For those not in the known: watch as I turn back the tables of time with this funky, scratchy mix (supply your own beats). About a week ago, Fragcast’s Genki Rocket posted an image of the recently released Okami box-art for the Nintendo Wii, and pointed out one particularly interesting observation: the bloody thing’s got an IGN watermark! Capcom acknowledged the mishap, and has already started offering free replacements to those folks who were perhaps emotionally scarred from this depreciable error or just couldn’t stop laughing.

But it’s not quite over yet! Split-Screen’s Gopal Sathe decided to do some box-art sleuthing of his own, “out of random curiosity” he says. What he found was a Gamespot watermark inside the instruction booklet of Capcom’s Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Gasp! What stunning revelation, that be! So now the question begs itself to be asked: what bored internet lollygagger is gonna sift through his entire collection of Capcom games to check and see what other enlightening mysteries have been left unnoticed for all this time? Only time (and Imageshack) will tell for sure.

For those of us keeping track in trends in gaming, several aspects of our beloved classics have altered over the years. Graphics as we know them have moved away from being overly realistic, instead focusing on bringing the gamer into a make-believe world, and the music has taken causes and effects into equation to produce stellar, melancholic, haunting, and epic beats alike. No doubt over the past few years, fed by the influence of realism, socialism, nature, street culture, the abstract and the metaphysical, enamored by the requiems and discords of the world’s symphony, we’ve come to express our artistic tastes in the games we play. Designers have expressed in their games a multi-headed outlook on existence, nature, life, death and even religion. Due credit is warranted indeed, and while commercial success eludes most, some of these titles have carved branching roads for both the industry and their fans to follow for years to come.

This is dedicated to all those games out there who brought forth a unique, out-of-this-world experience, refined and appreciated by learned scions and casual onlookers alike - those games featuring a distinct artistic flair in their visual style, their audio composition and even the arrangement of events throughout the playtime - and how they left many a gamer in stunned disbelief as other titles stood up for their 1000th revision of the same basic rule-sets since Quake. The following are those games that defy the notion that games can’t be ‘art’.

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The softly singing winds painted in the skies bring a woeful tune of honor and ruin amongst a land of ancients; the citizenry dance in tribute to the guardian tree of their village, a goddess whose powers bestow life to all who touch her cherry blossoms; and the journey of one warrior redefines the hold that destiny has in the ever-rewinding game of fate. With the debate on whether games are truly art or not is still not over comes the release of Okami, a title where former Clover Studios (who brought us the Viewtiful Joe series) serves up not only an elegant mix of eclectic artwork and divine graphics that portray the illusion of an ancient Japanese tale playing itself out on a roll of tapestry, but an epic music score and a heaping helping of Japanese mythology and chunks of the Nippon culture. And on top of that, the game is wickedly fun, too.

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Thankfully, humor still has a tendency to spread to those even remotely disturbed by video gaming mockery. Just look at the guys who made this Amaterasu (from Okami, silly!) get-up for their precious pup! Extra props for not even bothering to cleanup afterwards, god just look at that mess.

Source: Joystiq