Ever wished your Xbox avatar could defend the universe? No? Well even if you didn’t, you can now! The universe now lies in the palm of your hands with 21 new avatar items based off the popular mecha series Voltron.
Items now available include:
Mattel Blazing Sword Voltron Toy – 320 Microsoft point
Voltron Blazing Sword – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Classic Pose #1 Tee – 80 Microsoft point
Voltron Classic Pose #1 Tee – 80 Microsoft point
Voltron Costume – 320 Microsoft point
Voltron Costume – 320 Microsoft point
Voltron Image #1 Tee (Men’s) – 80 Microsoft point
Voltron Image #1 Tee (Women’s) – 80 Microsoft point
Voltron Mask – 160 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Black (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Blue (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Green (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Orange (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Pink (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Red (Men’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Black (Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Blue (Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Green (Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Orange (Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Pink (Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
Voltron Pilot Suit – Red -(Women’s) – 240 Microsoft point
All are available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace. You can check out the Voltron items release trailer below and leave a comment letting us know your thoughts.
This week we have a special guest from Twisted Pixel, Marketing Director and 2D Artist, Jay Stuckwisch and we have a big discussion about all things Pixel. We talk about what video game characters we would like to punch in the face, some game news and what we’ve been playing.
Cast: Alexis Ayala, Philip Federico, Matt Vella, Kelly Teng, Michael Marr and special guest from Twisted Pixel Jay Stuckwisch
In anticipation for the upcoming remake of Warlords (1980) coming to Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network, we spoke to games producer Brian Kirkness of Griptonite Games about the challenges and goals of reworking a video game classic.
The original Warlords saw its debut release in 1980. How did the idea come about to remake it now for XBLA and PSN? Why now?
The timing is perfect for smaller budget remakes in the game marketplace right now with the popularity of services like XBLA, PSN, & Steam. We also had a great idea for this current version that adds to the franchise but doesn’t take away from the original core game.
Was it an important factor to try and stay true to the original title, or was creating a completely new experience the goal from the start?
We really set out to try and combine the two. Warlords has a very devoted fan base and they want a game that plays as much like the original as possible. However, we also understand that this is a chance to introduce a classic to some new gamers who have different expectations than those of us who grew up in the arcade era.
When sort of challenges did Griptonite come across when developing Warlords?
Probably the biggest challenge we faced was trying to make the controls feel like Warlords without a paddle controller. Obviously we can’t just emulate a paddle, so we had to make some concessions, but overall we feel the game handles very well.
Warlords has been remade a few times since its original arcade release and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen it on the Xbox 360, so what separates this one from the all the others?
Aside from the new art style we’ve added some new features this time around. There are power-ups, Snoots (troops you can control) and a few different gameplay modes.
Can you tell us about the presentation and art design, and why you chose this direction for this edition of Warlords?
The art style came about from our desire to capture a little more of the history of Warlords, but put a slightly humorous spin on it. Warlords is a fast-paced, competitive game and we wanted people to be able to laugh a little as they are trash talking their friends.
Not long ago you guys released a character trailer introducing the Warlords. Are they assigned to the players or are they selectable, and do they have individual skills or abilities?
The player can choose any Warlord they like or place as their XBLA avatar. Unfortunately the Warlords do not possess unique powers.
Old school Paddle controller VS modern day PS3 and/or 360 controller. Who wins and takes the cake for when it comes to game play? Be honest!
At Griptonite we are pretty big Warlords fans and proud of our game, but nothing quite beats the feeling of spinning an old school paddle controller around. It’s just a different skill that can’t be replicated on the modern controllers.
I’m sure many gamers can’t wait to get their hands on this title, when do you think we can expect a release date?
Look for it soon!
Griptonite Games is also developing Shinobi for the 3DS, you guys must love bringing back classics to this new generation! What do you think makes these modern adaptations so appealing to gamers and developers?
