COVER of a COVER Contest RESULTS!

Hey folks!

Back in December of 2008, I announced that I would be holding a contest. Anyone interested in entering was tasked with lovingly reinterpreting their favorite classic video game covers, as faithfully or as creatively as they wanted, and they had about two months to do it. Well, here we are about two months later! In all, there were nineteen fantastic entries, all of them reflecting the respective artists that created them. Some of them made me laugh out loud, some of them made me say "I wish I could play that game," but all of them impressed me. Unfortunately, I couldn't pick all of them to win, and I ultimately had to make a choice: which ones most accurately and creatively tackled the challenge at hand?

These are those entries. ;D

FIRST PLACE:
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What can I say? When Raven sent me a note with the link to his entry and I clicked on it, the first thought in my mind was "this is going to be the entry to beat." The image is a more literal interpretation of the original cover, but there's so much detail to feast your eyes on, details that oftentimes eclipse the original image in quality and interest, that I just couldn't stop looking. The piece has a "comic book" feel to it that is really unique to the artist who created it, and yet it still feels like a really cool video game cover and had I seen this on the shelf in a video game store, I would immediately be interested in taking a look. Additionally, you can tell that a lot of work went into this, and that it was a labor of love. Raven is almost definitely a fan of this game. So congrats! You win a vector illustration and the neatest little Goron figurines you ever did see!

SECOND PLACE:
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Ah, Pac-Man, how you ate so many quarters of those who played you in days of yore. M.S. Corley's dark reinterpretation of the colorful, whimsical box art for the NES release of Pac-Man deserves a lot of attention. The image draws you in with its mystery and intrigue, and holds you there with its style and quality. Opting instead to completely overhaul and update the fundamental ideas found on the original cover and in the game (with this re-imagining including Pac-Man, the Ghosts, and even a glowing Power Pill), the piece may not remind me of the times that I played the cabinet at the laundry mat, but that's okay. It's fresh and interesting, and ultimately the most original entry in the contest. So good job on scoring a full-color sketch commission!

THIRD PLACE:
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Hear me out on this one. Yes, I know that Enerjak didn't technically reinterpret the cover of Starfox64, instead opting to take inspiration from the title screen, but it was a decision that made sense. After all, the title screen of the beloved on-rails shooter is a pretty famous image and is actually more interesting than the game's box art. Plus, since the title screen represents the game on Wii's Virtual Console service, one might say that it acts as a cover and represents the game in a similar manner.
But I digress. What Enerjak did was take the memorable title screen of Starfox64 and gave it personality. Where the original featured four, blocky, stoic characters and a faded Arwing in the background, Enerjak instilled life into each of the four main characters of the game: Peppy's old eyes and wisdom (do a barrel roll!), Slippy's bright youth, Fox's confidence and preparedness, and Falco's nonchalant attitude. This interpretation of the title screen is exciting, interesting, and really sets a tone for the game that it represents. It absolutely makes me want to Press Start! Great job on earning yourself an "inked" sketch commission!

But wait, there's more!

BONUS PLACE:
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That's right, a bonus winner! It wasn't until I sat down to take a closer look at all of the entries that I realized I had a problem. You see, out of all of the great entries that were sent in, I knew it was going to be a challenge picking just three that I loved to death. And when I slowly, but surely, whittled them all down, I was stuck with a decision: third place was up for grabs and Paper Zelda and Starfox64 were fighting hard for it. It took me a while to figure out which one I wanted to hand the title to, but when I had made my choice, I realized that I just couldn't let this one go without being recognized thanks to its clever idea and clever execution. I ultimately chose Starfox64 as the official 3rd place because I think it represents the artist who made it better than this one does (not that there's anything wrong with showing your appreciation for a series by mocking the art style), but I don't think it's a lesser entry, so congrats to you, Hapycow! Being the bonus winner, I will be gifting you a small token of my appreciation instead of a commission, so just like your inclusion on the winner's list, your prize will be a surprise!

Yay!

That does it! Those are your winners, folks, and they all did a fine job. I wholeheartedly recommend you check out all three of them and show them some love in the form of comments and faves. Lots of faves. ;D

Thank you to all of those that participated, and I hope that you (and many more) will join me the next time I hold a contest. This was a lot of fun!

Best regards,

~Andrew

PS: I will be noting all of the winners very soon to give them a step-by-step walkthrough of the process of receiving their prizes. Be patient, guys!

_{NOTE: All entries had individual merits and were considered, but my decision with these four are unwavering and final. Please respect the winners in your comments. Thank you.}