Recognizing that a chunk of the Bioshock fanbase hated — HATED — Bioshock Infinite’s cover art, Ken Levine of Irrational Games decided to add additional art on the back of the cover, making it reversible.
Don’t like “Dudebro Cover A?”
Flip it. Brand new box art. Done and done.
The alternate art is being left up to a vote here. Voting ends next Wednesday, 12/19/12.
On Monday, Wired published an explanation from Ken Levine. The much maligned box art was an attempt to make the game more accessible to the crowd of gamers who have yet to get in on Bioshock.
“We went and did a tour… around to a bunch of, like, frathouses and places like that. People who were gamers. Not people who read IGN. And [we] said, so, have you guys heard of BioShock? Not a single one of them had heard of it.”
The Irrational Games co-founder went on to discuss that the gaming industry must be accessible, even to the uninitiated, in order to thrive:
“It was definitely a reality check for us. Games are big, and they’re expensive, I think that’s very clear. And to be successful, and to continue to make these kinds of games which frankly, of the people who make these types of games, there’s not a lot of them, and they haven’t exactly been the most successful with these types of games that have come out in the last few years. I was thrilled because I love them, and I hope that we had some small role in getting those games greenlit… But they have to be financially successful to keep getting made.”
The man has a point, and the THQ’s woes should highlight that. Its hard out there, and the more revenue, the better. The more widespread the appeal (while keeping up a quality game), the better the future of the games industry will fare.
Those who are familiar with Bioshock with either play Infinite, or they won’t, regardless.
But if the kind of bland box art has you a pissed off puppy, go vote on an alternative before the poll closes!
Source: Irrational Games, via NeoGAF
