TF's Nintendo Fusion Covers for UGC

[TyrannicalFascist]

Sounds like a cool idea. 

Well, I've submitted all of my covers (except for Star Fox 2, The Lost Levels and Vs. SMB)... Fingers crossed...

[Velmeran]

I've you're thinking about taking a stab at it Apple; I've got a 6000x6000 .psd file with the setup used to do the stripes (just need to rotate it 60 degrees CW) I can send your way.

[zakurowrath]

See, what I like about your covers is not just they are now starting to become uniform among NES, SNES and N64, but the fact that, there's a good balance of colour & there's artwork behind the main artwork. The N64 is my favorite system of all time and it's the one that I have the most games for, I honestly can't wait to see what all the covers are going to look like with your N64 template.

The vertical style  N64 covers are nice but, there are certain problems with them that your cover style has corrected. One of the big problems is the main cover artwork is squared and cropped instead of rectangle and full, it makes me think of Pan and Scan with a widescreen movie. Another thing is, granted people have gotten creative with the backings, but there's so many different fonts, different preview squares, different backgrounds, the yellow tint is, well yellow, there's way too much red, the fonts are huge and it just seems blocky rather than uniform.

So I have high hopes for this template, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

AppleQueso, granted I would love to see how the Sega boxart would fare with this template and I may change my mind after seeing it, but most of the Sega boxart are vertical in nature and this template may crop it. The striped Genesis,32x,CD and Saturn style scream Sega to me. The Master System and Dreamcast are the only ones that don't conform to the striped style, however they are kind of like book ends to the Sega collection.  

Most Nintendo boxart is Horizontal so it fits better. But none the less, it's all a matter of opinion, and we pick which template fits our likes and needs. 

[roach47]

I was overdue for this one, and I've got two color choices for everyone to choose from:

Super Mario Bros.



Red, which might go well with the others, or black, which is reminiscent of the U.S. box colors. I'll probably leave the U.S. NES cover variation for someone else to do, particularly if they want to make a whole series of covers with the angled bottom to the art.

Added to the master list on page 1. I'll be doing a couple more SNES covers I want to tackle, and I'm still playing around with an N64 version of this template.

Any NES or SNES requests?

These look great! Still looking for Metroid, Tennis and Metal Gear.

[AppleQueso]

See, what I like about your covers is not just they are now starting to become uniform among NES, SNES and N64, but the fact that, there's a good balance of colour & there's artwork behind the main artwork. The N64 is my favorite system of all time and it's the one that I have the most games for, I honestly can't wait to see what all the covers are going to look like with your N64 template.

The vertical style  N64 covers are nice but, there are certain problems with them that your cover style has corrected. One of the big problems is the main cover artwork is squared and cropped instead of rectangle and full, it makes me think of Pan and Scan with a widescreen movie. Another thing is, granted people have gotten creative with the backings, but there's so many different fonts, different preview squares, different backgrounds, the yellow tint is, well yellow, there's way too much red, the fonts are huge and it just seems blocky rather than uniform.

So I have high hopes for this template, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

I've generally been pretty happy with the vertical n64 template, but i can see what you mean. BTW, the covers are squared off so it's easier to crop off that red bar/only for sign. Covers made in the new template will be cropped too, but perhaps the composition might look a little better so who knows?

As nice as it might be to switch over completely, I still have a LOT of n64 covers that need to be done in vertical style as it is, and I imagine it'd be quite a while before all of these become available in the new style. I'll try and make some time to convert some of my covers, but until a good bulk portion of my collection/wishlist is converted, I won't be switching myself just yet. Same goes for SNES.

AppleQueso, granted I would love to see how the Sega boxart would fare with this template and I may change my mind after seeing it, but most of the Sega boxart are vertical in nature and this template may crop it. The striped Genesis,32x,CD and Saturn style scream Sega to me. The Master System and Dreamcast are the only ones that don't conform to the striped style, however they are kind of like book ends to the Sega collection.

Yeah, my early attempts at this didn't look too good. I think you'd probably end up having to just use new art entirely like with the NES covers here. I don't really have a lot of motivation to work on it, to be honest, considering I probably won't use it anyway (kinda prefer the retail cases for Genesis games). I just think it would look cool. I might give it another shot sometime, but I don't know. Maybe I'll pitch a mockup of my basic idea to someone else who might want to tackle this.

EDIT: WOAH WHEN DID I GET OVER 1500 POSTS? 

