Shampoo, Insurance, Heavy Rain

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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Shampoo, Insurance, Heavy Rain

Everyone else is advertising on TV. Why don't game companies seem to get it?

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AvsJoe

Elite Member
May 28, 2009
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Great article. I see very few gaming TV spots and have always wondered why. Hell, the only times I see a game advertised is on Wal-Mart or Best Buy commercials. But advertising costs a mint on the real networks and there isn't a lot of money to go around before the game starts selling. This is a problem with no easy solution and I don't see it getting solved anytime soon.
 

RatRace123

Elite Member
Dec 1, 2009
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Hey, those snuggy adverts happen to be very compelling television.
Besides, if people really don't have an interest in games, it's not going to be easy to actively get them interested. Until they start teaching classes at the learning annex for control stick waggling 101, games won't become completely mainstream
 

Jared

The British Paladin
Jul 14, 2009
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It would be great to see more Gameing getting advertising, but of course it is the costs involve which I think put alot of people off.
What I wouldnt give to see an advertisement for something like, the next resident evil on a billboard as I went to work, it would certainly make me smile.

I know some companies have done it on TV, and, I would be intrested to see what it cost and how much they made from it in comparison.
 

SonicKoala

The Night Zombie
Sep 8, 2009
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I was just thinking this same thing - I never see any sort of video game advertising on TV, and I really have to wonder why; video games are currently making more money than the film industry, and yet film commercials easily outnumber video game ads 10:1 (or maybe a little less than that, but still relatively close). Although, to be fair, it doesn't really matter to me whether video games get advertised or not; I'll still be playing them either way.
 

Skarvig

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Jul 13, 2009
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It wouldn't help. You assume that those peolpe do not play games. So to play a videogame, like Heavy Rain, you must have a console. In this particular case you have to buy a PS3. But spending money on a expensive console + game and not knowing if you might like it is, for nearly all people, too much money.
 

Ryuk2

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Sep 27, 2009
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I really would like to play Heavy Rain, but it's on ps3 only. But there are more problems to it. Quick time events on every turn are not a good gameplay mechanics! If they are bringing QTE, then they could just remove them, call this game ''interactive movie'' and voila, it would be more enjoyable.
I don't see how could pressing button when game tells you be fun, but i can enjoy interacting with the story, making choices and just seeing what happens.
Max Payne is a very bad example on this one. Here we have a game that's about killing loads of dudes with guns in bullet time and then we see this boring movie about drugs or something with like 2 action sequences. Heavy Rain is not going to be action packed shooting game.
 

Dhatz

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Aug 18, 2009
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I have seen one game ad on TV. it was NFS.
Ryuk2 said:
I don't see how could pressing button when game tells you be fun, but i can enjoy interacting with the story, making choices and just seeing what happens.
did you notice many games write what button to press to ensure you didn't forger the control layout?
 

hamster mk 4

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Apr 29, 2008
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I remember the Wii had a very good TV marketing campaign. The one with the two Japanese guys traveling the country in the Micro Mini. Showing up at random American house holds with Wii mote saying "We would like to play." The whole advertising campaign seemed very non gamer focused, and probably did a lot to get Wii's into more house holds.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvYNYmVGzJg
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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Ryuk2 said:
I really would like to play Heavy Rain, but it's on ps3 only. But there are more problems to it. Quick time events on every turn are not a good gameplay mechanics! If they are bringing QTE, then they could just remove them, call this game ''interactive movie'' and voila, it would be more enjoyable.
I don't see how could pressing button when game tells you be fun, but i can enjoy interacting with the story, making choices and just seeing what happens.
Max Payne is a very bad example on this one. Here we have a game that's about killing loads of dudes with guns in bullet time and then we see this boring movie about drugs or something with like 2 action sequences. Heavy Rain is not going to be action packed shooting game.
No, of course it isn't. I chose Max Payne as an example simply to contrast information that was easily grasped -- action in a movie setting -- versus information that much of the populace does not possess -- how to play the action of a movie. (Granted, Max Payne the movie and the game have little to do with each other, but roll with it.)

At no point did I suggest that Heavy Rain is going to be an action packed game, merely that its plot and gameplay might appeal to a chunk of the audience that watches police procedurals like CSI or Criminal Minds.
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
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hamster mk 4 said:
I remember the Wii had a very good TV marketing campaign. The one with the two Japanese guys traveling the country in the Micro Mini. Showing up at random American house holds with Wii mote saying "We would like to play." The whole advertising campaign seemed very non gamer focused, and probably did a lot to get Wii's into more house holds.

See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvYNYmVGzJg
Ah, those commercials were amazing! I remember wanting a Wii from those. Playstation has a few good ones, like the family one with the Playstation exec taking your spot in your family, things like that. They're great console sellers, but they're not so much game sellers (although that Metroid Prime 3 part does make me want to play it again). They showcase the system, and both companies have massive buck to drop on advertising--but not so much for the games. A few first party titles can make the bill, but not many third party ones can afford to invest in a failed marketing attempt for a game that just might not make it. I do like Susan's idea of putting the commercials for specific games on networks who host similar shows--for the murder mysteries and case solvings like CSI and Bones, we put ads for Heavy Rain and Professor Layton. For the immensely boring Law and Order we drop Phoenix Wright, for immensely more fun. For commercials around any one of a billion networks playing WWII and combat movies all weekend, we drop ads for CoD:MewTwo, Killzone 12, Halo, etc. For funsies and to test the limits of the ESRB, we drop adds for Bayonetta on the Cartoon Network at 11am, and end up finding out which kids were skipping school that day, or who's at home on their couch watching 'toons while a bit toked up or insanely bored waiting for semester to start again.
 

