THE ART OF THE BOX – The Best in Video Game Cover Art FREE SHIPPING*

(* free shipping only for shipping to addresses in Germany)

"The Art Of The Box celebrates a sincere time when purchasing decisions were often influenced by the quality of a game's cover. The Art Of The Box sheds a long overdue light on the talents of legends such as Bob Wakelin, Tom DuBois and Susumu Matsushita and is a must for any self-respecting retro gamer" 9/10, Nintendo Life

Before the days of brand awareness campaigns and digital marketing, the only source of advertising for a game was often limited to the packaging you saw on game store shelves. Since early game graphics offered little visual interest, the packaging's job was to conjure up captivating images of space battles, medieval knights and wizards, explosive military operations, and monstrous alien creatures. And each cover had to be hand-crafted by an artist using traditional media - often to a short deadline and the vaguest of specifications.

The Art Of The Box features 26 biographies of artists who have illustrated video game packaging at some point in their careers, including Bob Wakelin, Steve Hendricks, Ken Macklin, Tom DuBois, Steinar Lund, Marc Ericksen, Julie Bell and Susumu Matsushita, and many others. Using information from live interviews wherever possible, we talk about their beginnings as artists, their inspirations and influences, the games they have illustrated, and the path their artistic careers have taken.

Some artists have designed just a handful of covers over a short period of time, others have been instrumental in developing the look and feel of video game brands such as Ocean Software, Konami and Capcom. But all have left an indelible mark on the industry with their magnificent original works, many of which now command high prices on the collectors' market.

Featuring artists from the UK, Europe, North America and Japan, The Art Of The Box spans the full range of game box illustration, from the early days of Atari's iconic VCS boxes to modern collaborations between designers, CG artists and game developers for the latest AAA games. Each bio is accompanied by lavish, full-colour box art provided by the artists themselves, and each piece of artwork is presented without the usual logos and sales elements so that each piece can be viewed as the artist intended.

As the gaming world moves irrevocably towards digital downloads and game subscriptions, traditional box art will one day become a thing of the past. But a small selection of these vivid flights of imagination will be celebrated forever in The Art Of The Box .

This extensive and thoroughly researched book is 564 pages with over 100,000 words and more than 350 full-colour images. Produced to Bitmap Books' usual high standards, The Art Of The Box is available in hardback format with heavy gloss paper, incredible print quality and a bookmark.

Selected artists:
Charles Bae, Julie Bell, Gerald Brom, Frank Cirocco, Grzegorz Domaradzki, Tom DuBois, Marc Ericksen, Oliver Frey, Steve Hendricks, Paul Kidby, Michael Koelsch, Denis Loubet, Steinar Lund, Ken Macklin, Lee MacLeod, Susumu Matsushita, Rodney Matthews, Roger Motzkus, Shinkiro and Eisuke Ogura, Stephen Peringer, Dermot Power, David Rowe, Junior Tomlin, Dudu Torres, Bob Wakelin and Mike Winterbauer.

product features

English , 564 pages. 210 mm × 297 mm. High-quality lithographic printing from edge to edge. Glossy laminated hardcover. Thread-stitched cover for lasting quality and the ability to lay the book flat for ideal viewing of the double-sided images. Ribbon bookmark. Shrink-wrapped. Volume weight: 2.5 kg.