[TyrannicalFascist]

@zakurowrath - Thanks for the kind words on the template! I really just started out wanting to make my own take on SNES covers. I don't dislike the SNES Vertical covers on here, in fact they were part of what made me get my UGCs and round out my collection in the first place, but after a while I found it almost too uniform, especially on the front and backs, and I agree that the different fonts and things on the back was very distracting. Azarkhel's original DVD case covers had a great look to them and I adapted it into basically what you see today. I'll admit that even before anyone mentioned it, I considered the possibility of NES, N64 and actually even handheld covers in a matching style. I'm not sure I'd do handhelds now though, because they already are uniform and look great to me, and this style would force the artwork smaller even if I kept the same dimensions on the art.

Since I have a relatively humble collection of games, it won't take long to convert them, and I kind of enjoy getting to pick a color and art for each game to make it stand out. I'm actually considering redoing my Nintendo Entertainment Collection DVD set covers in a similar style. Part of the problem I had was finding good Kanto-era art for Pokémon that was vertical, but this could fix that. If I redid this in a matching style, I wonder what color I should make it since I already have used black, gray and red...

Admittedly, even with my template the N64 art is still cropped - the red area on the right is removed, and a trim a little on the top and/or bottom to allow for the art or title to "pop" above the borders. But I see what you mean in that it feels kind of like "widescreen" in a way. I think what kind of works on all of these is that the information is presented simply, without any extra stuff like the purple dots and arrows on the original SNES boxes.

@AppleQueso - Yeah, I may not completely print out my N64 covers until I/others have remade covers for all the games I have. You might post a list of the games you have though, so everyone can chip away at it. 

[wiggy]

@zakurowrath - Thanks for the kind words on the template! I really just started out wanting to make my own take on SNES covers. I don't dislike the SNES Vertical covers on here, in fact they were part of what made me get my UGCs and round out my collection in the first place, but after a while I found it almost too uniform, especially on the front and backs, and I agree that the different fonts and things on the back was very distracting. Azarkhel's original DVD case covers had a great look to them and I adapted it into basically what you see today. I'll admit that even before anyone mentioned it, I considered the possibility of NES, N64 and actually even handheld covers in a matching style. I'm not sure I'd do handhelds now though, because they already are uniform and look great to me, and this style would force the artwork smaller even if I kept the same dimensions on the art.

Your story runs pretty much parallel to mine.  I started off trying to produce a few covers for some Saturn games for which I had with no covers at all.  Not long after that I was directed to this site by someone on Cheap Ass Gamer and was totally blown away by what people here were doing, not to mention that there were other people actually doing this sort of thing at all!  I ordered up some UGCs almost immediately and got started.

I started off with my N64 titles using the covers on the site, but after printing 3 or 4 I realized that the spine art didn't really work for me, mostly because I can't stand the colors and graphics on the original boxes.  I didn't really want a row of purple or green spines on a shelf.  I wanted them to be a tad more discreet.  So, I made a template and went from there.  Now I pretty much completely ignore the original art.  I use it to grab the barcodes, release dates, and the product codes, that's it.

Plus, this is a really nice, small, & tight community.  I can't stand places like Digital Press that are bloated and filled to the brim with useless troll-only members and a bunch of complete know-it-alls that insist upon using post count as a measure of someone's knowledge.  Ick.

Wow, that turned into a big-ass post. My bad.  Not trying to highjack your thread or anything    Still loving your work.  I hope you end up picking up some more games soon so that your cover making doesn't come to a grinding halt

[AppleQueso]

@AppleQueso - Yeah, I may not completely print out my N64 covers until I/others have remade covers for all the games I have. You might post a list of the games you have though, so everyone can chip away at it. 

Of the games I own + the games I plan to buy, there's about 22 covers that need to be done in regular vertical style. I'm slowly chipping away at it myself.

[TyrannicalFascist]

Still loving your work.  I hope you end up picking up some more games soon so that your cover making doesn't come to a grinding halt

Hah, well there's still a good handful of SNES games I intend to track down that I'll make covers for, and few NES, plus all the N64 games that could potentially be redone in the new style. Aside from those, I'd still be willing to tackle more requests. Though I do hope a couple more people get in on making covers for this style to cover the....covers I won't get to (no pun intended). You may notice that most of the games I've made covers for are either platformers, big Nintendo franchises, or relates to TV shows I grew up with in the 90's. 

I'll probably take on F-Zero, Kirby and the rest of Mario for starters. Plus I'll continue doing some NES requests here and there. Here's what I'm hoping to see done to complete my collection:

SNES
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
Battletoads and Double Dragon
F-Zero
Kirby Super Star
Kirby's Dreamland 3
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Fighting Edition
Tetris Attack

N64
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Blast Corps
Bomberman 64
Bomberman Hero
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
Donkey Kong 64
Diddy Kong Racing
F-Zero X
GoldenEye 007
Kirby 64
Mario Golf
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party
Mario Party 2
Mario Party 3
Mario Tennis
Paper Mario
Perfect Dark
Pilotwings 64
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium 2
Star Fox 64
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars Episode I Racer
Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo
Super Smash Bros.
Wave Race 64
Yoshi Story

I haven't listed Zelda games because (hangs head in shame) I actually haven't played that many Zelda games, and I think someone else could do them better justice than I could, much like Azarkhel did with Mega Man and Final Fantasy.