Echolocating

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Jul 13, 2006
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If they don't think games are still something for losers or kids, they think they're all about killing aliens, killing hookers, or killing alien hookers.
The only problem is that a vast majority of games are still geared towards young males. Watch a UFC event and you'll see lots of game commercials. Prime time major network TV is not solely focused on the young male demographic so you don't see video game ads as much.

When the video gaming medium matures, we'll see more acceptance and AAA titles that actually offer variety. Right now you can kill or have sex with alien hookers, but there's nothing worthwhile out there for the prime time TV audiences... yet.
 

Andy_Panthro

Man of Science
May 3, 2009
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In the UK, there's quite a lot of game/console advertising, at least compared to 5-10 years ago.

The Wii and DS especially have had plenty of adverts, with famous faces (including recently some awful Ant and Dec ones). Quite a lot of football games are sponsored by Playstation as well. Many of the actual game ones tend only to be shown after about 8pm though.
 

Ancientgamer

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Jan 16, 2009
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Ryuk2 said:
Quick time events on every turn are not a good gameplay mechanics! If they are bringing QTE, then they could just remove them, call this game ''interactive movie'' and voila, it would be more enjoyable.
I don't see how could pressing button when game tells you be fun, but i can enjoy interacting with the story, making choices and just seeing what happens.
A QTE is when a button pops up on screen, and you have to press the corresponding button on your controller: it's glorified simon says.


In heavy rain. 4-8 buttons appear on screen at a time, not indicating which one is correct, only what action will result will come from each button.

Get it? It doesn't tell you what buttons to press, it just gives the controls fluid connection, e.g., buttons do different things in different situations. They just appear on screen to let you easily know what those things are.


It's actually just the same as a fighter, or platformer or adventure game; it's just that the controls are applied in much broader strokes, rather than being rigidly assigned to a certain task.


I do agree the PS3 exclusivity is quite a big hurdle though.
 

thenumberthirteen

Unlucky for some
Dec 19, 2007
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I dont know how things are in the land of the free, but here in jolly old england there is a fair bit of game advertising on TV. The Beyonetta ones are doing the rounds, and the nation is constantly assaulted with Ant & Dec (if you don't know you're lucky) turning up in pubs, cafés, and people's living rooms, and discovering how much everyone really loves Nintendo. There are more on digital channels like Dave (yes, we have a TV channel called Dave), but you can't blame them for marketing to their target audience
 

Susan Arendt

Nerd Queen
Jan 9, 2007
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thenumberthirteen said:
I dont know how things are in the land of the free, but here in jolly old england there is a fair bit of game advertising on TV. The Beyonetta ones are doing the rounds, and the nation is constantly assaulted with Ant & Dec (if you don't know you're lucky) turning up in pubs, cafés, and people's living rooms, and discovering how much everyone really loves Nintendo. There are more on digital channels like Dave (yes, we have a TV channel called Dave), but you can't blame them for marketing to their target audience
Don't blame them at all. They need to get the most bang for their buck, after all. And we get a fair few Nintendo adverts here, too...but that's about it. I'm talking about letting people know that games will let them do something other than train their brain or simulate bowling. If all you have to go on are TV ads -- and that's all a lot of people do have to go on -- you simply have no clue as to the vast choices available to you.
 

thenumberthirteen

Unlucky for some
Dec 19, 2007
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Susan Arendt said:
thenumberthirteen said:
I dont know how things are in the land of the free, but here in jolly old england there is a fair bit of game advertising on TV. The Beyonetta ones are doing the rounds, and the nation is constantly assaulted with Ant & Dec (if you don't know you're lucky) turning up in pubs, cafés, and people's living rooms, and discovering how much everyone really loves Nintendo. There are more on digital channels like Dave (yes, we have a TV channel called Dave), but you can't blame them for marketing to their target audience
Y
Don't blame them at all. They need to get the most bang for their buck, after all. And we get a fair few Nintendo adverts here, too...but that's about it. I'm talking about letting people know that games will let them do something other than train their brain or simulate bowling. If all you have to go on are TV ads -- and that's all a lot of people do have to go on -- you simply have no clue as to the vast choices available to you.
Do they have those Uncharted 2 ads in the US? Recently there have been a series of adverts for Uncharted where it puts a lot of emphasis on the cinematic experience, as opposed to the action, or fighting. The Forza 3 ads also put a lot of focus on the realism of the experience. These may not really be examples of what you're getting at (that there can be an emotional connection in games that isn't being focused on in marketing, if I'm right). It is a hard thing to get across. I mean take someting like Portal. A minimal game that actually touches you at times (they make you feel love for a box), but how do you do that in 30 seconds showing clips of puzzle solving in a White lab? As a medium I believe games are the hardest to advertise as the experience is too personal.

As a point to ponder. How often do you see fiction books advertised on TV? They've been around for thousands of years.