This is what the packaging of PS2 games was originally supposed to look like
The PS2 cover design by Hock Wah Yeo. (Photo: Hock Wah Yeo)
Actually, the cases of the Playstation 2 games should get a much more individual design than they got in the end. The original idea would definitely have had charm.
The covers of the Playstation 2 games are hardly noticeable on the shelf. They look almost exactly like those of the following console generations or the competition from Xbox. The cases don’t even stand out from DVDs and Blurays. However, that could have turned out differently.
The designer Hock Wah Yeo was known in the 80s and 90s for designing extravagant creations for the packaging of games. His designs for games like Prince of Persia caught the eye of customers and stores alike. However, towards the end of the decade there was increasing standardization of packaging by retailers and distributors. The lovingly designed cardboard boxes had had their day and had to give way to more practical plastic packaging.
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Handling beats optics
Yeo’s works were no longer in demand, but Sony hired him for one last job in the game industry. In the late 90s, the Japanese company was already working at full speed on the Playstation 2 and was looking for someone to design the boxes for the games. The choice fell on Hock Wah Yeo.
The result was definitely something special. The cover was significantly smaller than usual and the back of the case was at the bottom. Viewed from the front, it looked like the CD was sticking out of the case. Certainly not particularly practical for storage, but all the cooler in appearance. While the prototype was being produced, Sony’s superiors intervened and canceled the project. The standard DVD case design was used again, as this was “significantly cheaper and easier to use,” writes journalist Phil Salvador in his Portrait of Hock Wah Yeo. The nostalgia factor of the Yeo cases today would definitely be significantly greater than that of the classic PS2 game. Too bad.
