“It was an NCL idea,” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said today, referring to the Japanese company’s home office to which his office reports, during an interview at New York’s Waldorff Astoria hotel.

Nintendo HQ had determined that New Super Mario Bros. Wii would be the first Wii game to come in a red case, rather than a white one.

“New Super Mario Brothers is such a special title,” Fils-Aime said, “It is something that [Mario creator Shigeru] Miyamoto and his team have been so passionate about — that when it came time for the final packaging, we had many internal discussions as to how we make it special.

“And that’s where the idea of the red box came from: How do we signify to our Nintendo fans, to our greater community the specialness of this title? The red is Mario red.

“What we did differently here in the US, when we were looking at the final packaging, we were concerned that the Wii logo on the red, in what we call the branding bar, was a little too plain just white. So it’s in our market we’ve made it silver with the metallic ink to make it pop more.”

Fils-Aime has said that gaming retailers have been excited. As for other publisher reaction, he dismissed the idea that Nintendo’s lone red box amid a wall of white Wii boxes at a game shop would distract attention from other publishers’ games games. “I haven’t heard any licensees concerned that the box is somehow going to overly sway the consumer,” he said. “I think our licensees understand that, from a first party stand-point, New Super Mario Bros. is our biggest title for the holidays. And I bet most licensees are excited about the hardware-driving potential of that particular title.”

One red box is not the start of a trend, however.

“We’ve been clear that this is kind of a one-time deal,” Fils-Aime noted. “Don’t expect to see a yellow box for x or a gold box for y.”

An idea formed… “Luigi’s Mansion 2 would have a green box?” Kotaku offered helpfully.

Fils-Aime ignored that: “We wanted this to be very special and very unique which is why we went down the path with the red box.”

A Danish mother has at last paid back years of refrigerator finger-paintings of her as a stick figure with circle boobies and a triangle skirt. Nothing says motherly love like a Riddick box cover painting.

Says reader Martin R. M., who just accessioned this piece into his collection:

Just wanted to share this in reference to your Riddick review. I love that character, so I had my mum create a painting of the cover for the original game, i would like to have her paint the new one also, but my girlfriend thinks one is enough. He he…

Wonder what Martin’s dad is doing for the “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee mug.

Serious Left 4 Dead fans are well aware of the previously nixed box art for the game, but Valve has revealed more of the game’s rejected attempts at box art that says “zombie apocalypse.”

Like previous insights into the making of Left 4 Dead, the journey through rejected covers are full of “well, now that seems so obvious” design decisions. While early versions of the game’s box design adhered to conventions—like, always put your heroes front and center!—it’s clear that Valve ultimately decided on something radically different.

As the company’s own real-world testing showed—they put box mock ups on GameStop store shelves and watched how customers reacted—it’s pretty clear they made the right choice.

How Left 4 Dead lost its Survivors and it’s bloody red colour scheme is expertly laid out at the game’s official web site. A rare and fascinating insight into a design process that rarely gets much attention in this medium.

Lose the Thumb: Creating Left 4 Dead’s Box Art [Left 4 Dead Blog]

Instead of focusing on just one athlete for the cover of Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii, EA plasters three of the biggest names in tennis across the front of the box.

In one fell swoop, EA has taken my cumulative knowledge of tennis and condensed it neatly into a game cover. John McEnroe, Roger Federer and Serena Williams are the three tennis players that I know. McEnroe because he yells at people, places and things; Serena Williams because she is Serena Williams; and Roger Federer because he taught me how to shave. Serena gushes.

“It’s very exciting to be on the cover of EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis. This game not only shows EA’s enthusiasm for tennis but for also women’s tennis,” said Williams. “I know from experience how tough and gratifying it is to win all four Grand Slams so I hope people will enjoy the Grand Slam experience that is offered in this game.”

Okay, so she doesn’t quite gush. Tennis players tend to save their aggression for the courts I suppose. Except of course for McEnroe. He’s exclusive to the game, and if you don’t like it I’m sure he can come up with a few choice words for you.