I would like to think it’s for the same reason Hollywood does all the remakes, aside from the money: love for the original. We all have fond memories of old games, cartoons, movies, etc. Often times playing those games is what inspired us to get into the industry to begin with. Getting the chance to be a part of the history of some of your favorite memories and hopefully create that same level of enthusiasm in the next generation of gamers is one of the big reasons a lot of us became game developers.
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Us here at Capsule Computers would like to thank Brian Kirkness for his time and thoughtful answers, and wish him and the team at Griptonite good luck on the release of Warlords. Keep an eye out for Warlords which will be available on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation network out this season!
Earlier this year, the gaming world witnessed the release of Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. Then Capcom decided to announce Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom for the same consoles, set for a November release (really, Capcom?). This was around the time when Capcom pulled the plug on Megaman Legends 3, which was going to be released on the Nintendo 3DS.
However, Amazon France might have stumbled upon something when they posted this page. The page will lead you to an entry for Marvel vs Capcom 3 for the Playstation Vita. There is no release date or price on the page. I do suspect that it could be the Ultimate version, if such a project is currently in development.
Street Fighter x Tekken is heading for the handheld and Capcom did announce that there are a few Vita titles in the works. Maybe this is one of them.
What does the Capsule Community think of this? Do you want your favourite Marvel and Capcom characters in your pocket? Comment below.
[UPDATE]: The page has now been removed, but Amazon France were in the right direction as Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 will be heading to the Vita.
The initial release of the downloadable content packages for Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 was at first met with some degree of confusion. On the 20th of July, American, European and Oceania players of DWG3 were finally able to get their hands on the first batch of DLC that has already been in circulation in Japan for 6 months now. Only thing was, it was suffering from the same syndrome that DWG 2 did, in that the package provided no extra characters, and just 3 new missions, which, by and large seemed like VERY little difference. However, the next week came, and lo-and-behold, on the 27th of July, players were offered the very first downloadable character, mobile suit, and individual story mission for Mr Bushido and the Susawano from Gundam 00 as DLC. Mind you, the 480 MSP price tag still seems a bit steep for the amount being offered.
The next week rolled around, and I had decided to check out the DLC marketplace again, to see if perhaps Tieria Erde, or Lockon Stratos had yet been added. Unfortunately not. Again, it was just another batch of 3 DLC missions. I still downloaded them, but was underwhelmed. Now, today, on the 9th of August, yet another DLC batch was released, this time with another extra character and mobile suit, Marida Cruz and the Kshatriya from the Unicorn series.
I kind of started detecting a pattern. A new character would be released every two weeks. At first I had feared that my other 3 favourite Gundam Meisters from 00 would not be making an appearance. After actually finishing the base story mode in the game, I was relieved to see that the DLC characters were included in the game credits, therefore lending credence to the notion that Lockon Stratos, Tieria Erde and Allelujah Haptism will eventually find their ways onto the DLC marketplace. If the current pattern is to be believed, then that would place the subsequent CHARACTER DLC release dates at later points at 2 or 3 weeks intervals during August and September.
So for the sake of those a little confused by the release schedule, allow me to summarise the offical schedule outlined by KOEI so far:
July 19: Three DLC Missions released (“Fortress Infiltration: Blaze of Glory”; “Fortress Infiltration: Solo Assault”; & “Proving Your Worth as an Ace Pilot”). 240 MSP. OUT NOW.
July 26: Mr Bushido and Susawano pack. 480 MSP. OUT NOW.
August 2: Three DLC Missions released (“The Time of War”; “Acguy vs. Acguy”; & “The Legend of the Fastest, Strongest Mobile Suit”). 240 MSP. OUT NOW.
August 9: Marida Cruz and Kshatriya pack. 480 MSP. OUT NOW.
August 16: Three DLC Missions released (“United?! The Knights of Argus!”; “Total annihilation! Become the king of destruction!”; & “A fate intertwined? Open up a path of escape!”). 240 MSP.
