Yoinked from a recent post on the excellent Lovedelic Life blog, here are the three variations on the Archime-DS cover art:

Archime-DS (original Japanese)

Bakushow (UK)

L.O.L. (US)

Neither English-language version tickles my fancy, although I can appreciate what Agetec is trying to do with the US version – they’re emphasising the multiplayer-ness of the game. The UK cover, though, seems like just a messed-up version of the original. With, uh, sparkles.

I’m bothered by the differing titles. It seems to happen quite often with low-profile games – they’re released by different small publishers in each region, who of course aren’t working together to maintain a unified, global identity for the product. So, someone who has heard good things about Archime-DS mightn’t make the connection when they see Bakushow on the store shelf. (Remember Project Rub, aka Feel the Magic XY/XX, aka Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru? Same kind of thing.)

Bakushow, while I’m at it, seems an odd choice of title. I mean, does it make any more sense, to a British person, than Archime-DS? Maybe it’s catchier; I dunno.

Another thing: Agetec aren’t releasing LOL in stores – only over the internet. So why did they change the cover at all? No-one will be browsing.

I’m not complaining about any of this... well, maybe a tiny bit, but mostly I’m just curious as to how and why these packaging choices are made.