POLL: How do you prefer your PS1 covers?

[shenske]

This question has been plaguing the PS1 cover thread.
(a place where artist show of their covers and people comment about them)

I decided to make a poll.  The outcome of the poll males no difference to how artist will make their covers and is not intended to create a standard way.  That would be pointless and dissappointing to the loosing vote.  Rather this way you can see how many people agree with you.

You can vote once and the poll will last FOREVER!
Absolutely no flaming, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.


The following is what members have been stating recently.
(its not in quotes because it wasn't working out all that well for me)
(Red is intiator and blue is statement in response

twighlightwolf77 directed to the General public
"I don't want to sound rude, but what is it with people requesting the horizontal Playstation template for said games? I mean, I have no problems with it, but it looks too much like the PS2 template, only with the 2 removed from the Playstation logo at the top."

          Vt102 directed at twighlightwolf77
          "Parity I guess.. This way you can have PS and PS2 games side by side and they would look similar.
          I personally like the horizontal a lot better than vertical cuz it fits the original (CD CASE) art a lot better."

          Velmeran agreeing with Vt102
          "Those are probably the two biggest reasons I prefer the Horizontal over the vertical style."

          Conn directed at twighlightwolf77
          Uh, that's the exact reason. People want consistency between their PS1 and PS2 games.
          Why do you think that PS3 DVD project popped up?

twighlightwolf77 in response to Vt102
"Actually, the CD case art for the PS1 games weren't horizontal, but vertical. Even you should've known that."

          Vt102 directed at twighlight77
          Yes.. true that the original covers have the playstation name in a vertical form,
          but the art itself when transplanted to a DVD case, fits a lot better in horizontal form.

          Velmeran agreeing with Vt102
          5.5x5.75in for a standard CD Jewel Case, even with the "vertical" Playstatation bar,
          I would assume it's easier to convert a cover to a horizontal cover than a vertical,
          as there is less skewing of the image that way.
          I mean, we're already messing the initial dimensions up,
          but considering how much farther you skew the Height vs Width on
          a veritcal compared to a horizontal IMO adds up.

          Sheep2001 in response to Twighlightwolf77
          PAL games are horizontal

Shenske directed at the general public about the issue & agreeing with Vt102
here is a quick visual example of this argument
Both use the unconverted original art from CD case. 
The gray area around the art is the space the original art does not use up.
The horizantal way covers nearly the entire area.  The vertical way covers about 60% of the area. 
Therefore original art (from CD case) is better suited for the horizantal way.

thats a lot of the reason vertical covers can be such a pain 

          twighlightwolf77 directed at shenske
          Even so, I still like my covers to be vertical. That way, they stand out from my other games.
          I'm sorry if you guys don't like it, but you'll just have to live with it.
          Either like it or lump it, or something like that.

All of the next comments are in response to twighlightwolf77's response above
          Applequeso
          Well I'm going to say this: There's a reason people like horizontal just as there's a reason people like vertical.
          You don't have any more right to criticize the horizontal template than others do for criticizing the vertical.

          Velmeran
          I don't think anyone was going to try and force thier preference on anyone else,
          but I do find your more recent statement rather interesting given that you initiated the discussion.

          Vicman
          No one has an issue with what you personally like twilightwolf77. In fact you're the one who brought up the issue to begin with and we've all just been explaining why it doesn't work as well in the vertical style due to the facts of the height and width not matching up. It was an explanantion based mainly on the facts at hand, not an affront to your personal tastes, facts in which you were proven to be wrong about after stating to Vt: "Actually, the CD case art for the PS1 games weren't horizontal, but vertical. Even you should've known that." This whole discussion has been a tangent initiated by you and your tone throughout has been defensive and bewildering.

          Conn
          ...Maybe you should take your own advice, considering you came into the thread to say,
          essentially, that the horizontal template sucks.


This is where i stepped in and the discussion ended here.  Now you are free to continue your conversation here

[shenske]

here is a late opinion (moved from PS1 cover thread)

While I prefer vertical as a way to distance it from PS2 covers, I'll use either one, because when they are lined up on a shelf with nothing but the spines showing, no one will be any the wiser.

Besides, I'd say that PS1 vert vs horz is a much better dilemma than the unlimited variations of Sega Genesis covers. Heck, sometimes games within the same series will use different cover styles.

