Greg Winters (b. 1956)

Greg Winters is an internationally recognized illustrator and artist. He graduated from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California in 1982 and immediately transitioned into being a sought after illustrator, illustrating for the video game industry as early as 1984 with the Gremlins for the Atari 2600, along with Asteroids for the Atari 7800. 

He illustrated more game boxes than any other artist of which we are aware: well over 100 titles, not including digital works. Greg worked not only prolifically but also on the box art for some of the most high-profile projects in the video game industry, particularly for Nintendo branded consoles.  No other artist illustrated more Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) boxes than Greg — 16, tied with Frank Cirocco — including some of the most classic images released for the console.

OVGA has included below Greg Winters' full NES box art catalog:

1. Cabal (Milton Bradley | June, 1990)
2. Street Fighter 2010:  The Final Fight (Capcom | September, 1990)
3. Mega Man 3 (Capcom | November, 1990)
4. Yo! Noid (Capcom | November, 1990)
5. Shadow of the Ninja (Natsume | December, 1990)
6. Conan (Mindscape | February, 1991)
7. KlashBall (SOFEL | June, 1991)
8. Mega Man 4 (Capcom | January, 1992)
9. G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor (Capcom | February, 1992)
10. RoboCop 3 (Ocean | September, 1992)
11. Gargoyle’s Quest II: The Demon Darkness (Capcom | October, 1992)
12. Little Samson (Taito | November, 1992)
13. Mega Man 5 (Capcom | December, 1992)
14. Alfred Chicken (Mindscape | February, 1993)
15. Mighty Final Fight (Capcom | July, 1993)
16. Mega Man 6 (Capcom | November, 1993)

His list of Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) box artwork illustrations is even more impressive, having illustrated a mind-boggling 27 titles, including all five of the SNES Mega Man titles, Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Final Fight 2, Super Double Dragon, Alien vs. Predator, Wild Guns, and Joe & Mac 2: Lost in the Tropics.

Greg was no stranger to Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, and PC box artwork, having illustrated many wonderful examples of each in a number of different styles. Its no wonder that between the large output of work Greg could handle and the diversity in style that he could portray that he was truly one of the “go-to” illustrators during one of the video game industry’s most important eras. In addition to his work with video games, Greg illustrated VHS boxes, gaming magazine covers, a number of movie posters, and toys including work for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hot Wheels.

Additional notable titles in Greg's box art catalog include: Alisia Dragoon (Genesis, 1992), Bionic Commando (Game Boy, 1992), Dark Wizard (Sega CD, 1993), Mega Man II, III, IV and V (Game Boy), Shinobi I and II (Game Gear) and III (Genesis), Splatterhouse 2 (Genesis), and Streets of Rage (Genesis).

Greg’s final traditionally painted game box illustration appears to have been Starlancer for Windows, released in December 2000. Subsequently, Greg transitioned to digital as many artists did in the 1995–2000 era with the advent of Photoshop having completely reshaped the illustration industry during that time. Greg’s digital catalog includes art for around a dozen boxes for MumboJumbo, LLC, including several of the Luxor titles, the first of which was released in 2005.

OVGA has embedded below a comprehensive table of Greg Winters’ published video game box art. The table does not include digital works nor does it include a variety of intended box art pieces that went unpublished, whether because the game was unreleased or because the final art used a different design. Games in red text reuse artwork from a distinct game (i.e. different developer or game play) in another row.

Through art owned by collectors, Greg is confirmed to have painted the below unused box art:

Fun Fact: On top of his illustration prowess, Greg is an accomplished pianist.