This was already posted over at Nintendo Age. Bruce was an illustrator who worked on many projects but is perhaps best known for his fantasy pieces with dragons on them. In between the big jobs he somehow found a way to squeak a few videogame boxes out. I didn't find a ton of information about his death but he died a year ago June 2013. While I didn't personally know Bruce I was familiar with his work. Over the years I was able to purchase a couple originals that he created for video games. SNES Metal Morph PS1 Knights of Karnage (unreleased in US) aka Legend in PAL Here is a link to the original thread at NA. http://www.nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=5&threadid=134207
Sad to hear - and that there's not more information out there on him. A great artist - he also worked on movie posters, including several Disney titles. Apparently, he was in a band that were signed to a major label, but chose to become an artist. He died due to complications of diabetes. http://46m.org/art-photo/bruce-eagle-renown-oklahoma-film-poster-artist-dies/
It is true. There is little out there about him. It's a shame that illustrators are not more appreciated by gamers. Growing up his Might and Magic cover image was burned into my head. I didn't own a computer and this was the only RPG worth playing that I owned at the time. Just look at it. His Might and Magic cover for the NES is amazing. Far above what you might expect from a NA console Videogame. Perhaps it is just a lack of interest in the games that he illustrated but it is a shame that people are more concerned about who could have illustrated Mega Man 1. Might and Magic is one of the top NA NES cover illustrations in my book and one that meant something to me.
Very true - some of your cover art SUCKED! I don't understand why some Japanese games had (poorer) new artwork for the US market. These are amazing, though. In fact, wasn't Might and Magic on Famicom just an owl on a red box? Far worse!
You've misread my post, and posted the very artwork that I said WAS good! My point is that AMERICAN box art often sucked, when the original Japanese artwork was beautiful. Bruce's work was a big exception to the rule.
