They showed us this video in class a while back. I'm a graphics designer in training, and our lecturer showed us this video to show us how these video game artworks are bad examples of portraying the product related to the artwork. He told us straight, that this sort of thing must be avoided at all costs when designing an artwork, logo, poster or any graphic for that matter. It has to fit with the composition otherwise it looks out of place. And they criticize us for work that fits the description of those seen in this video, if you catch my drift.
I would honestly have loved to have sat in that class to hear your professors dissect the video. Not a graphic designer, but I imagine it would still be pretty interesting
" And here, you can see a gigantic pink double dookie filled disc, ready to be smashed into little peices by a turtle shell, and thrown into a frozen lake, and sealed in a magic sponge by Kamek, from a GOOD game, run over by a truck, and then, finally, put in a sandwich and eaten by a bird, and crapped into a batch of fireworks, and making crap fireworks. "
The 80s Aesthetic began in the mid 80s & continued into the mid 90s, from the bright colors, asymmetrical patterns (like on Trapper Keepers & Memphis Milano prints) & even the big perms. Nickelodeon's color scheme & continued use of Bauhaus aesthetics didn't change until the early 2000s. Lisa Frank was arguably more popular in the 90s.
33:06 For the record, nobody actually won the contest. It was quietly canceled due to the political unrest going on at the time with the fall of Romania's notoriously harsh dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.
90's Kid is a character, he is meant to parody the idea of what a person in the 90's thought to be "cool". Basically he's there to playfully mock 90's trends. His catchphrase is 'duuuuude' and shows up on a show called "Atop the Fourth Wall".
I was surprised and kind of disappointed that the baby 'artwork' in the intro wasn't actually part of the series. I really wanted to see that awful cover ripped to pieces.
@@Levleup the cover looks like Brinquedo's filthy handy work. Though Dingo's animation is atrocious as well. At least Brinquedo's art fucking moves fluently (yes they're better than those dumbasses at Dingo but both are total shite)
Phalanx was actually genius cover art. The goal of covers wasn't to hang in a museum, they were to get you to pick up the box off the shelf to check the game out. An old man playing a banjo made the game stand out. WAY more people checked the box out than if they had some generic spaceship shooter cover art. In every sense that mattered, the Phalanx cover was a massive success. The worst cover art is something that convinces you NOT to get a game despite everything else. In that sense, I would nominated Final Fantasy 3's cover with that stupid moogle. I was the biggest fan of FF2 and the Final Fantasy Legend gameboy games. FF3 wasall but a cetain buy for me. But then I saw that moogle and wondered if they had dumbed it down to some baby game like they did with Mystic Quest. On top of that, they had ONE screenshot on the back and they somehow managed to find the single dullest shot in the entire game to put there (and on top of that, gave it some warped slant to make it seem like some sidescroller). That cover took what was a guaranteed buy, and made me hold off buying it for over a year until overwhelming word of mouth told me the game was actually great.
ngl an old man playing the banjo doesn’t make me think “AW MAN, LOOK AT THAT EPIC SUPER COOL GAME” mainly because i don’t understand art from the 70’s-80’s. it screams “dollar store pencils and markers”. it lacks the neatness and elegance of modern stuff. maybe except the mario stuff, those are great
@@hystericallover5989 But it gets you to notice the game and check out the back of the box. That's all that matters. The main goal of advertising isn't to appeal to you, it's to get you to notice and stick with you. Do the Liberty Mutual ad people write their commercials thinking that people actually enjoy the "Liberty Liberty Liiiiibeeeeerty!" jingle? No. It's to get stuck in your head. The Geico people don't actually think people love the Gecko. Had Phalanx had a competent looking, but generic space ship cover, nobody would have noticed it. Nobody would be still talking about it 30 years later.
You could genuinely make this as a little side series of the AVGN. As a visual artist myself, I found the world of Box arts fascinating and I feel there's a lot to talk about. You should do a video about the cases of plagiarism in cover arts.
I have been through almost all of your stuff (5/3/2020). I have to say, your 2015 season is where you really hit your stride. In fact, I think it was your best stuff. I still watch and love your work, but if you are looking for an opportunity to fine-tune, you might look back to 2015. It's the stuff I rewatch.
