Famicom Cover Thread

[shenske]

@Jigsaw
     I made the drop shadow / fade from the top and bottom banner to make it pop out more and becasue the art used is so small.  Most of the original famicom boxes were horizantal with horizantal artwork. Rather than stretching the art, it is centered slightly and the background color is extended (as you probably already noticed). The drop shadow / fade is to make up for the portions of the cover where there is no art covering that area.
     As far as "Family Computer" vs. "Famicom" I'm going to stick with Famicom. I know that originally when the system came out it was called the Family Computer but I wanted these covers to match out other covers on the site for the systems in succession. For example: we have our "Famicom Disk System" & "Super Famicom" covers on the site. I think the new famicom covers I'm making should match the other systems that came after. Moreover the template was based off of the Famicom Mini series and thats how Nintendo themselves refered to the system.
     Writing Famicom Family on the bottom ... i'll toy around with it and see if i like it.
     Language on the covers will be Japanese by default and I will make a variation in english if thats what people want.  I wouldnt want to make a Japanese cover and cut out the japanese text but i will provide an alteration for the people who collect the japanese games but do not speak the language.
     As i said before i plan on making some adjustments to the template and i will take your opinion into consideration. Thanks for the feedback 

[Drakul]

yeah I think you should stick to Japanese by default, make it as authentic as you can.
And of course if you feel like it you could make a custom JP with English text.

Either way it looks sweet.

[satoshi_matrix]

I agree with absolutely everything shenske said in his last post. "Famicom" was a short form and not the original title, but it stuck and is how people refer to the system now. If you were to call it the Family Computer as it was called at first, it wouldn't line up with the rest of the covers we have now. If its okay with you guys, I'll post a thread on this topic on the largest English speaking Famicom internet community, Famicom World in order to gain support and maybe get some of the people I know who have tons of boxed Famicom games to scan their covers!

[FellipeBr]

Uploaded an UGC version of Mahjong Professional Goku covers made by SymptomsOfMercy:

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/Symptoms0fMercy.custom.famdisk_professionalmahjonggoku_jp.jpg

Preview:

[satoshi_matrix]

t looks great. I'm glad to see this project is still alive! *immediately goes to play Portal even due to unintended reference*

[FellipeBr]

Well, if nobody go makes more UGC versions of these covers, I can make without a problem.

Actually, I'm gonna make more covers later  

Edit 1: Should I upload this with my nick or the nick of who made the scans?

[FellipeBr]

New covers:

Bubble Bobble

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/FellipeBr.custom.famdisk_fds_bubblebobble_jp_ugc_jp.jpg


Cleopatra no Mahou

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/FellipeBr.custom.famdisk_fds_cleopatranomahou_jp_ugc_jp.jpg


Eggerland

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/FellipeBr.custom.famdisk_fds_eggerland_jp_ugc_jp.jpg


Falsion

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/FellipeBr.custom.famdisk_fds_falsion_jp_ugc_jp.jpg


Nazo no Murasame-Jou

http://www.thecoverproject.net/uploads/FellipeBr.custom.famdisk_fds_nazonomurasamejou_jp_ugc_jp.jpg

[shenske]

Here is a little update to on the template.  I likely won't be able to pick up working on any covers for about a week (untill finals are over).

Mario Bros.

Super Mario Bros.


Super Mario Bros. 2

I know this was released on the Famicom Disc System but I have seen famicom carts of this aswell (likely pirated).  Since there are carts in exsistence then i won't leave it out.

Super Mario Bros. 3


all spined up


Super Mario Bros. USA coming soon

EDIT:
Do you guys like the half artwork half black spine the covers currently have?

[shenske]

Super Mario USA

[satoshi_matrix]

Oh wow, bow before the master! Those look nothing less than stunning. I can't thank you enough! I hate to be critical of such outstanding work, but personally I'm not a fan of coverart bleeding into the spine, espically not in only half of it. I would perfer the image be cropped and there just be a single colored background.

As for what color the background should be, here's an idea: the Famicom differs from every other system I can think of because each Famicom cart is a different color and some are shaped differently from the standard mold. Why not make the background color of the spine (the color that will be behind the game's name/logo) be whatever color the actual Famicom cartridge is? I think this is a great idea because if you display your Famicom games stacked up on a shelf it would look rainbow-ish. Why not have the custom covers reflect the same thing?

For example, it would go something like this:

Mario Bros.  - Golden Yellow
Super Mario Bros. - Yellow
Super Mario Bros. 2 - A pirate, so you could go with anything. Why not either white or red?
Super Mario Bros. 3 - Cheddar yellow
Super Mario USA - Pink



Some other random examples:

Balloon Fight - White
Rockman 2 - Red
Super Pitfall - Aqua
Gegege no Kitaro - Green
Akumajou Densetsu - Black

The only problem with this is that some companies (like konami) made almost all of their games in black, which is kind of dull. maybe black can be the exception to the rule where the cover artist chooses whichever color they feel best suits the game?

[sheep2001]

I love the look of the cover going half over the spine, these look amazing!  Only problem is i don't have a famicom, so i guess my opinion on this one doesn't really count for much! 

[shenske]

is this better? worse?

[tiktektak]

Pleaaase no pink....

Although I don't like the halfway-front-cover-on-spine approach I think maybe a just all black spine would be nicer....

[shenske]

Although I don't like the halfway-front-cover-on-spine approach I think maybe a just all black spine would be nicer....

Black for all spines regardless of game?

[Jigsaw]

I personally don't mind the artwork bleeding over onto the spine per se, but in the case of Super Mario Bros USA at least, the layout of the front cover clearly looks better in your second example. I already thought things looked a little cramped in your first version, having this one to compare it to just makes it all the more apparent. Having said that I'm not against the design element itself, I think it looks neat and I don't mind it as long as the actual front cover doesn't suffer because of it.

I think spine colours based on the colours of the cartridges is an interesting idea in theory, but I'm not convinced that it's such a good one in practice. You're bound to come across games where the cartridge colour will clash with the design of the logo and/or the maroon and gold of the template itself. Either way I don't think the template necessarily has to dictate what the spine should look like. I don't think it'd be a big deal if there is no totally coherent look for the centre of the spines - There's still plenty of common design elements to tie covers together.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that the Famicom controller graphic on the back seems like it could be a bit more subdued, especially on the SMB2 cover. The relatively high contrast and intricate detail, combined with the small text make things look a little busy, and the text more difficult to read than it really should be. Again, I think the unique colours for each game is neat in theory, but I think for the sake of readability it would make sense to have a unified, easy on the eyes look for the background.