Included games

2020 Super Baseball / 8 Eyes / A Sound of Thunder / Adventure Island / Adventure Island IV / Adventure Island, The: Part II / Adventures of Bayou Billy, The / Aerobiz Supersonic / After Burner / Alcatraz / Alien Legacy / Alien Storm / Alien vs . Predator / Alpha Mission / Android Assault: The Revenge of Bari-Arm / Ant Attack / Archipelagos / Arcus Odyssey / Armalyte / Art of Fighting / Art of Fighting 2 / Art of Fighting Anthology / Ashen Empires / ASO II: Last Guardian / Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok / Asteroids / Athena / Attack of the Mutant Camels / Ax Battler: A Legend of Golden Ax / BAT / BOB / Back in 1995 / Bad Company / Bad Dudes / Baku Baku / Baseball Stars / Basketbrawl / Batman / Batman: The Caped Crusader / Battle Arena Toshinden / Battle Clash / Beach Head II / Benefactor / Berlin Wall, The / Bill Elliot's NASCAR challenge / Bill's Tomato Game / Bionic Commando / Blades of Steel / Blazing Chrome / Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 / Borobodur: The Planet of Doom / Bounces / Bubsy II / Bubsy in : Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind / Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle, The / Burai Fighter / BurgerTime / Cabal / Castlequest / Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse / Castlevania: Bloodlines / Chariots of Wrath / Chase HQ / Chase HQ Secret Police / Chess Player, The / Chiller / Choplifter! / Computer Chess / Continental Circus / Contra / Corporation / Creatures / Creatures 2: Torture Trouble / Cybernator / Dandy / Darius+ / Dark Sun: Shattered Lands / Dark Sun: Wake of the Ravager / Death Bringer / Death Wake / Deathloop / Deathscape / Defender / Defender of the Crown / Defenders of Oasis / Delta / Delta Charge! / Demon's Crest / Demon's Forge, The / Demon's Tomb: The Awakening / Derby Stallion '96 / Diablo II / Discworld II: Mortality Bytes! / Dishonored / Dishonored 2 / Dishonored: Death of the Outsider / Disintegration / Distraint Collection / DOOM / DOOM Eternal / DOOM II: Hell on Earth / Double Dragon V: The Shadow Falls / Double Dribble: 5 on 5 / Dynatron Mission / Déjà Vu / Earthworm Jim (25th Anniversary Redux) / Earthworm Jim 2 / Earthworm Jim: Special Edition / Eidolon, The / Elevator Action / Elfaria / Emperor of the Mines / Empire of Steel / Enter Digiton: Heart of Corruption / Epic / Escape from Monkey Island / Eternal Champions / Evil West / Evil Within, The / Extreme / Eye of Horus / F-15 Strike Eagle II / Fatal Fury / Fatal Fury 3: Road to the Final / Fatal Fury Special / Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 1 / Feud / Final Fantasy Legend, The / Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest / Final Fight / Final Zone / Fist II: The Legend Continues / Flying Shark / Friday the 13th / FROG X BIRD / Fury, The / Fu'un Super Combo / G-LOC: Air Battle / Galactic Blitz / Galaga / Gemini Wing / Ghost Pilots / Ghouls 'n Ghosts / Golden Ax / Golf / Gotham Knights / Great Escape, The / Green Beret / Guerrilla War / Gun.Smoke / GunForce / Gunship 2000 / Haunted House / Hawkeye / Head Over Heels / Heavy Barrel / Heretic / Herzog Zwei / Highlander / Hockey / Horde, The / Ikari Warriors II: Victory Road / IO / Iridis Alpha / James Pond 2: Codename: RoboCod / John Madden American Football / Judge Dredd / Karnov / Keys to Maramon, The / King of Dragons, The / King's Bounty / Kizuna Encounter: Super Tag Battle / Kristal, The / Lands of Lore: The Throne of Chaos / Laser Squad / Last Blade, The / Last Ninja, The / Last Resort / Legend of the Mystical Ninja, The / Legends / Leisure Suit Larry's Greatest Hits and Misses! / Lethal Enforcers / Lethal Enforcers II: Gun Fighters / Lords of Thunder / Lure of the Temptress / Mageslayer / Magnetic Scrolls Collection, The / Majik / Maniac Mansion / Maximo vs. Army of Zin / Mega Man 2 / Mega-Apocalypse / Metal Combat : Falcon's Revenge / Metal Slug 3 / MetalMech: Man & Machine / Midnight Resistance / Might and Magic IV: Clouds of Xeen / Might and Magic V: Darkside of Xeen / Monkey Magic / Moon Alert / Motor Toon Grand Prix / Mr. Nutz / Mutation Nation / NBA Jam 2002 / New Adventure Island / NewZealand Story, The / NHL Stanley Cup / Night Driver / Ninja Taro / North and South / Ocean Ranger / Odallus: The Dark Call / Operation Thunderbolt / Operation Wolf / Othello / Out of this World / Outer Worlds, The / POW: Prisoners of War / Page 255 / Paladin's Quest / Pang / Pirates! / Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor / Populous / Power Blade / PowerSlave / Psycho Soldier / Pulse Warrior / Pulsoids / QS Defenda / R-Type / Raider / Rampage / Rastan / Realms / Red Scorpion / Renaissance / Renegade / Retrograde / Ricky Woods / Rise of The Dragon / Road Rash: Jailbreak / RoadOut / Rolling Thunder 2 / Rolling Thunder 3 / RPG Maker / RYL: Path of the Emperor / Samurai Shodown / SAMURAI SHODOWN (2019) / SAMURAI SHODOWN Anthology / SAMURAI SHODOWN II / SAMURAI SHODOWN NEOGEO Collection / Saturday Night Slam Masters / Seas of BloodSecond Samurai / Sentinel, The / Serious Sam: The Second Encounter / Shadow Master / Shadow of the Beast III / Shadow Warrior 3 / Shadow Warriors / ShadowCaster / Shadowgate / Shadows of the Tusk / Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues / Sid Meier's Civilization V / Side Pocket / SideWinder / Silent Service / Silkworm / Slap Fight / Snake's Revenge / Snare / Soft Aid / Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos / Spaceward Ho! / Speedball / Splatterhouse 3 / Star Control II / Star Wars: Return of the Jedi / Star-Blaze / StarFarce / Steel Talons / Steelrising / Steeplechase / Stellar 7: Draxon's Revenge / Stellar Assault / Street Combat / Strider / Sun Star / Super Adventure Island / Super C / Super Castlevania IV / Super Soccer / Super Valis IV / Supremacy: Your Will Be Done / Target: Renegade / Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles III: Radical Rescue / Tempest / Temple of Apshai Trilogy / Tempo / Teocida / Terra Cresta / Tetris / THE KING OF FIGHTERS XV / Thunder Force II / Times of Lore / Tiny Barbarian DX / Top Gun: Guts and Glory / Transarctica / Trouble Shooter / Turrican / Turtles IV: Turtles in Time / Twylyte / Ultima IX: Ascension / Ultima Underworld II: Labyrinth of Worlds / Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss / Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny / Ultima VI: The False Prophet / Ultima VII: Part Two – Serpent Isle / Ultima: Quest of the Avatar / Ultima: Runes of Virtue / Ultima: Runes of Virtue II / Underworld Ascendant / Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 / Vectorball / Vengeful Guardian: Moonrider / Vexx / Video Checkers / Vikings: Fields of Conquest – Kingdoms of England II / Warlords / Warlords III: Darklords Rising / Warrior of Rome II / Wasteland Angel / Way of the Exploding Fist, The / Wing Commander / Winter Sports / Wizball / WolfChild / Wolfenstein 3D / Wonderland / World of Warcraft / Worlds of Ultima: The Savage Empire / Xenon / Xybots / Zany Golf