+Mygingerguy you don't need all that to play region locked games on a PlayStation. just get on of those attachments like the Dragon Hacker and you can play any PS game regardless of region.
The Lil John impression had me laughin' hard, then it made me sad, cause me and my old best friend used to do Lil John impressions all the time back in the day when we were drinking together. But he died 7 years ago when he was 20. RIP Bro
I gave a like to represent my respect. Sorry you lost your friend, I would dread the day my best friend passes away. I couldn’t imagine the pain. Much love brutha
Its will probably be all the new gen console covers where the protagonist has a weapon related to that game looking away from you near a monster like the assassin creeds or final fantasy xv art
I love how he starts off sounding articulate, pretentious and wordy and slowly slips into his signature style of vulgarity, profanity and rambling. Well Done!
Every cover that looked as if it came from the 80s I was like: nah, it came in between 1990 and 1995! Boy was I right! No one ever believes me on this but the 80s did overflow the nineties and those beautiful pieces of art are the ultimate proof!😄
James, after all these years, you still crack me up like nobody. I really have to stop here and come back tomorrow or I'll wake up the neighbors from laughing
+DFJShragie Yeah, it would've worked twice as good if they had the Nerd being prepared for the game by its cover art and then seeing the actual game itself.
I have to admit, the girl on the cover of 'Ghostgirl' is pretty freaking hot, because she is one of those nice-looking girls that were in the sun recently but came out looking good.
Day of the Tentacle is a 1993 DOS game by LucasArts (who also made Monkey Island and Sam & Max). It follows three college students who try to stop a disembodied, sentient tentacle from taking over the world. The CD version had voice acting, but the floppy disc version did not (due to space limitations). Even with the removal of voice acting, the floppy version required four (yes, FOUR) separate discs.
They showed us this video in class a while back. I'm a graphics designer in training, and our lecturer showed us this video to show us how these video game artworks are bad examples of portraying the product related to the artwork. He told us straight, that this sort of thing must be avoided at all costs when designing an artwork, logo, poster or any graphic for that matter. It has to fit with the composition otherwise it looks out of place. And they criticize us for work that fits the description of those seen in this video, if you catch my drift.
Wish I got shown this in class
I would honestly have loved to have sat in that class to hear your professors dissect the video. Not a graphic designer, but I imagine it would still be pretty interesting
Really?? Even with the swearing??
I wish my teacher showed us AVGN videos in class
Wow, what a cool lecturer.
I would love the nerd to be a museum guide
alfred svennevig "and now if you look to your right, you'll see a giant fuck load of shit"
Joseph Cox You mean shitload of fuck
" And here, you can see a gigantic pink double dookie filled disc, ready to be smashed into little peices by a turtle shell, and thrown into a frozen lake, and sealed in a magic sponge by Kamek, from a GOOD game, run over by a truck, and then, finally, put in a sandwich and eaten by a bird, and crapped into a batch of fireworks, and making crap fireworks. "
this episode with the art on it seems like he is doing a museum guide one!
"You know whats bullllshit, precisely this piece here...comprised of the dung of the bull."
James, as someone who has studied art and design and works in the field, your analysis of each piece is totally valid. That's what's funny.
The 80s Aesthetic began in the mid 80s & continued into the mid 90s, from the bright colors, asymmetrical patterns (like on Trapper Keepers & Memphis Milano prints) & even the big perms. Nickelodeon's color scheme & continued use of Bauhaus aesthetics didn't change until the early 2000s. Lisa Frank was arguably more popular in the 90s.
@@LikaLaruku what does it has to do with his comment?
The best comedy often springs from truth.^^
700st like
@@WallaceBreenFromKentucky nobody expects that to be acknowledged. I acknowledged your 700th like.
I'm impressed by how deep he actually gets with these.Jame's nails the creativity aspect once again
33:06 For the record, nobody actually won the contest. It was quietly canceled due to the political unrest going on at the time with the fall of Romania's notoriously harsh dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.
Dont judge a book by its cover.
But you can judge the cover
nice :)
What about a game?
NRJee You can judge a book by it's cover, that's what it's there for
Mister Break ya got me there boi :^)
NRJee you now bitch
"They called Lil Jon, and he was like, 'WHAT!'."