August 23: Three DLC Missions released (“True Dynasty Warrior Gundam… May Your Life Be Eternal”; “Final Trial Against the Giants”; & “Humankind and Gundams”) 240 MSP.
August 30: Lockon Stratos and Cheridum Gundam pack. 480 MSP.
No offical word as yet regarding our MIA Allelujah or Tieria, but they will likely make appearances on the marketplace in September if the current release pattern is anything to judge by. It will also be interesting to see if any OTHER DLC will be made available at some time in the future. (I mean after all, Quatre and Wufei are still missing from the Gundam Wing lineup. 🙂 )
The Fall 2011 Anime Season is one of the most highly anticipated anime seasons in a long time. With many new series starting and several continuing, it is indeed going to be an interesting season this Fall. So far several series have been confirmed. Check out the list below for details on what you can expect this Fall.
Airing on TBS:
Boku we Tomodachi ga Sukunai (studio – AIC Build)
Mobile Suit GUNDAM AGE (studio – Sunrise)
Persona 4 (studio – AIC ASTA)
Airing on Fuji TV:
UN-GO (studio – BONES)
Guilty Crown (studio – Production I.G.)
Airing on NTV:
Lupin the 3rd New Series (studio – Toms Entertainment)
Chihayaful (studio – Madhouse)
Hunter x Hunter (studio – Madhouse)
Airing on TV Tokyo:
Shinryaku!? Ika Musume (studio – Diomedia)
Cross Fight B-Daman (studio – TBA)
Airing on NHK-E:
Bakuman 2nd Season (studio – J.C. Staff)
Phi Brain (studio – Sunrise)
Airing on UHF:
Fujirogu 2nd Season (studio – Uzupiyo Guraphics)
Fate/Zero (studio – Ufotable)
Maken-Ki! (studio – AIC)
Future Diary (studio – Asread)
Tamayura ~hitotose~ (studio – TYO)
Working’!! (studio – A-1 Pictures)
Airing station TBA:
Majide Watashi ni Koisinasai!! (studio – LARC)
Horizon on the Middle of Nowhere (studio – Sunrise)
Kimi to Boku (studio – J.C. Staff)
Shana Final (studio – J.C. Staff)
C3 –C Cube- (studio – Silver Link)
Last Exile – Fam, The Silver Wing (studio – Gonzo)
Moretsu Space Pirate (studio – Satellite)
Mashiroiro Symphony (studio – Mangrove)
BEN-TO (studio – David Production)
Sekaiichi Hatsukoi (studio – DEEN)
Or if you would rather a pretty image to tell you the same information as above, 0taku.com has made a nifty visual guide to the upcoming season which can be found here. Leave us a comment below letting us know which series you are most anticipating from this upcoming Fall season.
The upcoming Hetalia: Axis Powers movie, Hetalia Paint it White! which is to be dubbed and distributed by Funimation Entertainment, has it’s first teaser trailer uploaded to the net.
The trailer is 5 minutes long and features footage of the english dub from Funimation Entertainment. Hetalia is an anime series which features personifications of countries in anime character form. Hetalia Paint it White! features the cast banding together (excluding Canada) in an attempt to combat some sort of white alien invasion… or something?
You can check out the huge trailer and leave a comment with your thoughts on Hetalia Paint it White! in the comment section below
Titled Arch Enemies This video follows the more less friendly aspect of the social media edition of the game. That’s right, The Sims is heading to the social network, Facebook, and will be known as Sims Social.
As far as I’m aware, this is the first entry of the franchise into the Social Network stream. The Sims is a powerful brand in the gaming industry, so it’s likely that this game will have millions of players the world over. Here’s to hoping it carries that Sims feel, which if you watch the video, it feels as though it will.
Be sure to check the video embedded below and theOfficial Website for more info.
