BOX=ART
Video game box art and artist history database
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BOX=ART copyright ©2013 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
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
Vortex (ヴォルテックス).
Published by Electro Brain Corp in 1994 for the the Japanese Super Famicom market.
Click to enlarge
Cosmic Smash.
Published by Sega in 2001 for the Japanese Dreamcast market.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
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.
Click to enlarge
Dragster.
Published by Activision in 1980 for the North American Atari 2600 market.
Click to enlarge
Super Metroid (スーパーメトロイド).
Published by Nintendo in 1994 for the the Japanese Super Famicom market.
Click to enlarge
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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.
>Notes - The artist was definitely a part of the Sega arcade department who created the arcade version. Japanese designed.
>Notes - Original sketches do not credit the artist.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ3).
Published by Sega in 1994 for the European Mega Drive market.
Click to enlarge
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>Notes - Confirmed to not be by long-term Sonic artist Greg Martin, it doesn’t appear to be Japanese designed either so likely designed by a European artist.
Double Dragon (ダブルドラゴン).
Published by Taito in 1988. For the European and North American markets.
C64 ver. pictured. Also available on: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, C64, DOS, Game Boy, Lynx, Mega Drive, MSX, NES, ZX Spectrum.
Click to enlarge
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>Notes - Original painting does not credit 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.
Click to enlarge
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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!
Adam