A Thought on Box Art

This awesome and official minimalist box art by Olly Moss for Resistance 3 almost makes me want to buy the game just for that reason... but then I remembered it's Resistance 3.*

Either way, if it sells well, I hope more publishers go with 'Criterion' box art like this instead of the usual guy/girl front and center with big guns and/or muscles/boobs.

Class it up, game industry, class it up.

*I'm aware that Resistance has its fans, and that the games are well made. But from what I've experience from demos of the game, it's just not for me. And let's be honest, the boxart for Resistance 2 was pretty crap/generic when compared to the need-no-explanation photo cover used for the first game.

Greatest Boxart Ever?

This would have been posted this afternoon, had I not run into the Great VFH Destruction of 3/22/10 while looking for boxart... Anyways, I was browsing Nintendo's press site this afternoon, taking a look at this week's digital releases when I saw that Treasure's Sin & Punishment 2 (now called Sin & Punishment: Star Successor, ew...) was finally on the upcoming releases list. So I clicked, and what did I find? This beauty:

I might not be a fan of the name change, but hot damn, Nintendo at least got the boxart right. I honestly can't think of any games in recent memory that went the route of not slapping the lead character(s) in the center of the package, or using a color pallet of about four colors. This just goes completely against the norm and it's absolutely stunning.

Just to compare, here's a collection of boxart for top-notch games, with not so exciting boxart:

Just look at these for instance, all reasonably high-profile games, and yet all their boxart is either made up a limited color selection, or the main character is HUGE and generally in the center. And then Sin & Punishment: Star Successor shows up, comepletely breaking the formula, and it's gorgeous. As I lover of the first game (thank you Virtual Console) I look forward to the sequel when it releases this June.

The Work of Jared D. Weiss

Hey, sometimes we all have to do a little shameless self-promotion. And considering I do run VFH, and cater to all of you wonderful readers, I figured, hey.. why not?

I have just finished launching my new, art focused blog:

As one would assume, this new blog is a way to keep anyone interested in my artwork (and other projects I may or may not take part in), up to date with what ever it is I may be doing. All, in fully written out, image supported, proper form; as opposed to the Twitter I've been using in preparation for this.

It also means that my internet time will now be divided between my personal work and the work I do here at VFH. So if you're noticing a lack of content from myself, chances are it's because of this. But, of course, I can't speak for the other staff members...

Anyways, please, if you could, do me a favor and check out the site. There's still a few things I need to work out in the coming days, like graphic links, and an RSS feed, but as of right now the site is ready for reading!

Thank you all!

Scott Pilgrim - Full Color Odds & Ends 2008 review

Let's face it, I'm a pretty big fan and/or supporter of Scott Pilgrim and its creator, Bryan Lee O'Malley. So imagine my excitement when I saw that Scott Pilgrim - Full Color Odds & Ends 2008 was actually available for purchase on Oni Press' online shop (the book, and Scott Pilgrim shirts for that matter, are rarely in stock).

Although the book is the size of a standard single issue comic-book (instead of the series' usual manga size), and is made up of mostly comics, at heart Odds & Ends is really an art book. The issue, which was released in 2008 collects assorted Scott Pilgrim short stories from 2006-07 which are not in the actual books. These include Free Scott Pilgrim (but now in glorious full color), a four page Wonderful World of Kim Pine color comic, as well as a couple of comic strips (both color and black and white).

The book also includes some sketch and marker pieces from Bryan Lee O'Malley, book advertisements (including this awesome one that spoofs the Super Mario Bros. 3 artwork), and neat, Katamari homage done by Dean Trippe and Jemma Salume which graces the back cover.

Writing
What's to say here? The thing with most of the book, is that it's all already available online, and legally. So, when I got the book, at least when it came to the comics part of it, it was all stuff I had previously read. However, already being a fan of O'Malley's characters and writing, I can tell you that the shorts you find in Odds & Ends are just as enjoyable as what you get in the books... just abridged.

Artwork
The the first I did when I got the book was open up the original, black and white, Free Scott Pilgrim and compared it to Odds & Ends' new full color version, made possible by Dean Trippe. The difference is pretty awesome, as Trippe added a lot of light and shade to characters and it just makes them pop so much more. Also, in the original some backgrounds were just photograph to due time constraints, but with this collection they're all drawn now, which was a nice change.

As for the other new work, being the pencil and marker pin-ups, they're really nice pieces. Because the books are primary two-tone black and white, it's a nice chance to see how O'Malley handles other traditional mediums and the use of color on his characters.

Overall
All in all, Odds & Ends 2008 is certainly a nice collection of Bryan Lee O'Malley's work. However, it's probably hard to convince a casual fan of the series to spend $5 plus shipping on a 32-page book of work they can mostly already find online legally and free. Personally, since I happen to like the series and the artwork a lot, Odds & Ends makes a nice collector's item and I'm glad I bought it. But really, it's a book for the fans, and no one else.

