BOX=ART
Video game box art and artist history database
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BOX=ART copyright © 2013-2020 Adam Gidney. All rights reserved. Hosted by Dathorn.
About BOX=ART
BOX=ART is a site dedicated to the history of video game box art/ cover art and the artists responsible for them.
Box arts are profiled using high quality scans and with the intention of acknowledging the men and women who have played such a major role in shaping our gaming experiences.
Not only for video game enthusiasts, BOX=ART is for all who enjoy quality artwork.
All information on this site is through my own findings and is believed to be correct. Any corrections, errors or admissions that need to be made, or artists that would like to be involved in BOX=ART, please feel free to contact me.
BOX=ART
>M.I.A
NAM-1975 (グリーンベレー)
First published by SNK in 1990 and for the North American and Japanese markets.
Neo Geo AES ver. pictured. Also available on: Neo Geo CD.
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Published by Parker Brothers in 1982 for the North American market.
Atari VCS ver. pictured. Also availble on: Intellivision.
Vortex (ヴォルテックス)
Published by Electro Brain Corp in 1994 for the the Japanese Super Famicom market.
Lords of Karma
Published by The Avalon Hill Game Company in 1981 for the North American market.
C64 ver. pictured. Also available on: Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET, TRS-80.
Dragon & Princess, The (ドラゴンアンドプリンセス)
Published by Koei in 1982 for the Japanese PC-6001 market.
Mortal Kombat
First published by Acclaim Entertainment globally in 1993.
Game Gear ver. pictured. Also available on: Amiga, DOS, Game Boy, Genesis, Master System, Mega Drive, Sega CD, SNES, Super Famicom.
Dragster
Published by Activision in 1980 for the North American Atari 2600 market.
Super Metroid (スーパーメトロイド)
Published by Nintendo in 1994 for the the Japanese Super Famicom market.
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Castlevania (悪魔城ドラキュラ)
Published by Konami globally in 1986.
Famicom ver. pictured. Also availble on: C64, Disk System, DOS, Game Boy Advance, MSX 2, NES, X68000.
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>Notes - Very likely to be a Japanese in-house artist at NOJ. The Western version (also uncredited) was probably by a different artist.
>Notes - David Crane (CEO, Activision) has confirmed that details on the agency who originally did all of these early covers is now lost. North American designed.
>Notes - Unconfirmed but there’s a good chance this cover was designed by an in-house cover art designer within Parker’s board game division.
>Notes - Likely to be by one of the following artists, but unconfirmed, Charles Kibler, Bob Haynes or Stephanie M. B. Czech.
Cosmic Smash
Published by Sega in 2001 for the Japanese Dreamcast market.
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>Notes - The artist was definitely a part of the Sega arcade department who created the arcade version. Japanese designed.
Gradius (グラディウス)
Published by Konami globally in 1986.
PC Engine ver. pictured. Also available on: Amstrad CPC, C64, Famicom, Game Boy, MSX, NES, PC-88, Sharp X-1, X68000, ZX Spectrum.
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>Notes - Original sketches do not credit the artist.
Count, The
Published by Commodore Electronics in 1981 for the VIC-20 market.
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>Notes - Neither Scott Adams or Michael Tomczyk remember the artist but believe them to be an in-house artist for Commodore in the early 1980’s.
Double Dragon (ダブルドラゴン)
Published by Taito in 1988. For the European and North American markets.
Commodore 64 ver. pictured. Also available on: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Game Boy, Lynx, Mega Drive, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum.
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>Notes - The original painting isn’t signed by the artist. Likely to be a North American design.
Steel Empire, The (Kōtetsu Teikoku)
Published by Hot-B in 1992. For the Japanese Mega Drive market.
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>Notes - Looks like a Hayao Miyazaki artwork (Studio Ghibli), further backed up by the game’s homage to the animator’s Howl’s Moving Castle film. If not Miyazaki then possibly an artist from his team.
BOX=ART is calling on all peoples!
The following are a collection of influential, important and interesting box arts that are at present not credited with their original artist.
If you know any of the artists responsible for the below covers then please get in touch at adam@boxequalsart.com.
Thanks!
Voodoo Castle
Published by Commodore Electronics in 1981 for the VIC-20 market.
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>Notes - Neither Scott Adams or Michael Tomczyk remember the artist but believe them to be an in-house artist for Commodore in the early 1980’s.