Best part
Anthony Breznican YEAH
SWAN LAKE
"And than he said 'OOOHKAY!' "
YEEEEAAAHHH!
OKAY
1:29 James trying to NOT smile is adorable. :3
Best PPT character
I'm not gonna lie. I genuinely love the Phalanx cover.
Matt Lohr same,no clue why but it’s just badass
Same. I get his criticism but it's certainly appealing and we'll made
ngl i thought it was a farming game
it has a heartbreaking history behind
I'm happy he finally talked about Phalanx
Mega-man, perfect for people with no necks! “Finally! A game poifect for me!”
It’s been 6 years since that original JohnTron video, and this still cracks me up
Maybe the old guy playing the banjo was the pilot in the game of Phalanx.
boldsign I had always figured that or that he was a storyteller. "Let me tell you kids the story of Phalanx... "
Yeah like maybe he lives in the future but he dresses in long john's and plays a banjo because that's what his great great grandfather used to do.
So in other words.....an aged hipster.
boldsign you mean phallus hahahahahhahhahahahahahhahahahaghah
boldsign he doesn’t need a ship, he shoots ships down with his banjo
The Treasure Master cover looks like it was designed by 90s Kid. "duuuude! the cover needs aliens, sharks and spiders on computer chips!"
GrandCorsair
Duuuuuude
GrandCorsair DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE
90s kids said "duuude"? It seems more like every fuckin kid AND adult today says that. Old habits die hard I guess.
90's Kid is a character, he is meant to parody the idea of what a person in the 90's thought to be "cool". Basically he's there to playfully mock 90's trends. His catchphrase is 'duuuuude' and shows up on a show called "Atop the Fourth Wall".
***** oh...never heard of it. Still though, that could just as well be a catchphrase for 2010's kid too, just saying.
I was surprised and kind of disappointed that the baby 'artwork' in the intro wasn't actually part of the series. I really wanted to see that awful cover ripped to pieces.
Or the astrology cover.
Guys, they're real! They just went into the "Honorable Mentions" section.
brunfist What? I don't even....
+Christian Claudio What? :)
Did he post that on Cinemassacre?
+Christian Claudio You're bullshitting us aren't you?
"I didn't know they stacked shit this high!" Nice Full Metal Jacket refrence
Snow White looks like some awful Video Brinquedo nightmare
Broadway JR true
If I’m correct, it’s dingo pictures, so you’re on the right track
@@Levleup the cover looks like Brinquedo's filthy handy work. Though Dingo's animation is atrocious as well. At least Brinquedo's art fucking moves fluently (yes they're better than those dumbasses at Dingo but both are total shite)
@@Levleup. Not true. this was made by pheonix games, while for some of the games dingo pictures was the animator, this is not one of them.
@@purpseatpeeps8641 Well, there were games like Animal Soccer World or Dalmatians 3 that had films animated by Dingo Pictures.
14:01 "Snow white and the 7 clever booooooooooooys"
WHAAAAAT IS THAT FUCKING NAME?!?!?!?
Flávio The Penguin WHO MADE THIIIIISSSSS!?!?!?!
it was a PC title... the start of everyone' getting offended. Maybe?
I'm a clever boy. P-put me in there won't ya?
lShadowdark whaaaaaaaat!?!?
"Dot Gobbler"...
Jesus Christ, that's hilarious, and accurately describes Pac-Man.
pellet consumer
Ball Eater
round inhaler
Sphere Chomper
Sounds like a lady in South Park.
The Mega Man 1 cover truly is horrendous.
Ironically, the European cover is spectacular.
The Japanese box art is cute.
@@mintstarmari what does it look like
@@adventureboy7855 It’s just a picture of Rock and the 6 robot masters with their ACTUAL designs.
But it's still better than the European box art for most of the Mega Man games released for the 6th gen of consoles
Phalanx was actually genius cover art. The goal of covers wasn't to hang in a museum, they were to get you to pick up the box off the shelf to check the game out. An old man playing a banjo made the game stand out. WAY more people checked the box out than if they had some generic spaceship shooter cover art. In every sense that mattered, the Phalanx cover was a massive success.