Continuing on from the first ten games from our list of 100 games you must play before you die, we introduce to you the next installment. These games are a mix of the new and old, and the great and the terrible, but these are ten more games you absolutely must play before you kick the bucket. Just a reminder: the games are in no particular order.
Platform: PS1 Genre: Platformer Release date: 1996 Nominated by: Roger Ma
Think back to a time when video games were uncomplicated and humble – to a time when video games were played just for fun. It was the mid 90s and the fabled 32-bit era console war seemed to of dying down just a tad. A ‘small’ game by the name of Crash Bandicoot was released in 1996 and introduced players to one of gaming’s most recognisable characters. Crash Bandicoot in my opinion is one of the quintessential platformer to come of out of the 1990s. At the time, it was one of the first fully rendered 3D platformers to be released on to consoles, but what made Crash Bandicoot so popular and successful was that its core gameplay was just pure fun to play from start to finish.
The developers of Crash Bandicoot, Naughty Dog, managed to keep and maintain the game’s fundamental game mechanics without them ever feeling old throughout the game’s lengthy run. Jumping and spinning was pretty much all you could do, yet somehow these two simple actions – combined with wonderfully designed level, vast and varied environments and creative boss fights – made for a very good game. The fact that this game was released in 1996 but video game developers of today are still trying to grasp the simplicity of Crash Bandicoot really does speak for itself. With the initial success of Crash Bandicoot, it quickly established itself as a video game franchise complete with sequels and a plethora of racing and party game spin-offs. But, of cause, all this started with the original Crash Bandicoot on the Playstation, and that’s why you must play this game before you die.
12. God of War II
Platform: Playstation 2 Genre: Action-adventure Release date: 2007 Nominated by: Matt Vella
The God of War franchise has some of the most epic moments in video game history, violence that would make a Mortal Kombat Kharacter Kringe, some of the best button-mashing of all time and an orchestral soundtrack that’d make Beethoven jealous. Personally I consider it a side-scrolling beat ’em up/hack ‘n’ slash title, but most call it a third person action/adventure title. Losers.
The cinematic approach in God of War II is simply outstanding, it rivals and even beats many Hollywood action flicks in my opinion, as well as providing some of the most fun memories in a single-player game I can ever recall. What amazes me with God of War is how such a simple engine is so entertaining. While most games like this feel repetitive, the cinematic approach with epic soundtrack and graphics reverses this, and you’re constantly surprised and impressed at every twist and turn. Furthermore, if this was a list of the top 100 boss fights, 20% of the list would most likely be bosses from the God of War franchise.
Hell, come to think of it, everything I’ve said about this game applies to every title in the franchise. In fact, God of War 3 alongside Killzone 3 is probably the main reason most people even own a PS3. Oh yeah, I went there!
What can I say about Portal that hasn’t been said already? Talk about coming out of left field and smacking you in the face with a wet tuna. Portal was released with The Orange Box, a collection of games by VALVE including heavy hitters such as Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episodes One and Two, and Team Fortress 2. It’s hard to get noticed, let alone stand out amongst such a pedigree of titles, yet Portal was the little game that could, incorporating clever level design, writing and an amazing game mechanic into a package that swept the industry by storm and topping many publications Game of the Year Award – quite the feat for a game that you can run through in 45 minutes if you know what you’re doing.
For the three of you who don’t know, Portal is a puzzle-platform game played in first person. Your character, Chell, much like in Half-Life, is a silent protagonist. Your goal is to navigate a testing facility know as The Enrichment Centre for Aperture Laboratories using your portal gun, which allows you to shoot two portals, an in and an out, which will connect two places in space. Portal is narrated by the real star of the game, a cognisant A.I. knows as GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), who’s clever dialog is always helpful and in a friendly demeanour yet dry and sinister all at the same time. Imagine Martha Stewart as an A.I. trying to kill you with a Rube Goldberg machine and you’ve got it. Portal made waves when it was released, and for good reason. It’s created meme’s and catchphrases like the ubiquitous “the cake is a lie”, and the follow-up Portal 2, solidified the game as a series and a powerhouse franchise. If you haven’t yet, you should play Portal. It’s a short, inexpensive experience that goes a long way and will stick with you. It’s something every gamer should have under their belt.
