Metal Gear Solid V's cover art

[Sean Hollyman]

I really don't like it. The old games had the awesome art by Shinkawa on the cover, then MGSV comes along with a cover that just looks like a generic action game. What's up with that? Ground Zeroes came with a reversible cover, but only in Japan.

What's up with that? :/


Captcha: forbidden fruit. Haha... Snake... apple... yeah

 

[Clowndoe]

MGSV: Escape from L.A.
...
Right?

But yeah... they could do better than the tired old "protagonists face and chest sometimes".

 

[Sean Hollyman]

MGSV: Escape from L.A.
...
Right?

But yeah... they could do better than the tired old "protagonists face and chest sometimes".

It just looks so bland. I really hope Europe gets a reversible cover at least, in Europe.

 

[Sheo_Dagana]

The cover for MGSV is very similar to 4. It too was boring and lacked awesome art, unless you got the special edition box that had some pretty sweet art. Either way, I expect little else from game covers these days. They get lazier every year.

 

[COMaestro]

I really don't like it. The old games had the awesome art by Shinkawa on the cover, then MGSV comes along with a cover that just looks like a generic action game. What's up with that? Ground Zeroes came with a reversible cover, but only in Japan.

What's up with that? :/


Captcha: forbidden fruit. Haha... Snake... apple... yeah

My copy has a reversible cover. I believe it looks like this:

I know it has a white background along the spine as I did flip the cover, I just haven't paid that much attention to be certain it matches this picture. I can check when I get home tonight.

 

[LobsterFeng]

They gotta show off those sweet next gen graphics. I thought MGS4 did the same thing.

 

[gigastar]

Im not sure if anyone actually looks at cover art anymore. Im pretty sure that most people will be paying more attention to the shiny trailers and the IGN and Gamespot reviewers that will heap unnecessary amounts of praise on a game that has a suitably large enough marketing budget.

I, for one, havent actually bought a physical game for ~2 years now. So forgive me if it sounds like i dont really care.

 

[COMaestro]

My copy has a reversible cover. I believe it looks like this:

Verified it last night. The front does look like that, though in this photo someone added bits to the back. The actual back only has a small Kojima Productions logo in the center, which has been half obliterated in this photo.

So OP, where did you buy your copy that you didn't get a reversible cover? They most certainly are not limited to Japan.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

They gotta show off those sweet next gen graphics. I thought MGS4 did the same thing.

It did, but only in America. In Japan it was also Shinkawa art, in Europe it was an edited version of the Shinkawa art.

MGS1-2 had Shinkawa art for both NA and JP releases.
MGS3 had Shinkawa art for the JP release but not the NA release.

Integral, Substance, and Subsistence all have Shinkawa art for both releases but edited somewhat.

Not sure about Portable Ops and Peace Walker.

In Japan, Revengeance's limited and special editions have Shinkawa art.

EDIT: removed the other guys post cause I read it too fast.

 

[Sean Hollyman]

My copy has a reversible cover. I believe it looks like this:

Verified it last night. The front does look like that, though in this photo someone added bits to the back. The actual back only has a small Kojima Productions logo in the center, which has been half obliterated in this photo.

So OP, where did you buy your copy that you didn't get a reversible cover? They most certainly are not limited to Japan.

Europe is the only country that didn't get the reversible cover :/

 

[Muspelheim]

It looks as if the photographer was trying to take a picture of a helicopter crash, when a grumpy fisherman on his way to a costume party got in the way.

Covers might not be as important as they were, but that's hardly an excuse to do such an uninspired job.

 

[generals3]

That looks... unoriginal. I really preferred the older "artsy" covers.

It looks as if the photographer was trying to take a picture of a helicopter crash, when a grumpy fisherman on his way to a costume party got in the way.

Thank god i swallowed my coffee before reading that.

 

[Axelotus07]

I'm really not the biggest fan of this new cover art. I feel like it is a bit generic, especially compared to Shinkawa's. If he isn't going to be involved anymore, they should have at least considered letting Ashley Wood take the reigns this time. He was behind the Metal Gear Solid official comic book, and I think his work is incredible.

Spoiler

 

[Madame_Lawliet]

That's the cover art for Ground Zeroes.
That's not MGSV, that's MGSV's thirty dollar demo.

That aside, yeah it's pretty shitty, I didn't especially like the cover art for Part 4 either with the close up of Old Snake's face, I kind of see what he was going for with it but it just didn't do it for me.
I hope that the promotional cover art they've been showing off for the real MGSV doesn't end up being the final product because it's very similar looking...

Spoiler: Cool goggles though...

 

[ChupathingyX]

I'm really not the biggest fan of this new cover art. I feel like it is a bit generic, especially compared to Shinkawa's. If he isn't going to be involved anymore, they should have at least considered letting Ashley Wood take the reigns this time. She was behind the Metal Gear Solid official comic book, and I think her work is incredible.

Yoji Shinkawa is still definitely part of the MGS team.

They just aren't using his art for covers because it doesn't appeal to a broad audience yada yada marketing talk etc. He still designs all the characters and tech and his art is used for the reversible covers.

Also, Ashley Wood is a dude.

 

[Axelotus07]

Yoji Shinkawa is still definitely part of the MGS team.

What a relief! I was under the impression he may not have been since the release of MGS4 because of the dramatic change in cover styles.

Also, Ashley Wood is a dude.

That I really did not know! Haha, just edited my post.

It would be my guess that the cover style change would have something to do with marketing, as you said, but I feel like the original artwork style is a signature of the game.