The worst cover art is something that convinces you NOT to get a game despite everything else. In that sense, I would nominated Final Fantasy 3's cover with that stupid moogle. I was the biggest fan of FF2 and the Final Fantasy Legend gameboy games. FF3 wasall but a cetain buy for me. But then I saw that moogle and wondered if they had dumbed it down to some baby game like they did with Mystic Quest. On top of that, they had ONE screenshot on the back and they somehow managed to find the single dullest shot in the entire game to put there (and on top of that, gave it some warped slant to make it seem like some sidescroller).
That cover took what was a guaranteed buy, and made me hold off buying it for over a year until overwhelming word of mouth told me the game was actually great.
ngl an old man playing the banjo doesn’t make me think “AW MAN, LOOK AT THAT EPIC SUPER COOL GAME”
mainly because i don’t understand art from the 70’s-80’s. it screams “dollar store pencils and markers”. it lacks the neatness and elegance of modern stuff. maybe except the mario stuff, those are great
@@hystericallover5989 But it gets you to notice the game and check out the back of the box. That's all that matters. The main goal of advertising isn't to appeal to you, it's to get you to notice and stick with you. Do the Liberty Mutual ad people write their commercials thinking that people actually enjoy the "Liberty Liberty Liiiiibeeeeerty!" jingle? No. It's to get stuck in your head. The Geico people don't actually think people love the Gecko.
Had Phalanx had a competent looking, but generic space ship cover, nobody would have noticed it. Nobody would be still talking about it 30 years later.
Saw this on recommended...
Clicked on it...
Ended up watching the whole thing...
Enjoyed it...
And wanted MOOORE!!!!
I actually always thought the Phalanx cover was actually really badass.
Same man, just something about it
DejaVoodooDoll My best friend had it on SNES for years and we used to love that game. Currently I have the arcade version on my modded Wii.
mechanoid2k Nothing says badass like some old hillbilly fuck playing his banjo while the phalanx is in the background.
Now I Imagine A Badass Grandpa Playing Banjo As a Background of Space Dogfight Action Scene
Me too! Its eerie in a really cool way.
He should do the greatest game covers....Ninja Gaiden on the NES comes to mind...bad ass ninja with a burning city behind him.
MPCB11 23 Double Dragon 2. That shit was kickass!
Another one was the original Monster Hunter. Something about it is just awesome.
Gotta add Super Metroid on there too.
Dragon Quest 3's Super Famicom remake
Doom eternal looks to have great cover art
I remember seeing phalanx in the store when I was kid and being utterly baffled.
mr.big Haha me too.. I never got it because of that.. Though if I remember right, it did have some game screens on the back..
both of you STFU!
@@GabrielAlcala956 no u
I thought the cover said "Snow White and the Seven ELEVEN Boys".
iJustWantToComment : XD
7/11 😂😂😂
He missed the sequel, snow white and the seven eleven boys: gas station horror!
Lmao
Snow White and September 11 Terror Attacks
"Phoenix Games didn't realize you don't make it look like the in game graphics..." Oh nerd, if you only knew what the game actually looks like.
Wucken Fasted I mean... that’s not what the in game graphics actually look like though. There’s no need to be rude, asshole
Maybe that’ll be realised in a future episode.
Caddicarus knows
I miss this series already!
+Octavio89 tbh
+Neil cerna I would be all for this becoming a permanent feature. I'm pretty sure that there is enough bad video game cover art to do so.
+Kandi Gloss Hell yes! I want MORRRRE!
+Octavio89 troll
Me to 😭
I wish there was another marathon with the NERD about crazy box art. This was such a fun addition to AVGN.
Killer kong made me laugh so hard I almost cried
You could genuinely make this as a little side series of the AVGN. As a visual artist myself, I found the world of Box arts fascinating and I feel there's a lot to talk about. You should do a video about the cases of plagiarism in cover arts.
Please make a sequel for this series! It's THAT gooood!
Mega Man cover. Kinda reminds me of works from Picasso's cubism phase.
nitramletnan This would actually be an amazing work of art if Picasso or a contemporary had made it.
But the Cyborg Wily looks really cool.
In the second cover, he is using his left arm but the gun looks like it is being held in a right hand.
I loved this series. I hope you continue doing this.
