Sometimes newer is better.

Well, here we are, the last Eccentric Sphere for 2019.

I started this blog way back in 2012, October 16^th to be exact and now I'm looking forward to taking it into 2020.

In order to go forward it is sometimes necessary to look back at what came before. Today I want to look a bit at video game art. Cover art to be precise.

Within some franchises the art is both predictable and boring. Take the Call of Duty games. Usually it's a silhouetted soldier with a gray or green tint. The Battlefield games have pretty much the same but with a blue or orange tint. Dull, but serviceable. Do a Google image search if you're curious.

It's a natural fact that the cover art has to be illustrative of what the game is about. A sports game has to show the relevant sport, Minecraft shows off the blocky nature of the game, etc. If the game has a cover theme or very recognizable icon, that goes on the cover. The Fallout games has a dude in power armor on the covers, which lets you recognize that it's Fallout from far away.

But what happens when this methodology goes wrong? Well, see below for the answer. A video from the Norwich Games Festival holds some examples, going all the way back to the early text only games. But, fair warning, you may well see this and tear at your hair in confusion and horror at the baffling “art”.

Anyway, please enjoy and I'll see you next week, next year and next decade. Until then, have a great time! See you in 2020!