14. Tomba!
Platform: Playstation Genre: Platformer/Adventure Release date: 1998 Nominated by: Kelly Teng
One of Sony Playstation’s best kept secrets and a great cult classic, Tomba! (or Tombi! as it is known in Europe and Australia) is a game that makes no sense but is utterly charming from start to finish. If there was ever a game you had never heard of but had to play, it would be this.
Most PS1 fans only got their hands on a demo, but that’s okay because the game is great from the get-go. Players play a pink-haired, green/purple-shorts-wearing guy, Tomba, whose grandfather’s bracelet was stolen by a bunch of evil pigs. Tomba’s job is, of course, to get his grandfather’s bracelet back…however, progression through the game is measured in the most unconventional way possible: by capturing the Seven Evil Pigs into pig bags. Gameplay largely consists of walking and jumping on everything – pigs, animals, plants, and so forth – but the simplicity of the game is part of the beauty.
It is almost impossible to describe the joy of playing this title, and I’m not going to try. All I’m going to say is this: if you ever manage to get your hands on it, don’t let it go.
15. Starcraft
Platform: PC Genre: RTS Release date: 1998 Nominated by: Mike Irving
There are tournaments held for just about any multiplayer game, but few have ever reached the scale of StarCraft, which has developed into something of a national “sport” in South Korea. The game is widely considered to be the best real-time strategy game of all time, and around its release it was voted by several sources as Game of the Year 1998.
While other games of the time were balancing the teams in-game by ensuring that all had access to the same or very similar abilities, units and strategies, StarCraft was arguably the first to create very different species, and require very different strategies to master each one. They are all still finely balanced, but it’s a much more creative balancing act: rather than simply reskinning units for each race, elements such as unit cost, attack and defend power, movement speed, weapons, and maximum numbers were weighed against each other. For example, the Terran race is essentially human with access to advanced technology, meaning units are expensive to produce and fairly slow-moving, but are strong in the offensive and defensive. On the other hand, the infamous Zerg race can produce a lot of units very quickly and cheaply, but they are very weak individually, relying on sheer numbers to overwhelm opponents.
More than a decade later, and StarCraft‘s impact and influence is still felt, in the gaming industry and pop culture in general. While Blizzard’s other RTS franchise, WarCraft, went on to pioneer the MMO scene, StarCraft maintained a hold on the RTS genre through several expansions released in the following years. Later RTS games almost always include elements introduced to the industry in StarCraft. It still has an almost religious online following, and professional StarCraft players in South Korea become media celebrities. It may be difficult to master, but due to its massive influence on the genre, the industry, and the way games are played in social and professional environments, StarCraft definitely needs to be played…at least until you rage quit after being on the receiving end of a Zerg Rush.
16. Space Quest
Platform: DOS/Mac/AMIGA/Atari ST (via Floppy Disk) Genre: Adventure Release date: 1986 Nominated by: Phil Federico
In Space Quest, you take on the role of Roger Wilco, a lowly janitor on board the spaceship Arcada. Luckily for Roger, he fell asleep in the broom closet as the ship was being highjacked by the evil Sariens who end up killing everyone on board and stealing the Star Generator (some sort of powerful device). Using his quick wits (mainly consisting of lucky and stupidity) Roger escapes the Arcada before it blows up and embarks on a mission of epic proportions filled with witty tongue and cheek references to both Star Trek and Star Wars movies. On his mission to save the universe Roger visits a number of weird and wonderful locations such as barren wastelands, underground caves and a strange town called Ulence Flats that has a local bar that resembles a scene in Star Wars.
