Ju-On is a horror film series from Japan. There was an attempt to bring the series west with an American remake, but like anything aside from The Ring it didn't quite work out so well. So long after the film has left the American conscious a game version appeared in 2009 on Wii.
In Japan the name roughly translates to "
Ju-On: Sensation of Fear". I guess the game was meant to entice people with the world of Ju-On suddenly being interactive. While apparently the game is pretty horrible in general the cover at least looks scary.
Europe got the worst, worst, worst version of the cover. There's no doubt in my mind that whoever created it must have been laughing their head off during the process. The subtitle has been translated to "A Fright Simulator" which sounds okay but the image in no way conveys it. Maybe it would be a fright simulator for 6 year olds. Also, it is worth pointing out the quote on the cover: "You'll jump, laugh and cry... perfect fun!"
Finally we come to the US version titled
Ju-On The Grudge - Haunted House Simulator. While this title may be the most accurate, it seems really out of place. When do games tell you exactly what they are on the box? Does Silent Hill say Foggy Town or Locked Door Simulator? I suppose
Metal Gear Solid does with that whole "Tactical Espionage Action" thing but nobody ever seems to notice that. Anyway, the cover is a huge improvement over the UK one at least. It's not quite as artistically scary as the Japanese version though... and giant eyes don't bother me much.
3 comments:
Well, the Japanese cover definitely is the best of the three, IMO. The NA art itself is nice, but the logo is way too large. Also, the subtitle is just silly. The EU art, though? My god ... did anyone buy it? If so, I'm surprised. It's THAT bad. Ugh!
Honestly, if that UK cover were here I would have bought it but then I'm not the typical customer :P. I'm a fan of horrible covers because they usually imply something really *interesting* about a game, for better or for worse!
Speaking of which, I've been saving up awful game covers and might do a post showing some soon. :)
Ha! Well, I''m sure there would have been plenty of copies for you to choose from had the EU art been used here. Hack, there probably were plenty to choose from regardless :(
As for a post about awful game covers -- I say go for it! I did one on awful PC Engine covers a while ago and have been meaning to do another one, but just haven't gotten to it yet.
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