Okami Watermark Fiasco - Is IGN Involved?
For many hardcore gamers on the Wii, this past Tuesday marked the starting of a grand adventure in Okami, one of the most anticipated games to hit the Wii so far this year. With an updated control screen, minor graphical improvements, and new widescreen support, the Wii looked to have the definitive version of the adventure game.
Yet suddenly something is up. No, not the slightly problematic control scheme, or the questionable graphics which have both been receiving minor flack from a handful of critics. No, the big fiasco has to do with the picture right on the cover of the box - plain and clear as night and day (you may need to adjust your monitor screen to see it more clearly).
(Click to enlarge)
See that little watermark right there? That’s the watermark used to mark images as exclusive to IGN, one of the largest hubs for gamers across the Internet. How could such a blatant and obviously problematic thing have taken place? It’s not sure right now, but according to sleuths on NeoGAF, the image actually wasn’t watermarked in pictures prior to release. Here is the original art that was featured on the Capcom website and other media outlets before the game hit stores. Notice how it’s flipped, and how you can’t really make out any watermarks in the same area.
Either someone intentionally stuck the IGN watermark there in hopes of subliminal advertising, or there was a major snafu at the publishing plant. Either way, the problems are obvious:
(Courtesy of Double_A on the IGN Boards)
That’s not supposed to be there. And it’s even more obvious on the actual boxart you’ll see in stores. For shame, Capcom. What’s the real story here? Could it be a disgruntled employee? A lazy one? The same one behind Mr. Gay? Only time, and Capcom, will tell.
Stay tuned at My Wii News as we figure out if there is something special going on with this cover, and what future steps may be taken by Capcom.
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Ilchymis | April 19, 2008
By Aria, December 14, 2008 @ 1:26 am
What’s the big deal? Seriously, all it is is a watermark. Boo-hoo; the world isn’t going to end because of it. Sure, it’s a minor mishap, but is it going to affect your own game experience? Certainly not.
My opinion: get over it.
By funkinthenight, February 7, 2009 @ 8:55 pm
I do believe I read somewhere on the interwebs that the art was obtained from IGN or something, I do not recall where I read this, but it sticks out in my memory.
By Ted, February 7, 2009 @ 10:10 pm
The story behind it goes that when NOA was making the Wii Cover, they wanted something special, not the PS2 or whatever (I can’t remember). So, they went online and found this piece of fanart from IGN. After getting the drawers permission, they published the art without bothering to check for watermarks, which IGN does to prevent theft of Fanart. NOA apologized and removed the IGN symbol from new versions, giving anyone who bought it a free new case in return for the erred one and thus made it a collector’s item.
By lol, February 12, 2009 @ 10:41 am
It’s because they had a huge database crash when developing Okami and lost all their box art, so they took it from IGN.
I thought everyone knew that.
By Mitch, February 13, 2009 @ 3:29 am
Hmm well its definitly not in the australian version, i have a copy right in front of me and no matter how hard i look, i can’t see it