Prince of Persia fans are no doubt aware of the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time movie which opens this Friday. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as everyone's favorite Prince (how did that happen?), Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is loosely based off of the 2003 video game of the same name.

In some sort of strange, last-minute marketing ploy to squeeze a bit of extra cash out of the old platformer, Ubisoft Montreal has revamped the box art as a new selling point:

sands-of-time-comparison-time

Back it up, Ubisoft. I think I've spotted an issue with your new box art. It looks eerily similar to the box art of their freshly released Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, which is actually a the continuation of a storyline started in Sands of Time:

The_Forgotten_Sands_Cover_Artwork

In a flurry of apathy and lackluster glory, Ubisoft has somehow managed to plagiarize themselves. Make no mistake, this is not to be taken lightly; it's not every day that you see a major company copying their own work. Not only is the original box art infinitely superior – it's full of wall-climbing, non-Gyllenhaal-y bad-assery. And, it actually hints at the contents of game you're about to play – but the copied art makes an ordeal out of figuring out what you're actually buying. Telling the difference between a game that hit the shelves yesterday and a seven-year-old platformer shouldn't be wickedly confusing.

Jeremy Hill over at Gamer Tell has this to say:

"The only difference is the color of the subtitles. A person booting up Sands of Time under this box art will get a totally different experience than what the box suggests. The color palettes couldn’t be more different from each other. The prince on the box looks nothing like the character you play as. It’s almost false advertising on Ubisoft’s part."

False advertising is right. Tell me, Dear Ranters. Isn't box art supposed to be iconic? A mark that, once fused with the game in question, should under no circumstances be messed with? Come on, Ubi. I can think of so many old gems where the art sticks in my mind to this day. Ranters, when I say "favorite box art ever," what springs to mind? And what do you think of the new game, the new art and the upcoming film?

Source: Kotaku