13:09 I am a bit disappointed there was no mention of what is clearly a bootleg X-Wing image on the cover.
kamenridernephilim glad to know that I wasn’t the only one who noticed
Here because Eliminator Boat Duel is going to be on Nintendo Switch Online
I have been through almost all of your stuff (5/3/2020). I have to say, your 2015 season is where you really hit your stride. In fact, I think it was your best stuff. I still watch and love your work, but if you are looking for an opportunity to fine-tune, you might look back to 2015. It's the stuff I rewatch.
13:17 I want to hear the complete song. Now!
Yes
It had an awesome riff haha
We're long overdue for a part 2 this year in 2020!
I love how the Nerd picked surprisingly appropriate background music for each game cover.
You should do more of these, there are soooo many bad covers and your analysis of these is so well done
24:31 Wwwwwhat!!!!!
24:40 Oooooookay!!!!
24:45 Yeeeeeeeaah!!!!
24:32
24:46
never got a chance to watch any these so glad it was made into one video. Thanks James. :D
SNOW WHITE AND THE 7 CLEVER BOOOOOOOYS!!! WHAT IS THAT F**KING NAME!!!
WHO MADE THIS!!! I'm a clever boy, why don't you put me in there?
CLEVER JONTRON QUOTE
AVGN has to review this game now :D
I thought of the Jontron review too xD
Only if James can get his PS2 Modded or use a PAL system with Power and Video converters.
+Mygingerguy you don't need all that to play region locked games on a PlayStation. just get on of those attachments like the Dragon Hacker and you can play any PS game regardless of region.
The AVGN talking about art theory. SERIES PLEASE!
42:12 this made me burst out in laughter.
relax man, you'll live more. OK?
The Lil John impression had me laughin' hard, then it made me sad, cause me and my old best friend used to do Lil John impressions all the time back in the day when we were drinking together. But he died 7 years ago when he was 20. RIP Bro
Digital Ash TCG cry me a river
Way to be a buzzkill.
I gave a like to represent my respect. Sorry you lost your friend, I would dread the day my best friend passes away. I couldn’t imagine the pain. Much love brutha
Why so many haters on this lol jeez
@@Daytonawhite way to be a teenager lulkid
This video is my happy place.
"Running through the maze of never ending sexual frustration"
Lmao
My version of Commander Shepard was inspired by the face of that Mega Man box art. In his 40's, scars on his face and body, and kind of surly looking.
“I’m Commander Shepard, and I couldn’t give two shits about this store.”
I've seen the cover of Phalanx before, but never zoomed in. I can't believe they were able to put an X-Wing fighter on the cover and get away with it.
I love Cinemassacre with a very large portion of my heart. ♥️
24:30 "... So they got lil' jon and ask him and he said: What?????" Lol
Yldemaro metute luque OK
YEAH
Warning: this game is badass *woof woof*
I hope he does another one of these this year.
Agreed.
:c
Yees
agreee
Its will probably be all the new gen console covers where the protagonist has a weapon related to that game looking away from you near a monster like the assassin creeds or final fantasy xv art
the cover art for Scrapyard Dog features what looks like ersatz Wallace & Gromit rip-offs.
Killer Kong: Partial tracing of the Grinch turned into a gorilla.
Hammerin' Harry: Goonies/Rambo mashup
We need another one of these James. I come back to this at least once a year.
"Street Hockey '95" reminds me of "Honk Kong '97".
STREET HOCK
1.2 billion hockey pucks!
why didn't i watch this until now????
AdamG1983 The Fuckin' Nerd
DeniableToast82 I didn't either
Hey, I'm just watching this NOW.
I'm 3 years late lol
Magic
Eliminator Boat Duel. V A P O R W A V E before it was cool.
Eduardo Pimenta lmao ikr
What about treasure master?
no
*elimonator
By Lisa Frank
"Warning this game is badass, woof woof"
is that a drawception profile picture i see?
I think the best line in the whole series is: 40:12 "Stare at it long enough, you'll grow a mullet." For whatever reason I die laughing every time!
AVGN can you please play Turbo Trucks on the PS2? It won't disappoint you...
+Thriift What is this "PS2" that you're talking about? Some third party competitor of the N64?
.
Kazior is a weeb from N64
.
+kazior you're a dot gobbler
This was a good series. Thank you for making it all for one video.
dollar store brand colored pencils is a perfect representation
49:57 James can smile with a frown :()
The Ultimate Stuntman cover is awesome. It's meant to be hyper-masculine and nothing wrong with that.