Overall Score: 8/10

You can only buy Scott Pilgrim - Full Color Odds & Ends 2008 from Oni Press' online shop.

Ashley Wood's Art of Metal Gear Solid review

After reading (and watching) Ashley Wood's first Metal Gear Solid comic series, as well as it's sequel series, Sons of Liberty (which I never got around to reviewing... sorry), one could say that Mr. Wood pretty much has the visual style for the Metal Gear series down. Thankfuly, IDW Publishing agreed, and decided to release an artbook of selected imagery from both Metal Gear Solid comic series, as well as Ashley Wood's work from Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, available for the first time in print.

First off, sorry about this one. I've had the book for about the whole summer, but because it was to be VFH's first artbook review I just had no idea how to make a write up for it. I mean, its not like a comic where you can judge the story or anything, it's just images. So, this is a different type of review than you may be used to here...

Pros
There's a lot of nice things about Ashley Wood's Art of Metal Gear Solid; of course, it's both Ashley Wood's art and it's all Metal Gear, so that pretty much makes it awesome to begin with. But in all seriousness, for a paperback book, it's printed quite nicely; I'd of preferred the stellar hardcover treatment that Sons of Liberty got, but this works.

And while the digital and traditionally made art work for the first two series is nice, the main attraction here was definitely being able to view Portable Ops' cut-scenes in still form for the first time. To be honest, after constantly looking at the MPO artwork in this book, I actually think it's some of Wood's best work in the series to date. Here's to hoping he gets hired for a Snake Eater or Guns of the Patriots series...

Cons
While the artwork in the book is beyond phenomenal, and has 120 pages full of my favorite artist drawing my favorite game series, there are parts of the book that really bothered me. The main kicker? Organization. While, more or less, the final third of the book is completely dedicated to showcasing Portable Ops, the beginning of the book is just a mess.

Yes, the artwork is beyond great, and the mix of both digital and traditional images is a nice touch, but the book constantly goes back and forth between Metal Gear Solid and Sons of Liberty artwork, and I'd of much preferred it to be divided. Also, while I understand it's an artbook, and it's basically comic panels and covers minus the words, but I wish there was some sort of description boxes (or maybe vellum sheets to not hide artwork) to say what issues/etc the artwork was from or maybe mediums used. As said, the Portable Ops aspect of the book is great, but everything else is a mysterious jumble.

Overall
Despite the jumbled mess, the artwork is fantastic, there's no denying that. If you're a fan of either Ashley Wood's artwork, or the Metal Gear series, or both, than there's no excuse not to get this. However, if you've yet to experience MGS in comic form, I suggest you find yourself some copies of The Complete Metal Gear Solid and The Complete Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty instead, and then maybe pick this book up. And while the main attraction, at least for myself, was the Portable Ops artwork finally in print, I did notice that there was some missing pieces. And quite frankly, I'd of much rather purchased a dedicated Ashley Wood's Art of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops instead, so that I would actually know what to expect.

Overall Score: 8/10

Meet the next Zelda for Wii

During E3, Nintendo held a closed door conference with Shigeru Miyamoto which was a strictly no cameras meeting. During the meeting, Miyamoto showed off concept art for the next Wii Zelda game. Of course, someone managed to leak the image (albeit poorly) and now, to my surprise, Nintendo has added the image in all it's high-resolution glory to their E3 2009 press website:

Yeah, that get you hot? Start speculating: why does Link lack a sword? Who's that girl? And what's with the awesome brush-stroked art style? Keep speculating, because it seems you won't get answers until next year's E3; and even at that, the game probably won't release for another year after that. Enjoy!

E3 09: Nintendo Media

Hey there readers, hope you enjoyed the E3 conference recaps, but now it's media time. I just received some assets from Nintendo, so I've gone and posted videos for:

New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Golden Sun DS, Sin and Punishment 2, and Metroid: Other M.

I'm not embedding them here because that would be a slow-down nightmare. Enjoy!

Hopefully I'll be able to get some footage from Sony later, other Microsoft didn't have much video content available on their press site, so I can't help you guys out there.

Update: Got some screenshots and artwork from the press site. Not posting everything, because of bandwidth limits, etc. But I'm posting stuff that caught my interest.

Screenshots of Metroid: Other M


Artwork for New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Golden Sun DS


Artwork for Sin and Punishment 2

Not too much, but the stuff is still cool no less. I'm just waiting for Konami to release artwork for Metal Gear Solid: Rising and MGS: Peace Walker so that I can have a real fanboygasm.

