Nyan Cat

So the other day I was browsing at a garage sale and ran across this old video game. I thought Nyan Cat was a fairly recent internet meme. But apparently it was a title created by Konami back in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. (According to the copyright on the back of the packaging.)  I purchased the game for one dollar and ran home to scan of the front and back of the box.

Okay, so it’s obviously not a real game. I thought it would be fun to take the 8-bit looking Nyan Cat and design and paint a retro Nintendo game box using the character. I decided to model the box after the old Konami design. I think this design is second only to Nintendo itself as the most  recognizable and consistent packaging from that era. (Although the original Capcom boxes were pretty close.) Just like now, some of the box art from that time was great, some was terrible and some just horribly misleading.

Examples of great box art. It dramatizes what the game is about in a single image. I don’t consider it a bait and switch with these. They do what good covers or posters are supposed to do.

Back to Nyan Cat…I have no idea who first created these characters. They were spontaneously birthed by the internet I suppose. Take a look at the original Nyan Cat vs. Waffle Cat videos if you haven’t seen it already. It is incredibly obnoxious but also strangely irresistible. You may get it stuck in your head all day so I’m warning you.

Here’s my finished illustration that I incorporated into the vintage Konami format.

I’ve had some requests for prints of this, so I’m putting it up for sale in my shop. You can buy it in a few different sizes. These are art prints on bright white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and linen free archival paper. There’s also stretched canvas prints available.

In addition, I’m offering  prints of each character individually. You can collect both! I think they’d look fantastic facing off on your wall in eternal combat. A surrealist space cat diptych!