Killer Kong looks like some awkward middle school kid getting his picture taken
I greatly appreciated this series while it lasted, I would welcome another segment of it!
The eliminator boat duel cover has such a good vaporwave aesthetic going on
He needs to bring back this series 🤪
12:47 I don't know if this was intentional or not, but the man in the Phalanx cover art was actually a professional Mall Santa.
6:03 - I almost started to cry.
Do this again this year! :D
I love how he starts off sounding articulate, pretentious and wordy and slowly slips into his signature style of vulgarity, profanity and rambling. Well Done!
What ??
He's articulate and stuffs all along, with some ramblings here and there but that's it.
Every cover that looked as if it came from the 80s I was like: nah, it came in between 1990 and 1995!
Boy was I right! No one ever believes me on this but the 80s did overflow the nineties and those beautiful pieces of art are the ultimate proof!😄
Joel: GRAPHEC DESIGN IS MAH PASSION.
James, after all these years, you still crack me up like nobody. I really have to stop here and come back tomorrow or I'll wake up the neighbors from laughing
A lot of these game covers would be better if they included no images.
Wish we could've seen some actual gameplay from all these monstrosities. This series had potential to be legendary.
+DFJShragie it was just for cover art anyway tho but i got your point.
+DFJShragie Yeah, it would've worked twice as good if they had the Nerd being prepared for the game by its cover art and then seeing the actual game itself.
yea I'd love that to see how the cover had nothing to do with the game
+DFJShragie Well that would have gone against the title of the series, "Bad Cover Art". If you want to see gameplay look it up yourself.
+Pender C I know, but that would've gone against the title, "Bad Cover Art" if you want to see gameplay look it up yourself
The old man on the Phalanx cover was literally a Santa for 25 years lol.
Aaand, the Winner is: Irritating Stick - 26:03
I have to admit, the girl on the cover of 'Ghostgirl' is pretty freaking hot, because she is one of those nice-looking girls that were in the sun recently but came out looking good.
One of my favorite nerd videos as of late. He's a hilarious art critic, I'd easily watch him critique some modern art
So can we get a full version of the "Old Man Phalanx" song? (Sorry, I've been watching these again at work today)
Mega Man on Mega Man 1 does a little "Hip to be square" dance.
47:31 All Might from My Hero Academia? 😂
Rallo Gump is nearly 300MB? Holy shit.
The whole fully voiced version of "Day of the tentacle" (also on DOS) is approx. 240-250 MB.
What the hell does Rallo Gump contain to get this big? D:
+TheMrRuttazzo Day of the Tentacle....WHAT???
Day of the Tentacle is a 1993 DOS game by LucasArts (who also made Monkey Island and Sam & Max). It follows three college students who try to stop a disembodied, sentient tentacle from taking over the world.
The CD version had voice acting, but the floppy disc version did not (due to space limitations). Even with the removal of voice acting, the floppy version required four (yes, FOUR) separate discs.
"SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN CLEVER BOOOOOOOOYS... WHAT IS THIS FUCKING GAME!? WHO MADE THIS!?!?!?"
Where's Dot Gobbler & Super Bust-A-Move from the thumbnail??
himasf yea what he said
yea I agree with the two fine gents above
as do I
himasf I conquer with this party
I agree with you
I can literally look at bad game/movie/album cover art all frickin day! Love it!
31:38. 38:18. So 80’s. Brings back memories.
The Phalanx at 12:21 looks like a X-Wing from Star Wars
I know !!! :D
+Brandon Vang It's totally an x-wing.
+Brandon Vang Its a x wing. No doubt about it
I lost it when he did the lil Jon impersonation 😂😂😂😂
"I'll tel you where you can jam it" I'm weak😂
James is an absolute treasure.
Cannot believe I found AVGN video that I haven't watched!!! *Making coffee and preparing snacks
Mega Man's right leg is the wrong way HAHA
The Super Bust a Move on PS2 cover gives me strength.
that lil john joke was my favorite. XD
No one:
Hammerin’ Harry: *M y C o C k i S s O h A a R r D*
6:03
Why is AVGN yelling "SUP? MAN!" SO FUNNY TO ME?