Video game cover art has been around for just about as long as video games themselves. If anything, back in the early days of video games, it was even more important than it is now. This was because that was the best way of conveying the game designers’ vision of what the game itself represented. This was because the early video game graphics had to be very basic, so the players themselves perhaps needed to use their imagination a bit more than they have to now.
I remember the first-ever game I owned which was Midnight Resistance on the Commodore 64 and I thought it was amazing. It was in a box with 3 other games and I can still remember the box art, but I used to look at how good the graphics were on the back of the box.
The cover and graphics on the back of the cassettes that I got for my C64 had to look good for me to buy them. “Wow! Mum! Can I have £2.50 to buy this game for my new Commodore 64? The graphics look amazing!”
But now I’ve been playing games for a good 20 years, does cover art now sway my opinion on whether to part with my cash for a game? It can’t help for the cover to be aesthetically pleasing as developers/publishers want to show off their game before you even play it.
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