By the way, since zakurowrath asked me, the font I use on the back of my covers is called AvantGarde Medium BT, if anyone wants to use it. You can find it free with a Google search.

I'll get the N64 template ready shortly.

[zakurowrath]

Still loving your work.  I hope you end up picking up some more games soon so that your cover making doesn't come to a grinding halt

Hah, well there's still a good handful of SNES games I intend to track down that I'll make covers for, and few NES, plus all the N64 games that could potentially be redone in the new style. Aside from those, I'd still be willing to tackle more requests. Though I do hope a couple more people get in on making covers for this style to cover the....covers I won't get to (no pun intended). You may notice that most of the games I've made covers for are either platformers, big Nintendo franchises, or relates to TV shows I grew up with in the 90's. 

I'll probably take on F-Zero, Kirby and the rest of Mario for starters. Plus I'll continue doing some NES requests here and there. Here's what I'm hoping to see done to complete my collection:

SNES
The Adventures of Batman & Robin
Battletoads and Double Dragon
F-Zero
Kirby Super Star
Kirby's Dreamland 3
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: Fighting Edition
Tetris Attack

N64
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Tooie
Blast Corps
Bomberman 64
Bomberman Hero
Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
Donkey Kong 64
Diddy Kong Racing
F-Zero X
GoldenEye 007
Kirby 64
Mario Golf
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party
Mario Party 2
Mario Party 3
Mario Tennis
Paper Mario
Perfect Dark
Pilotwings 64
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Stadium
Pokemon Stadium 2
Star Fox 64
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire
Star Wars Episode I Racer
Star Wars Episode I: Battle for Naboo
Super Smash Bros.
Wave Race 64
Yoshi Story

I haven't listed Zelda games because (hangs head in shame) I actually haven't played that many Zelda games, and I think someone else could do them better justice than I could, much like Azarkhel did with Mega Man and Final Fantasy.

By the way, since zakurowrath asked me, the font I use on the back of my covers is called AvantGarde Medium BT, if anyone wants to use it. You can find it free with a Google search.

I'll get the N64 template ready shortly.

Very nice, I have most of those N64 games and a few on that list I have yet to get but intend to. So many memories *looks at thumbs & palms* especially the Mario Party 1 scars 

There are a few not on that list that I would love to see the template applied to.

Hey You Pikachu (My Voice is actually still high enough to play that game  )
Mischief Makers (Shake Shake, a very good side scroller for the N64)

I love the Rush series on the N64, simple yet fun racing games:

San Francisco Rush
Rush 2 Extreme Racing USA
San Francisco Rush 2049

The World Is Not Enough 007 (Not as good as classic as Goldeneye but fun) (I really like the background and spine idk did on the vertical cover)

Now if only I could get better a better computer & better editing software and do a few of these myself, Fireworks MX 2004 is starting to get really dated -.-

[Conn]

Hey, great template and covers! I really love how much "freer" these feel compared to the other vertical templates. If I ever get around to buyign some UGCs these are definitely the covers I'll be printing off 

Just one thing... does anybody else think the N64 green spines don't really work for the template? I know they're retail, but here it just clashes with the red N64 bar on the spine and feels unnecessarily colourful when the box already has a secondary colour (the one for the background art). I think it would look nicer if you took after your NES covers and made the spine the same colour as the background.

[TyrannicalFascist]

Quick update, I'm working with a new member named rgc who is cleaning up/better organizing my NES and SNES templates, and we are working on some small tweaks.

Among other things we're looking at adding # of controller and accessory icons to the front of NES and SNES, as I've done on the N64 cover for Super Mario 64. Obviously all the previous covers will have to be updated, but fortunately it's a small minor update that can be done quickly and simply.

Thoughts on that?

What accessories are there for NES and SNES that would need icons? So far I've got on the list the NES Zapper and Multi-Tap, and the SNES Mouse, Super Scope and Super Multi-Tap. Did I forget anything?

[soundwave925]

how about rob? i know only two games used him but why not?

[AppleQueso]

The only big ones for NES that you're missing that I can think of are the Power Pad and ROB as mentioned.

Don't think there was anything else worth mentioning for SNES

[marioxb]

For the NES, also Power Glove (two games that were made for it), Arkanoid controller (only Arkanoid in the US, also Arkanoid II and Chase HQ in Japan), SNES: Konami Justifier (only for Lethal Enforcers)