We're all familiar with Japanese box art being changed for Americans, whether they alter the art style completely or replace minimalistic covers with garish Photoshopped collages. Just as interesting is how they taken American or European games and market them in Japan. This is an expansive comparison gallery of some of the more interesting changes. Most of these images were yanked from Amazon Japan, so, uh, patronize them, I guess.

American	Japanese

When it was originally announced for release in Japan, Perfect Dark was going to be named "Red and Black". While it was eventually released under the international name, they kept that theme for the box art, which shows the shadow of a short-haired woman who is, presumably, Joanna Dark. Looks classy.

American	Japanese

I don't care how Engrishy it sounds, Violence Killer is a brilliant name for anything.

American	Japanese

During the PSOne era, Naughty Dog's Crash Bandicoot was one of the few Western games that succeeded in the Japanese marketplace. While apparently some changes were made to the difficult, they also slightly redesigned the character, which is apparent from the artwork. The North American versions use designs similar to his in-game model, enhanced a bit, while the Japanese games are illustrated while still keeping the same basic manic style. He still looks crazy, just maybe a bit cuter?

American	Japanese

This continued through the second...

American	Japanese

...and third....

American	Japanese

...and the racing game, of course (which was slightly renamed "Crash Bandicoot Racing" as opposed to "Crash Team Racing").

American	Japanese

...and, of course, Crash Bash, which became Crash Carnival. The succeeding games, even under the care of different companies (some were published by Konami) kept the same style too.

American	Japanese

Tomb Raider became "Tomb Raiders" in Japan, at least for the first installment. Note the emphasis on the "tomb" rather than the tits (although Lara's bottom is still firmly on display.)

American	Japanese

Alright, this one isn't quite all that different.

American	Japanese

Neither is this one, although it's a bit more action-y, and the background seems more visible.

American	Japanese

This one, though, is slightly different, in that it's patterned after the first game - more emphasis on the locale than the character. This one and the next game were published in Japan by Capcom.

American	Japanese

You'll find that some of these sequels have numerals where their original equivalents do not. Same thing happened with Ratchet and Clank and Crash Bandicoot, too.

Contents:

Page 1: Nintendo 64 Crash Bandicoot Tomb Raider

Page 2: Ratchet and Clank Jak and Daxter SSX

Page 3: Xbox/PS2/Gamecube - Pt. 1

Page 4: Xbox/PS2/Gamecube - Pt. 2

Page 5: Xbox 360/Ps3 - Pt. 1

Page 6: Xbox 360/Ps3 - Pt. 2