From: http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=184188
It's no secret that there's a massive difference in taste between the Japanese, North Americans and us here in Europe. The marketing bods of publishers all have to take this into account when creating the box art. Sometimes they get it right and sometimes they get it wrong. Very wrong...
A burly space marine with an assault rifle might get your game of the shelves in the US, but put the same box in front of a Japanese kid and he'll probably leave it alone. And Europe? We usually end up with Japanese boxes because, y'know, we're all arty and stuff.
We've picked ten recent(ish) games that have had packaging shuffled around for regional tastes. Argue over who got it right in the comments below.
The Boxes
Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
Tom Clancy box art has always been a good example of regional tastes (in the marketing departments, anyway) and Jungle Storm isn't any different; big borders for Americans, pink sunsets for the Far East and ONLINE INCLUIDO for Europe. Nice.
Dark Sector
And here's the first rule they teach you in games packaging school; only Japanese and PAL box arts can be artistic/moody - American box art must be to the point and ALWAYS facing forwards. Also, the Dark Sector bloke looks like he needs to go to the toilet here.
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
As with the GameCube version's original box art, Capcom has gone for a wicked moody piece on the PAL cover, and a 'Leon and his village friends' picture for the rest of the world. Perhaps the Japanese don't find trees scary?
Ratchet & Clank 3
Insomniac's platforming series exhibits an even deeper Europe/US/Japan box art rule; the usual 'Americans get angry, Europe gets slightly less angry' idea applies, except that the Japanese theory says mental and bonkers anime will help shift Ratchet from the shops a bit faster. Just look at those pupils.
Crackdown
... and here's another example of the same rule. Got an overly-Western free-roaming shooter to sell in Japan? Stick some bloody massive anime blokes on the box. Oh, and give a name that makes no sense what-so-ever.
No More Heroes
A lot of thought went into accommodating Suda 51's no-holds-barred Wii actioner to the West, including protecting us from the horrible red blood of the US version. But that's another matter. In short; US box good, Japan box rubbish screenshots, PAL box rubbish Photoshop skills.
Motorstorm
We wish we were clever enough to figure out the ideas behind each region's unique Motorstorm box. Do Japanese punters prefer big jumps to big crashes? Does Germany get off on biker helmets? We'll ask Sony the next time it's in the office.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
This happened quite a bit with American GameCube covers, but we couldn't possibly tell you why. Japan and Europe get awesome Metal Gear Solid artwork, while North Americans can base their buying decisions on what looks like a shit screenshot. That one's going to the back of the games shelf. Thank god it's called Metal Solid Solid though...
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
The CVG team is split on this one (some more than others); is Japan's colourful display of Samus and her bounty hunter friends gorgeous, or childhood-destroying? And how many times can Nintendo possibly get Samus onto the Western cover?
Kirby Squeak Squad
Kirby is a legend of box art translation history; in EVERY game he's ever starred in, the Japanese get to see his happy, smiling face donned on their game box, while NOA decides to make him a miserable, angry git for the West. Cheer up, mate.
Ico
Easily the WORST case of tinkering with box art EVER is Sony's beautiful Ico. For some strange, baffling reason, SCEA decided to take the artwork for one of its most artistically brilliant games ever, and replace it with a PSOne FMV of a 12-year-old on a stag do. What ON EARTH was it thinking? There are no words...
