Finding The Best 8-Bit Nintendo Art From Japan

Japan always gets the best videogame artwork. I’m not bitter, but it definitely makes decorating a grown-up-friendly game room more challenging. Since we can’t just wander into your average gaming shop and expect to find a wide array of frame-worthy artwork, we have to be a bit more creative in finding suitable pieces.

This time around, I just happened to be browsing around some Nintendo-themed photos on Flickr and found a collection of framed Famicom Disk System posters belonging to djdac. Considering how pathetic most of the NES-era art is here in the US, I was amazed by how much some of them reminded me of epic posters you might see in a movie theatre.

It turns out that these posters were distributed in Japan either at game stores and on the streets for advertisements or folded up and included with the actual Famicom Disk System games. They measure up to about 11.75 x 8.5 cm, so they aren’t very large, but when matted and framed, they can be a great addition to your wall. Even though there are some good Nintendo Power posters out there, these Famicom posters (sometimes referred to as handbills) typically have a more artistic look to them in addition to the Japanese charm that intrigues us foreigners. I did an eBay search for “Famicom poster” and found a handful of other excellent examples that I didn’t see on Flickr.

The Metroid poster is my personal favorite (especially when compared to an American alternative) due to the finely detailed drawing, beautiful color work, and the creative use of animation frames accenting the background. You can see the rest of my favorites below including the epic, old-school Link saving Zelda and the geeky Japanese kid pwning a terrified adult at Tetris.

If the original prints are too pricey or hard-to-find for you, you can pick up a few reproductions for a low price from “i heart yuna” on the FamicomWorld forums. From the 8.15″ x 11.6″ dimensions he mentions, it sounds like he enlarged them, so these may actually be a better solution for hanging in a game room. If you know of any other sources for these posters, let me know in comments section below.