The Art of Edgar Mueller

Thanks to io9, I have just discovered a really neat street artist, Edgar Mueller, who creates some pretty awesome illusions by painting streets and pavement. Take a look for yourself:

Make sure to see Edgar Mueller's Official Website

21st Century Breakdown?

Green Day is slowly releasing more info on their upcoming album, 21st Century Breakdown, set for release in May 2009. While I can I say I was a big fan of the band in their earlier days, I can't even bear to listen to 2004's American Idiot. Call me stubborn, but there's just something about 40 year old emo men that rubs me the wrong way. However, there was some redemption when the band's garage rock side project, Foxboro Hot Tubs, released their debut album, Stop Drop and Roll!!! last year, which I'll admit to having really liked.

Anyways, onto something I found peculiar. The recently released album art of 21st Century Breakdown reminded me of one of my favorite albums, Blur's 2003 release, Think Tank. Take a look:

See a resemblance?

I mean, sure, it's not a blatant rip off or anything. But the black and white, stenciled graffiti of the Green Day album clearly takes inspiration from artist, Banksy's signature style. Banksy being the artist who designed the art for Blur's album cover. However, after researching, I found out the Green Day cover was designed by another graffiti artist, Sixten, who is also known for using stencils in his work.

They say copying is the best form of flattery, so be it. Being as I have every other Green Day album, I assume I am obligated to purchase 21st Century Breakdown when it releases this May; be sure to look out for a review some time then.

The Art of Jen Stark

I know we cover alot here at VFH, but one of the things I'd like to cover, but never get around to is art. I came across a website of a very unique artist, Jen Stark, who's works mainly consist of very well cut paper in intricate patterns. It may not sound like much, but can you do this? :

"Coriolis Effect" by Jen Stark

I highly recommend you check out here website, www.JenStark.com , and be sure to check out each catagory. The sculpture section has many similar designs as this, her drawing portfolio has pieces that are as, if not more intricate as her paper scultures, and there's a stop motion animation of a paper design that boggles the mind if you've ever attempted it yourself. She also has a blog that you can read, here. Enjoy!

deviantART v6 launches

Yet again, deviantART has updated its website, just 2 years after the previous redesign. Know what this means? Getting used to the site all over again... For you members, and even just browsers of the site, check out the full feature here:

deviantART version 6

Castlevania Judgement artwork

Konami released some clean screenshots of the Wii-exclusive fighter, Castlevania Judgment. But those are the same screens I scanned previously, which are almost as clear. So instead I am going to show off a few of Death Note artist, Takeshi Obata's renderings of four fighters from the game. These are like, super high-res, so enjoy

Alucard and Dracula
(See what they did there?)


Maria Renard and Simon Belmont

I still think that Maria and Simon look like Misa and Light, from Death Note. But maybe that's just coincidence of character design mixed with the artist's style. Either way, at least we can say the artwork looked nice if this game turns out to be garbage.

Does this make you want Street Fighter IV?

Here's the new artwork and a screen for Street Fighter IV's latest newcomer, Rufus. Is this the type of character that you think represents the franchise well? Out of all the possible characters, was a big fat redneck with a bucket of popcorn truly necessary? You tell me, personally i think this was a complete waste of creative talent.


(click to enlarge, as if he wasn't fat enough...)


(click to enlarge)

I'll admit it though, while the idea of an obese slob coming into the Street Fighter world bothers me, it cannot be denied how great this game looks graphically. It's pretty stunning for what is essentially a 2D experience. And I can imagine that levels that are as vividly lit as this must look even more stunning in motion.

No More Heroes artwork gallery

If there's any game that's all about styleand the way it presents itself, its Suda51's No More Heroes. Say what you will about it, but i happen to really enjoy the game and its art style. And after a few months of hunting, Creative-Uncut got access to the artwork from the game. Seriously you need to check it out. Here . While you're there, be sure to check out the plethora of artwork from a large assortment of other games, both new and old.

via Creative-Uncut

Okami art?

Okami has an amazing art style. It's just breathtaking, never before seen in a game. Even if you haven't played the game, I'm sure you can find it in yourself to appreciate the art.

Giant gallery, need I say more?

Okami Art

Books, Comics, etc. Reviews

These reviews are organized by their specific media. They are listed alphabetically, unless part of a series. To see how we score click here.

VFH Seal of Approval titles in bold


Awakening, Volume One
Daybreak, Episode One
Daybreak, Episode Two
Lost At Sea
Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness
Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Universe
Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour 'NEW'
Star Trek: Countdown


Coming Soon


Ashley Wood's Art of Metal Gear Solid
Scott Pilgrim - Full Color Odds & Ends 2008

This post will be updated as the reviews come.
Last updated: August 11th, 2010 (1:31 AM EST)