Nintendo kicked off a trend last year whereby "adult" games for the Wii — at least in Japan —- had not a white banner on the box, but a black one. Well, that goes for the new 3DS now, too.
While it doesn't change the fact the 3DS' Japanese box art template is disappointingly plain, it does at least look a little classier than the stark white border running down the front of the box on most other cases.
On the Wii, the black box art template (as in, the Wii-branded graphic on the front) was used for all games that earned a "CERO C" (the equivalent of "teen" or "M15") rating or above. The first game spotted sporting the same colour scheme on 3DS is Ubisoft's Splinter Cell 3D.
The reason behind the move is a simple one: parents might not notice an inappropriate age rating on the corner of the box, but they can't miss the fact the box for a game like this is black when most of the others are not.
[via Siliconera]