Is cover art important in a game?

[BronzeHeart92]

Cover arts are usually the first thing you will see of a game when you go shopping for them. Therefore publishers will try to make them as attractive as possible. Consider Nier: Automata for example which showcases the game's principal characters 2B, 9S and A2. Aside from the somewhat ruined setting, it doesn't really tell you much about the characters such as why are they dressed like that or why 2B and 9S wear blindfolds. Many games in the same genre would basically have similar covers. Many FPS covers in particular would tell you just how badass the main character(s) are. Many games though would just as well subvert those expectations. Let's take Bioshock Infinite for example. In that one we see Booker and Elisabeth in front of a burning flag. Fairly standard as covers go, right? Well, start the game up and before you know it, you will be in for a wild ride indeed.

 

[Sawsbuck]

A perfect example is Mega Man for the NES, it originally failed commercially largely due to it's craptastic artwork (which was drawn in only 6 hours and it really shows)

 

[Desert Stream~]

I loooove cover art lol, sometimes I go into game stores just to look at it. A lot of it is really well done.

 

[L'Belle]

I think another important addition was the friendship system.

What are you even talking about?

To answe the question, yes, it's pretty important. It might be a factor for some to buy or not buy the game.

 

[Raffy98]

Yes, it is important: it gives you the first impression of a game.

 

[Mister Coffee]

One of the things I really like about game cover art, is that it sets the mood for the game before it is even played. Most video game cover art presents it's art using colors that reflect a certain feeling a person is supposed to feel when they look at the art. The details of the characters being presented as well as the appearance of the background or events that may be occurring in the cover art are often designed to give you preconceived feeling of what you as the player are about to step into before the game has even started. RPG's tend to show the main characters presented in a scene of heroism or witnessing an environment changing event. FPS's tend to show either scenes of war or scenes of extreme tension that look like war zones or hostile environments. Horror games generally try to show a picture that is either Disturbing, Macabre, or present an image that feigns loneliness or fear.

Cover art is very important because it nine times out of ten leaves the player with their very first impression of what the game they are about to play will be.

 

[string555]

It's not about what's on the outside of a game case, it's what's on the inside

It's not really important to me. I don't think I can recall ever picking out a game because of the cover art, apart from when I used to frequently rent games as a kid. Nowadays, I already know what to expect from a game when I go to buy it, so even if it came in a blank case that simply said "Game Title", it wouldn't matter to me.

My parents also learned this the hard way, before I was born to when I was a tiny tot, my parents used to buy NES games simply based on their cover art. This was especially stupid then, because the cover art could be very well-designed and detailed, making the game look really awesome. But then you go to play the game, and it's like someone's first homework assignment from Video Game Programming 101. XD

And yes, on a similar note, as SawsbuckFan showed, the MegaMan cover art was completely horrible, and if I remember correctly, the 2nd game's cover art wasn't really much better. :/

 

[Desox]

Not on these times, no. Apart from console releases, do covers even exist anymore? I've not bought a physical PC game since 2009, and that's where I play on.

Now people mostly search the game before buying, watching trailers, screenshots, reviews and the like.

When I was a child, I did check the box designs though. And sometimes they were horribly deceitful. Thing is, DOS / SNES / GB games woudln't simply put screenshots as cover, that'd not look attractive.
There were also the hilarious terrible designs, you can watch AVGN to see those.

 

[Venonat in Space]

When I was a kid when I had the Sega Genesis, yeah I bought some games based on the cover art. One game in particular "Dynamite Headdy" Looked cool...yeah ok it was true it's cover art I must admit.

Now we have a little thing called...the INTERNET! I always look up a game before I buy it and I do my research. I haven't bought a single game since February and that game was Fantasy Life for 3DS. Heck, the internet prevented me from getting a Switch. Why? In the presentation, it said we'd eventually have to pay for internet gaming via Nintendo accounts. I was so upset cause I literally saved 250 dollars in Gamestop credit. So I spent it on a new 2DS (cause my original 3DS was crap), bought Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Darkness (nostalgia) and Fantasy Life and now I have a rotting 85 dollars and 13 cents on a Gamestop card that i'm personally afraid to spend. Ugh!

EDIT: In conclusion, covers mean nothing. Thank you and good night.

 

[CidHazard]

Depends... I think that a highly anticipated game, that's had tons of media coverage, has a hype train going, and is popular. Would still sell like hot cakes even without the cover art.

But an obscure title, Indie or otherwise... only has that one chance to grab your attention, one glance to catch it, so the better the box art the better. Since, really its the only way to get any visibility.

I remember my local gaming store had this massive shelf filled with different PS2 titles, I remember tons of shooters and badly rendered 3d characters on some of the box art... then as I was perusing the games, a flash of blue and red caught my eye. The games box art had a bunch of anime characters, drawn in a style that I could only call half chibi. Boxes separated them, all of them very colorful and very expressive... and I looked at the games title... that was the start of my addiction to what the IGN would go on to call "Best Game No One Played of 2003" Disgaea Hour of Darkness...

 

[cprmauldin]

Important? Yes.

A dealbreaker? No.

 

[dkjean901]

Best pokemon game i lik it soo much this game.

 

[Arsenic]

No, I don't think it is as important as it was, and that's coming from someone who loves physical copies of games.

Both with the rise of digital purchases and the widespread availability (and common knowledge) on standout games or really poor ones, I think cover art quality is growing more and more irrelevant.

Taking Cover Art's place is Game Trailers, advertising campaigns, screenshots, and gameplay shots.

At the same time, I do think really bad cover art could have a negative effect, but nowhere near the impact of such from even a decade ago.

tldr, Cover art is quickly becoming nothing more than something us collectors... collect.