Many sports games make a fuss over their respective cover athletes, but really, the only one people give a damn about is the guy who turns up on the front cover of Madden.

Partly because it’s one of the biggest-selling games in the world. Partly because some people have attached a ridiculous belief structure to the fate of the chosen athlete. And partly because, as much as people may publicly decry them, many of you love your sports games.

Realising this, EA Sports know they can squeeze a bit of mileage out of the process. Instead of naming the guy who will be on the box, they’re naming nine guys on a shortlist. And revealing only four of them this week.

Cheap, we know, but in the interests of keeping sports fans in the loop, here they are:

- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger
– Giant RB Brandon Jacobs
– Vikings RB Adrian Peterson
– Ravens FS Ed Reed

While there are still 5 names to go, my money’s already on Peterson.

When Activision ships its “best of” Guitar Hero compilation this summer, it will be called Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, not Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits, as previously announced. Why? You got me.

Perhaps Activision is saving Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits for yet another installment, as it’s due to run out of Guitar Hero sequel and spin-off sub-titles any minute now. Or maybe there was just too much internal strife about who was indeed the greatest. But when you inevitably walk into your local GameStop or Best Buy or Target this June, demanding a full-band’s dose of Guitar Hero rehash… sorry, re-smash, now you know what to ask for. Make a note of it.

Big box art proof after the break.

Last year, the -Minus World put its talents to good use on Atari Modern Classics, de-making box art for BioShock, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Portal in the Atari 2600 style. Ready for the sequel?

The NES Modern Classics are just as snazzy, providing us with re-imagined box art for games like Dead Space, Gears of War 2 and Animal Crossing: City Folk—among others—from an alternate universe where we never progressed beyond the Nintendo Entertainment System. A scary thought, but it makes for good box art parody.

We might venture a guess that some of the new “modern classics”—say the NES versions of Killzone 2 and Wii Sports—come with a side of commentary, free of charge.

NES Modern Classics [The -Minus World - thanks (again), Brian!]

Folks are fluttering around on the Japanese internet about the boxart similarity between these two games. Kwinky-dink or sinister thievery?

Namco Bandai’s Xbox 360 role-playing-game Tales of Vesperia was a big hit when it was released in Japan last summer, selling 161,070 copies. The game was so popular it caused the Xbox 360 to sell out in Japan.

Arcrise Fantasia is an upcoming Wii title from beleaguered Marvelous Entertainment. Sure, there are some similarities, but it’s not like Tales of Vesperia invented this style of boxart. Opinions?

Wii『アークライズファンタジア』のパッケがTOVとそっくりな件 [チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報]

The newly revealed box art for EA’s Wii sequel Boom Blox Bash Party says a lot. Namely, that the Boom Blox brand doesn’t carry much weight, at least not in terms of pimping the “party.”

While Boom Blox’s success can be argued—EA CEO John Riccitiello would probably call it a hit—the brand doesn’t get much cover love in the sequel. In fact, your rods and cones are probably feeling unloved too, as the cover art for the forthcoming “high-energy action-puzzle game for everyone” is total chaos. Maybe not as headache-inducing as Germany’s revamped budget box art for Metal Gear Solid 4, but visually numbing nonetheless.

That bright yellow band to the left there might imply that EA has designs on labelling its Wii games like so—or at least for future Boom Blox sequels. We’re pretty sure it wants more of those Wii party dollars to itself.

We thought that our first glimpse of the “Platinum” budget version of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was bad enough. Then we saw Germany’s take on Old Snake.

Oh, sure. No one can deny the selling power of an endorsement from 4Players.de, and the Games-Hit thumbs up indicator is sure to move a few more copies of the PlayStation 3 blockbuster. And we know that Germany’s USK ratings board likes BIG WARNING LABELS about potentially offensive content. But how about showing a little respect to your tactical espionage action elders, Konami?

Maybe it’s appropriate that we can barely see Old Snake among the budget priced mess, but the savings on the Platinum version don’t make up for the queasiness we’re feeling.

Thanks, Kay.