Not that this justifies it or anything, but I read yesterday that 2K's reasoning for the red background on each cover was a couple of things. 1) They feel red is their company's primary color (matching the "2K" logo) and 2) They were at least a little worried about giving off the idea of the Larry and Magic versions being different than the MJ version. I guess they thought different players may be confusing enough for some, where an entirely different colored box may lead to "Um, what's the difference between all three versions? Am I making a mistake by only buying Larry?" amongst many consumers.