Switch 2 Spine Art: Time for a Creative Upgrade?

[ThunderStashGaming]

Hello Friends,

As we look ahead to the Nintendo Switch 2, I thought it’d be fun to discuss an aspect of physical game media that I think could be improved with relative ease: the box art—specifically the spines.

Right now, Switch spines are just plain red with white text, which gets the job done but doesn’t bring much personality to a collection and is a downgrade over previous Nintendo generations. Compare that to PlayStation 4 or 5 games, where the spines often feature unique fonts or logos that reflect the game’s style. That little touch makes a big difference—it gives each game its own identity on the shelf and makes collecting physical games more rewarding.

I think it’s time for Nintendo to step up and add some personality to their spines. They’ve already proven they can go above and beyond with box art when they want to—just look at the alternate covers they’ve offered through Club Nintendo for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (picture below) or Super Mario RPG Remake. Imagine if they brought that same creative energy to the spines of their games!

I’m posting a few pictures here as examples:

• Pic 1: My Switch shelf (functional but lacking variety) with The Club Nintendo alternate cover for TTYD among the sea of red.
• Pic 2: A PlayStation game shelf (notice how the spines stand out).
• Pic 3: Custom Spine artwork from the r/SwitchSpines group.
• Pic 4: Paper Mario TTYD Club Nintendo printable box art.

What do you think? Would you like to see Nintendo rethink their box spine design for the Switch 2? How else do you think they could make their physical game boxes stand out? Let’s hear your ideas!

 

[KC:D]

I love the images of cusomised spine art made available by the creative communities, alongside fan created instruction manuals - they sure do help bring personality to the respected titles. I'm boring though and tend to keep my games how Nintendo put them out there.

Seems like a few earlier games in 2017 were able to print spines with customised fonts; Minecraft, Has Been Heroes & Just Dance 2017 being a couple examples (attached images). Maybe Nintendo changed this policy since early titles, as i'm not currently aware of any latter release titles using customised fonts on spines.

There are also some titles with reversable art covers such as Sonic Mania, Hollow Knight and Stardew Valley to name a few. Nintendo themselves has made a few reversable art on their published games; Splatoon 2, Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, Advance Wars .. but Nintendo have kept their uniformed spines which could improve on personality as you've said.

I kinda like the uniform structure and sea of red for switch 1. For Switch 2, I would be in favour of reversable art with customised spines and art if all games follow the same suit. Games on shelves which don't follow uniform stick out like a sore thumb to me. Should Nintendo go down the route of customised spines, I do hope all published games follow.. i'm in favour of games basically being in uniform.

I also wonder what the form factor of switch 2 games will be.. i'm hoping cartridges & cases remain the same size.. we'll see. I think it would help with displaying games on shelves/racks etc. Alternatively, I would even be in favour of bringing back cardboard packaging & housing if we could find a way to store them without any blemishes.. quite a task though.

 

[wizard]

I agree, Stash. This immediately made me think of the older box arts for PC games and the nostalgia I have for that period of time. The huge boxes with full art, descriptions/reviews on the back, etc. I feel like Nintendo could certainly upgrade their box art/spine art by not sacrificing a great amount of efficiency or size.