The gameplay in Space Quest is keyboard controlled. You moved Roger around with the arrow keys and complete commands by typing them in to perform specific task; this did lead to frustration for a number of less experienced players as they didn’t know what to type were standing in slightly wrong positions on the screen, but this was totally normal for this type of game. Space Quest was a classic and in my eyes could do no wrong.
I don’t remember how many times I’ve taken good ol’ Roger on his mission to save the people of Xenon, and recover the Star Generator, but every time was a complete pleasure and never once did I get bored. This was because Space Quest had a score system similar to what XBOX / PS3 games have now in the way of achievements. You could finish the game for example with a 100 out of 150 points, and of course you finished the game and knew the ending, but still that wasn’t enough for me. I had to go back and figure out what I missed to get that perfect score.
Space Quest is a game that has stood the test of time and a must to play if you love adventure games. I believe the best platform to play it on now would be the PC. Make sure you mop the floor with this one before you cross over into the other universe.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is the standout licensed game of this generation. With store shelves full of movie knockoff video games and other awful licensed junk, Rocksteady truly went back to Batman’s roots by creating a new story around the most iconic Batman characters and places like the Joker, Riddler and Arkham Asylum. In doing so, they blended comic book and video game into an experience like no other – an experience that actually makes you feel the Batman of a comic book. It will stand with The Dark Knight movie as one of those entertainment events that you will never forget. This game is one publishers should take heed of and learn from. It may take some time and extra polish (or extra cash), but a quality game (even if it is licensed) that has passion behind will reach critical and monetary success, even when its not based on a recent movie.
Tetsuya Mizuguchi is an interesting cat. Starting off at Sega, he designed Sega Rally Championship then moved into a more music focused path with Space Channel 5 before designing the hallmark prequel to Child of Eden, Rez. It’s hard to imagine now, but if we use the way back machine, Rez came at a time where music focused games were still in their infancy. Creating a love child between music and an on-rails shooter, Rez was a sheer critical success, but much like Child of Eden, wasn’t supported with marketing and died on the vine. Until it was re-released as an Xbox LIVE Arcade Game, Rez was veritably impossible to find unless you wanted to part with an unrealistic amount of money, an ounce of blood and possibly your first born to pick it up on eBay.
Rez might appear as a head trip of a game mostly suited for a psychotropic induced experiences but… well… yes. It’s that. However, it’s also a brilliant experience that must be had by any gamer. Notice how I didn’t say game. Rez is an experience. Anything I explain pertaining to it will be considered a spoiler so I’ll keep this sort, but I encourage anyone to pick it up and play it through to the end. You can thank me later. Psychotropics are purely optional.
19. Superman 64
Platform: Nintendo 64 Genre: Action-adventure Release date: 1999 Nominated by: Luke Halliday
If there was ever a game, that was so bad that you just had to play it, it would have to be Superman 64. It is a game that is widely considered (alongside the E.T game) to be the worst game of all time. There is so much wrong with this game. To list every glitch, bug, fault or just all around crappy things about Superman 64, would take a lifetime to even describe the first level!
The game just is horrible and has become infamous for that. It’s known for terribly unresponsive controls, having an indeterminable genre, taking away anything that was ‘super’ about Superman, being absolutely incoherent, barely functioning, glitched environments, glitched gameplay, glitched everything and just being a game so bad that you’d be doing yourself a great injustice to not play it before you die. The game was so widely slammed for being bad that it’s developer, Titus Software, never recovered from it and closed up shop for good a few years later.
Whether you need a good laugh or want to die a little inside, you need to experience Superman 64 for the pinnacle of bad video games.
20. Pikmin 2
Platform: Nintendo GameCube Genre: Strategy Release date: 2004 Nominated by: Jack Joly
Do you ever get…*inhale*..so excited about something…*exhale*.. that you have trouble breathing? When I was told..*inhale*… to write about Pikmin 2…*exhale*…one of my favourite games of all time…*inhale*..this happened to me..*deep exhale*.
