New & Final Cover Art
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-smash-
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I assume so. But I'll ask.
sam_justice
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That can't be the final one is it? It's just as ugly as the original, artists must be able get away with just copying and pasting images into photoshop and adding a crappy font nowadays.
O
omgwut
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It looks pretty nice, but they could format the lettering better in the corner.
I think they could have gone with a different image of Gordon, too. But whatever.
I think they could have gone with a different image of Gordon, too. But whatever.
Crispy
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When I opened up both links simultaneously I genuinely didn't know which one you were referring to with this statement. They're both shit.
Why don't Valve run a contest to see what real artists can come up with?
Asus
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To me it would seem harder to make box art mentioning 5 games look just as awesome and not crowded like a cover featuring just one game. /shrug
It's a nice improvement over just text on an orange box IMO. Surely it would be obvious which came first and which was the updated version.
It's a nice improvement over just text on an orange box IMO. Surely it would be obvious which came first and which was the updated version.
Crispy
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I was talking about my first impression. When I checked both images I could see, but... ugh.
My next question is: Why does this constitute news? There were times where something like this would be the final line on a bigger news item. Now it in itself in newsworthy?
-smash-
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Probably because there's nothing else for this news to go along with?
Chill out. There's plenty of bandwidth here.
Yeah, but where does it advertise Portal and TF2 on that box? It doesn't. There's the problem. Valve needs all 3 games advertised on the one box. It's not as easy as many of you think.
This new box ain't perfect... But it's far better than the last one. Depth would have been nice, that's for sure.
Asus
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The person who made that box art did put 'Box Includes: Team Fortress 2 and Portal...' on the back so it is his version of the combo box.
If it was just about EP2 then it would be great. Perfect I'd say. But it fails as box art for a 3 or 5 game package.
GeorgeWLucas
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Valve really need to fire their graphic designer. The quality of their cover designs do not match the quality of their games. The designs for Half-Life 2, Episode 1 and Episode 2 are really poorly designed and boring.
An orange gradient with black text? It's unattractive, old fashioned, and it's going to be hard to read from a distance. Bad design choices.
.
An orange gradient with black text? It's unattractive, old fashioned, and it's going to be hard to read from a distance. Bad design choices.
.
Heck, come on! The biggest reason I'm buying the Orange Box is for EP2! I'm not saying I don't want Portal or TF2, but isn't EP2 the highlight?
Anyway, I understand that it's a box for EP2, but my point was that VALVe needs some help if a fan-made box makes theirs look like a "half-assed photoshop" (quoted from xlucidx).
Anyway, I understand that it's a box for EP2, but my point was that VALVe needs some help if a fan-made box makes theirs look like a "half-assed photoshop" (quoted from xlucidx).
RestInPeas
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Why don't Half-Life2.net run the contest while were waiting for the games to come out? Just for fun, or maybe Valve would like the winner as well?
Stigmata
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I think EA simply takes the game, presses copies, and sends it to retailers. I don't think they ever get to touch any of the game's presentation or content at any point.
He speaks the truth!
leib10
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This is just for Episode 2. Unfortunately, it's a fan-made box, so it's probably not going to see the light of day.
THAT'S the one we should be seeing for Episode Two. Not that crappy Photoshop job they're going to use that doesn't come close to doing it justice.
I was thinking the same thing. It's really poor. Obviously a bit more interesting than the first one but it still looks terrible.
It must be hard to design a cover for a package that contains several games. I guess that's why they had the plain orange box with just text originally. I reckon I could do better than the new cover though. I might even have a crack if I get the time. Maybe we could have a 'design an orange box' thread with forum member efforts?
Well HL2 doesnt advertise CSS on the front of its box despite for many that being the bigger selling point than CSS itself at the time when no CSS box had been released.
No reason they have to include them all on the cover, or if they include them it can't just be in text format.
Personally...the covers better but it's not that good. There images look really cramped and in general the space utilisation quite poor. That gordon image is how old too? It really looks like it was thrown together in as much time as the previous one except this time they stole images from screenshots or old art.
That said...I'll buy it anyway. Its hardly make or break for me.
DuB
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Agreed :]
(that was referring to the very first design)I giggled when I saw the box "art"
Granted, the fact that so many different games are included makes designing a cover tough... but c'mon.
I think this covers decent and serves the purpose well. Considering the time I spend looking at the box, it'll do me.
(and yeah I display a lot of my games on a shelf too... but with the spine showing
)
Laivasse
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That new art is pretty useless tbh. I know exactly what's going to be in the Orange Box package, and on a casual glance I completely failed to realise that the little stick guy in the middle is meant to signify the inclusion of Portal.
Impulse buyers won't understand the significance of the different motifs, they'll just think it's a crappy cover. People anticipating the release will already know what's inside and so they don't need to be forcefed the 3-in-1 message. Better off going for something that makes more of an impact, like that fan-made cover (although I don't think that's perfect either).
Impulse buyers won't understand the significance of the different motifs, they'll just think it's a crappy cover. People anticipating the release will already know what's inside and so they don't need to be forcefed the 3-in-1 message. Better off going for something that makes more of an impact, like that fan-made cover (although I don't think that's perfect either).
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