And you can't argue with the fact that it is easier to fit the original cover using horz style than vert. Sure, I still prefer vert, but in the case of many obscure games that have no artwork on the interwebs, you kinda have no choice in the matter. (Unless you wanna make a large empty space below and above the cover image, but that method does not work as well for PS1 games like it does for Saturn games.)

[Timstuff]

I say vertical, because I think that's a better representation of how games of that generation (with CDs, at least) were packaged. If you look at the Sega CD and Sega Saturn, they both had vertical banners as well. The vertical banners are a bit more reminiscent of those unwieldy-huge vertical boxes that Sega CD, Saturn, 3DO, and early PSX games came packaged in. With a horizontal banner, to me it looks just a bit too much like a PS2 game missing its 2's.

[Conn]

I prefer them to be horizontal. That way, they mesh with all the other DVD covers, and consistency is a big thing for me. I'm also not a big fan of the canvas itself- it's very rectangular, and having the vertical bar on the left doesn't allow having the image overlap onto the spine.

[Hero's Shade]

I agree with what Timstuff said. Consistency is one thing, but having covers look like they were supposed to look is quite another.

[Doom]

Vertical like MGS, but being a cover maker myself I know how much of a pain it is to make them. Vertical, although technically more true to the original PS1 USA style, doesn't  really stay true the the original art, as demonstrated by Shenske's picture.

[AppleQueso]

I prefer horizontal myself, mainly because for one, the canvas is easier to work with and, for another, I simply like the consistency, especially when you have a series that branches into the successor console, such as Final Fantasy or Silent Hill.

That's not to say that I dislike vertical covers though. Far from it in fact, I actually have many times seen vertical covers that I absolutely love. I actually agree with the reasoning behind using vertical, and sometimes I consider going vertical myself. I like how it has a more "old school" look to it, very reminiscent of the classic long box look.

As people have said though, vertical is a pain to work with, simply because you have to crop a lot more artwork. Often times you have to get creative in how you handle it. I understand that some people prefer vertical, so I usually try to accommodate them when I make a ps1 cover, and make both styles.

[PDDestro]

I like for there to be some artwork on the spine since that's what's going to be seen from my bookshelf before you pull the case out, and with the horizontal style the cover maker can just wrap the art around the spine and continue it onto the front cover with nothing breaking it up. Some horizontal custom covers have game art spanning the whole case (front, spine, and back) and having the vertical stripe in such a situation ends up covering/breaking up the wrap around art. I enjoy custom covers where the artwork beautifies and excites you about the game inside and thus am not interested in having a giant vertical "Playstation" taking up valuable space.

[XanderBoy]

I voted for vertical.  I would probably have preferred horizontal if not for the MGS essentials collection; MGS essentials collection gives the vertical a sense of validity, I think.  Now as a result of MGS essentials, I just want to maintain the same consistency.

[the7k]

I like for there to be some artwork on the spine since that's what's going to be seen from my bookshelf before you pull the case out, and with the horizontal style the cover maker can just wrap the art around the spine and continue it onto the front cover with nothing breaking it up. Some horizontal custom covers have game art spanning the whole case (front, spine, and back) and having the vertical stripe in such a situation ends up covering/breaking up the wrap around art. I enjoy custom covers where the artwork beautifies and excites you about the game inside and thus am not interested in having a giant vertical "Playstation" taking up valuable space.

I personally don't let the vertical format stop me from putting artwork on the side. I usually make horizontal and vertical covers at the same time, and I just use the same spine for both.

[PDDestro]

I personally don't let the vertical format stop me from putting artwork on the side. I usually make horizontal and vertical covers at the same time, and I just use the same spine for both.

Yeah, but the vertical stripe still breaks up the flow of the wrap around and isn't as pleasing IMO.

[Lumberjack42]

Well, seeing as to this is my third time dividing the Cover Project bretheren,

I voted vertical, but I've gotten to the point where the more the merrier, if some one requests a cover that I'm making, I'll try to make it in both vertical and horizontal if the art will allow.

And take it from me, I like the look of the vertical style, but from the over 150 Dreamcast covers I've made, converting cd art to a vertical length DVD size takes a lot of creative fenagling and sometimes complete art rebuilds so, if making a horizonatal cover is easier for some, then I'm not going to tell them no.

But that's just this old dogs opinion.

Lumberjacl42