The first Pikmin was refreshingly different and oozing with charm. The little creatures called Pikmin acted as your army, hinging on your every command and following you around into attack, retreat and carrying loot after a successful raid. Despite all the different colours which carried different abilities and up to 100 out and about at any one time, every loss was mourned, and seeing one of your loyal soldier’s souls floating into the air tugged at the heart strings of even the most hardened Generals.
Pikmin 2 built on everything of the first game; new types of Pikmin to add to the tactics; underground caverns to supplement the booty collected at ground level; charming new characters who brought with them a character swapping element to your strategy; new enemies and worlds to explore; and a two-player battle mode and extra co-operative missions. It has to be one of the most charming, witty games around. No doubt copies of the Gamecube game are something of a rarity these days, but an all-new revised Wii release with a Wii control scheme means everyone has the chance to give it a go.
Arguably one of the greatest handhelds in existence, the Game Boy Advance offered up a large and rich selection of titles that set the standard for portables today. With so many games, you are bound to get one or two lazy publishers that deliver a hideous excuse for a cover art. A few we are about to go over were just lazy rush-jobs while others just made no sense whatsoever.
While their flimsy cardboard box-casing may have made these arts easily destructible, the memories and images they portrayed will last a lifetime, haunting us for generations. Join us as we look over the worst boxarts of the Game Boy Advance.
Karnaaj Rally
Karnaaj Rally may have been a hidden gem on the GBA, but the boxart would be better compared to a lump of coal. Apparently, Jaleco (who are no strangers to Bad Boxarts) decided to go with a generic racing-game art. The idea would have worked well enough, but it seems that some mutated demon smurf spawn just had to be on the cover, which resulted in the very odd and tacky final representation you see above. We never seen a sequel from Karnaaj Rally, and I am just sitting here wondering why this fantastic cover would be ignored (or buried).
Board Game Classics
When I think of classic board games, I think of chess, checkers, and backgammon, just to name a few. Board Game Classics also thinks the same, but with blocky unicorns, seahorses, and robots added in. I get that there are several new “themes” for the classic games included in this compilation, but gathering all the rejected Shrek cast members together for a group photo was just not necessary.
Sheep
Trying to recreate the famous “Abbey Road” portrait, “Sheep” featured four small sheep walking on a crosswalk. This could have been a fun little parody on the cover, but a recreation just wasn’t enough and someone had to die.
What did we learn? Sheep should be doing sheep-like things on Sheep game covers. That poor yellow lamb still hasn’t emotionally recovered from this incident, and Capcom is to blame.
David Beckham Soccer
Mr. Beckham may be the Michael Jordan of soccer (or football for those of you outside the U.S.), but his stone cold stare and shockingly bright appearance on the European Cover for David Beckham Soccer made for one of the creepiest boxarts in history. If you noticed, Rage also thought it would be a good idea to add in a second Beckham stare in the logo, so buying this priceless piece was a two for one special.
In my opinion, Senead O’Connor pulled of this look better in her “Nothing Compares to You” video, which is what this cover reminds me of each time I see it.
Luckily for kids in North America, Majesco decided to actually show more of Beckham playing soccer, and less of the whole staring into children’s souls.
Super Duper Sumos
The cover for Super Duper Sumos triggers a lot of reactions at once, so just one glance should be enough for most people. In this art, we see three rather obese men, slapping their bare asses together. A high five? Nah…overdone. It had to be their asses.
We hear a lot about kids reenacting what they see in video games on the playground, but thankfully an incident like what we seen in this cover was prevented and no lives were lost when Super Duper Sumos hit stores in 2003.
Now is the time where you type in the comments box share your favorite nightmares that graced the Game Boy Advance or just add in what you think of these five beauties. Don’t forget to check back, as next time we will be visiting the Super Nintendo (this will be fun).
