idea Ico's box art was so good.

Here's some more I forgot about...

The 7th Guest- http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/937720318-00.jpg
I don't think any other box has set the mood for a game better than this. It's got deep purple tones, lightning, and one of the most awesome logos ever.

Tekken 5- http://www.gamershell.com/static/boxart/large/6041.jpg
There's fighting! And fire! What more do you want?

Quake 3 Arena- http://www.gamershell.com/static/boxart/large/241.jpg
If you have the tin, you know how awesome it really is.

 

[BmC]

God, after playing SotC I need to find this. Beautiful cover at well.

Great game, really.
On topic:

I like this cover

Spoiler

 

[Nutcase]

If the devs and publishers could refrain from crapping all of their own logos, age ratings, system logos and such on the front cover, that would immediately help their cause a great deal. I took a quick look at my movie DVD covers, and as a rule, they don't feature large movie company logos. Even when they do put a logo on the cover, they tend to use a small and simple version of it in one color only, carefully adapted to fit the cover so that it does not stand out or disturb the composition. (All halfway decent logos can be rendered in a simple fashion and still look good.) Age ratings and "DVD movie" logos likewise often go on the back and the spine, not the front. Everything is put to the service of making the whole look good.

The Gamecube, old XBox, XBox360, and Games for Windows "header elements" are so brash and strongly colored, and the PS3 "sidebar" text so strong, that I'm not sure whether it's even possible to make a truly great cover with those elements. The PS2 "banner", while highly visible, is relatively neutral and easy on the eye in comparison. The Wii corner logo is not bad, but I think it still intrudes on the cover art more due to its more complex shape, and strongly favors lightly colored covers.

Here's one of my favorite covers, Katamari Damacy on the PS2:
http://www.vgmuseum.com/scans/psx2/katamari_front.JPG

And Psychonauts on the PC (although it got plastered with extra logos, blech):
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c236/drjbobius/psychonauts.jpg

Something Awful goons came up with some alternate, "classy" covers here:
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/photoshop-phriday/classy-video-games2.php?page=1
Some of the fan covers on the thread are so good, I'd like to have stick them on my wall as posters. The ultimate is probably what they did with R-Type:
http://tinyurl.com/cxk2uc

So. Why don't we ever get subtle covers like that?

 

[forever saturday]

if its for how funny it is, mega man because the guy who drew it was obviously drunk under the table.

in all seriousness, that damnation one looks pretty badass. is that a good game? what system?

also liked:

assassins creed
dead space
call of duty 4
fallout 3

i cant think of any more. ill be back later.

 

[Snotnarok]

Clearly you've never seen the best game box art ever:

 

[Inverse Skies]

Azure Dreams for the old PS1, Never actually played it, but a mate and myself stumbled across it in an old games shop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Azure_Dreams_Coverart.png

I would put the picture in if I could figure out how too... help please?

 

[mattttherman3]

Tales of Symphonia box art.

 

[Eipok Kruden]

Knowing how great EVE Online's art is, I think Apocrypha's Box Art will be fantastic. Just look at the book's cover art:

 

[GothmogII]

Baldur's Gate just love the old tome look :3 :

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System Shock 2:

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Splinter Cell: Double Agent:

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Space Quest Collection, granted, the original box arts for the individual games are mostly parodies, but this one works really well I think for the series as a whole:

Spoiler

Freedom Force:

Spoiler

 

[Doug Damage]

I always loved The Red Alert 2 Box Art.

That said, the box art for Red Alert 3 is sweet, too.

 

[AlphaOmega]

not the very best, but pretty decent

 

[KamachoMcSagget]

the club HAS THE BEST EVAR!!!1ONE

Spoiler

honerable mentions are:

saints row 2

Spoiler

persona 4

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all of the kingdom hearts games (only one is shown)

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the world ends with you

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ninja gaiden 2

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doom 3: collecter's eddition (it looks good on the back which isn't pictured, and better when seen up close)

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thanks google images for the pictures, i love you

 

[IamQ]

Spoiler

Not the best of games, but the cover art is really good looking.

 

[traceur_]

Age of Mythology's is awesome.

As is Prototype's:

 

[Gigaguy64]

Guilty Gear XX A core +.
some of the best art work for a game i have seen so far.
though there is a lot so it was hard to choose one.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

http://www.vgboxart.com/boxes/DS/15315_nintendogs_pitbull_edition.jpg

 

[Woodsey]

Not to seem too fanboyish, but I liked the Half-Life 2 box art.

I mean his green eyes and features of his face was just imprinted onto me, not to sound gay.....

It was also cool, because that was the only picture of him you saw through out the entire game.

You did well to cover your tracks.

Also, Splinter Cell: Double Agent

http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1323/1142959760.jpg

 

[theaniallator]

Personally, I cannot overstate how much I love the Final Fantasy boxart (NOT the US versions). So simple and effective, some people might think it's pretentious but I think it's awesome.