While this one is not shiny or PAL region... yes, yes they do! It just stood out among the other games on the PS2 rack when I got it. Such an awesome game.

Yeah. And Japanese cover's tend to be the best ones.

A good box art helps, but I properly check out a game months before release before I buy it

Yes. The definitely matter.

Personally I wouldn't buy a game that has lousy box-art if I didn't really know for 100% it truly was a good game. For example, I'd never buy rereleases like 'Platinums', 'Player's Choice', 'Classics', 'GotY-Edition' or whatever, because their box-arts are always hideous. On the other hand, I got New Super Mario Bros. 2 first day, because it's cover is absolutely beautiful! After that, I only played the game for 6 hours still.

Besides that good. nice boxes look better on the shelves too.

somewhat. then i go to youtube and look up some gameplay before I buy it.

I think a great cover shows that time and energy was spent designing the game and its entire package. Although saying that, I'm sure there are awful games with great covers and vice versa of course.

as a kid i rented Dynasty Warriors 4 based on its cover. have been hooked on the series since. rarely will that work now but for young kids it does

A lot of people here are saying how they look at lots of other things besides game covers and they don't really matter, but I disagree. People who frequent Internet gaming sites are a very small minority. While I'd say that most people go more on TV advertisements and such, game covers can catch their eyes. I've been at GameStop multiple times where someone has asked me what a game was about because they saw the cover and were interested in it. People go to game stores often and just look at the games to see if they want any. Heck I do the same. I look at the covers, see if any strike my eye, and then check and see online if I'm interested in the game or not. Also, younger people buy off how the covers look. While more people have Internet now, when I was younger (12 or so years ago) having Internet and a computer wasn't something that was expected out of everyone. So back then definitely, games were bought off covers. Saying that younger people often still buy off game covers or people who's family only has a shared computer so they don't have time to look up games all the time.

My conclusion: yes, I believe game covers matter. They are the 1st thing about a game that many people see. Are they the deciding factor in buying a game? No. But they do matter.

Damn, I don't even have a WiiU and I want this.

For me, it doesn't matter at all. I already know what I am buying before I get to the store.

For your average person, I think it does matter though. Most gamers don't spend a ton of time on forums researching games. And parents buying games for their kids will not be well informed either.