What do you think of video game commercials?

[LuckyPupil]

I don't mean the normal, run-of-the-mill game trailer, I mean the over the top Playstation commercials and such. They're entertaining but can be painful sometimes. I like the way PS commercials always try to reach out to all demographics. You can quickly Youtube the best and worst video game commercials. (Sorry can't pot videos/links)

Safe to say commercials have gotten better that's for sure. I think Microsoft and Nintendo are dropping the ball with their advertising. Playstation commercials(although sometimes annoying) captivate an audience and is genuinely funny thanks to Kevin Butler.

What do you guys think of certain commercials and video game advertising in general?

 

[Mudgee]

They advertised the hell out of 'the last of us' where I live, it was almost annoying (especially pre-youtube clips). Apart from that, I rarely see console or gaming advertisements.

 

[Medza]

I think that good games don't need advertising, because they just get advertised by the word of mouth. If I play a game and I find it good then I tell my friends about it. But normally I don't have any problem with them, you don't really see them all that often these days , at least not in the mainstream media like the TV, radio and newspapers, but you do see them online every now and then and I don't mind.

 

[ozadin]

Any videos of these over-the-top commercials? I don't really watch TV often, so I don't catch game commercials very often, but advertising costs a lot of money. If they're producing over-the-top commercials, they expect to have a lot of sales to it, so I would think that they only make these types of commercials when they want it to be popular. Mudgee mentioned The Last of Us was advertised a lot, I expect the commercial to be spectacular. In return, the game was VERY popular, and a lot of people enjoyed the game.

 

[lindbergh]

I also remember that Kobe Bryant was featured in s video game commercial? I love video game commercials. I think they're cool. They should not overdo it though. But hey, it's their money they're using and not ours. Advertising really plays a big factor. I don't agree that good games don't need advertising. Advertising is a way of teaching out to existing and future customers. If games are not advertised, it won't meet and exceed sales expectations.

 

[LuckyPupil]

Good games don't need advertising...that's an interesting thought.

I agree with that partially. We can considered all the sequels nowadays as a testament to this. Owners of the prequels know what they're getting themselves into already and so good things are said. But hold on, what video games have advertised in the media? Believe it or not if you think about it, it's the "good" games. The CODs, BFs and Last of Us's get all the advertising. The "good" games are the only one's that can afford it and then there's the paradox of "oh they can afford it because people are picking it up and saying good things". I think it's fair to say that games after a while don't really need advertising except in the very beginning to reel in the skeptics. But at the same time if Bioshock: Infinite for example got no advertising I doubt it'd be so widely talked about.

 

[lindbergh]

You know, advertising takes on many forms. But as they say, the best advertising is word of mouth because it's free. But then again, companies need to take advantage of their resources. McDonald's has been around for years. So has Coca Cola and Pepsi. Ever wonder why they still advertise? The same also goes with games man. It's business. And a good businessman knows that advertising is the key to sales.

 

[Esperahol]

Hm... it depends right? Because what makes a good or over-the-top commercial? Honestly the point of any commercial is to be memorable enough that you retain the product in your mind. So for example there is a French commercial for RE 4 I believe. It shows a perfect little baby nursing, but there is something obviously wrong with the mother even if we can't see her face until the end - Evil has evolved. Memorable. Then for The Last of Us there were the viral videos of ants infected with the RL counterpart to the fictional infection of the game - I remember that. I remember the various trailers for Bioshock Infinite and the commercial for the original Bioshock. I remember many of the commercials for Nintendo whether it be for Virtual boy or for Majora's Mask or of course "We would like to play." In that regard Sony doesn't really do memorable all that well and Microsoft really, really sucks at memorable.

 

[rcg2222]

I don't ever see advertising between having AdBlock scripts and not having a television, so it doesn't effect me much. I can't think of an advertisement that would cause me to buy a game I previously had no interest in. I read a lot of reviews and watch a lot of videos before I make a selection.

 

[Pandsu]

hey guys stop talking about video game commercials and come out to play!

 

[brad]

Yeh as said The Last of Us was pretty over advertised but made it look really good thats why i got it and let me tell you its the best ps3 game i have ever played if i'm honest.

 

[Esperahol]

Yeh as said The Last of Us was pretty over advertised but made it look really good thats why i got it and let me tell you its the best ps3 game i have ever played if i'm honest.

Where? I saw the commercial a couple of times, but I don't recall it being on everywhere all the time. I mean most of my expectations came from reading publications like Game Informer.

 

[OniBlackMage]

A lot of people block ads these days so even the current day advertising model of online commercials include banner spamming everywhere. I was personally tired of the Last of Us commercials (and they STILL play) since I was already getting the game, and even when I beat it, I was then tired of seeing how mismatched the commercials were to the game.

 

[LuckyPupil]

That's an interesting trend. Adblockers have become very popular over the years, especially recently. I, too, have an Adblocker install and never see ads on my videos. Before this though I can recall the endless advertisements, especially of Modern Warfare 3 and Battlefield 3 a few years ago. They were very overplayed and I'm sure the Last of Us was as well. Advertisements do tend to go overboard. They'd be more reasonable if the ads were different and not just the same commercial.

 

[Pandsu]

The problem is though that with so many people using ad blockers, people will probably be forced for find other, possibly more intrusive and annoying, ways to get ad revenue and companies will have to find new ways to get their products advertised.
And sometimes people are a bit whiny. I mean, often they expect high quality online entertainment for free, block ads, meaning they don't make any money through clicks and such, and then those people complain when, at the end of a video, they mention audible or something.
And, just as ironically, those same people often have extremely strong negative opinions about piracy, not realizing how hypocritical that is.

I do agree though that, especially on the internet, they could be a bit smarter and more flexible about how they do it and give people less incentive to block their ads. Starting with mixing things up a little, instead of playing the same commercial over and over again.

 

[BlackSolaris]

I mean, it was cool during the PS2 time, especially for where i lived. When i saw a commercial, i was always hyped. But nowadays i stopped watching TV, i have adblock plus so no unwanted publicity, so all the "commercials" i get are trailers that i watch. I do miss commercials, if only for the magic that it brought along.

 

[GetFresh]

I have nothing against it. It promotes the game even more to all sorts of people watching the commercial. Honestly, I like some of the commercials, some are witty and hilarious. I'd like to see more of it actually.

 

[amazingone]

I really like the new GTA V commercial. It does a great job of showing the depth of the game and its characters. They make it look like a movie which it sort of is in a way, just more interactive than a movie. In totality, I do not mind video game commercials. Most are very creative. The best one was the Dead Island commercial with the soft piano music playing in the background. I did a quick search on youtube but can't find it.

 

[Dame6089]

I'm not sure that most video game commercials are meant to appeal to your typical gamer. I have a feeling that these commercials are designed to attract people that normally wouldn't play the games or people that haven't heard of it.

Take the new Pokemon games for example. I love Pokemon, but those commercials are god awful. I feel somewhat embarrassed to play Pokemon when that commercial comes on. Still, I could see how a little kid could see that and fall in love with Pokemon.

 

[JackBracken]

I think video game commercials are just like any other commercial, they lie about most things and cheat you out of your money.