Advocacy Group Angry That Moms Hate Dead Space 2

[Therumancer]

I was expecting this since the ads aired, I believe I called it in the thread here on it too.

That said, with the mothers I've met in MMOs and the like who play other games, this is entirely based around stereotypes and they must have selected that focus group very carefully.

Remembr Moms were young too, a lot of them watched ultra-violent horror movies for fun, and all of that dark sexploitation horror garbage is largely directed at women like the housemom. I'm not talking "Twilight" but the stuff it derived from, Anita Blake, Anne Rice's body of work, and simialr things. The content in fiction directed at women isn't all that differant or less intense than that directed at men, and in some ways is FAR worse. I'm sure there are plenty of moms out there who will be playing this game or take a "meh, that's pretty stereotypical" approach to it, before going back to reading what amounts to their latest treatise on sexual sadism, mutilation, and murder.

 

[BrunDeign]

You have to look at this from a 16 year old (and younger) perspective. The more... rebellious/impressionable teenagers would eat this commercial up. A chance to stick it to mom? SIGN MEH UP.

But yeah calling for sanctions is a little bit much. EA isn't TRYING to sell this game to "under age" gamers. They are the... how do you say... periphary audience? Main audience is seventeen and up. Does this commercial APPEAL to teens under 17? Almost definitely. It's probably hilarious for them.

 

[x434343]

Here's a question. Who is going to be more wanting of a game that insults parents: People over 17 years of age who are out of the house and on their own, or people under 17 who still live with their parents and are in a rebellious state?

I think EA went too far with this damn advert, because its misguided marketing.

 

[The Random One]

Well, I'm angry at that, too.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Actually, the advertisement was meant for one thing. Humor.

Can't people take a joke nowadays?

Not the people with no experience with video games or video game culture, who will use this advertising campaign to perpetuate that video games are nothing but adolescent gore fests played by immature meatheads.

I mean, forget the ad campaign, Visceral Games has proven themselves over and over again to be nothing but a bane on this industry.

EDIT: To clarify, I'm not saying Visceral Games makes bad games (though I'm not a fan). I'm just saying they seem to work extra hard to glorify a stereotype that the industry struggles to move past.

 

[MGlBlaze]

Common Sense Media is in a unique position because of the fact that it praises violent games for their strengths while ensuring that parents know they're not for kids. I can see where the organization is coming from with the Dead Space 2 campaign, but I have a feeling it forgot one key point: Everyone has a mother. There's no way it can be proven that EA was targeting a segment of consumers younger than 16 when plenty of people 17 and older also have a mom.

This is true, however I also have to question what EA was thinking; most people over the age of 17 are (theoretically) capable of making their own decisions, so they shouldn't really care what their mothers think of the game. The 'your mom hates it' thing has no appeal on that demographic, while it might have more of an impact on younger individuals.

I'm going to side with Common Sense Media on this one; they strike me as fairly reasonable and EA strikes me as holding the Idiot Ball [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IdiotBall].

 

[Boom129]

your mother hates dead space 2
and your mother hates that

 

[AsianMafiaSin]

I don't believe they were purposely trying to go for younger audiences, it's just that their original commercial idea just does that.
Kinda like nukes seem to be a good idea, but then people accuse you of trying to infest cities with radioactive resistant roaches.

 

[Revenge Revisited]

Why is everyone all worked up over this ad? It's just an ad! If it's aimed at adults then they can buy it for themselves! And if it's aimed at kids then their parents won't buy it for them unless they know their kid is old enough! Why should an 'Advocacy Group' (whatever that means) have to get involved? Why is it that no one thinks people can make decisions for themselves?! It seems no one can leave eachother alone these days!

 

[Devil's Due]

Instead of complaining about some harmless humour, why don't they just follow the ad's advice and not buy an 18+ game for their children.

This post is the only sense I've read in this thread so far.

I actually congratulate EA for not being afraid of the masses views on their games and decided to make a rather amusing commercial that I rather enjoyed when I first saw it. I'm old enough to get these games myself, and my Mum still hates Dead Space as well, but hell, she laughed at the commercial. Because, you know, she has a SENSE OF HUMOR.

Oh, this silly day and age.

 

[Noctis_XZ]

Instead of complaining about some harmless humour, why don't they just follow the ad's advice and not buy an 18+ game for their children.

This post is the only sense I've read in this thread so far.

I actually congratulate EA for not being afraid of the masses views on their games and decided to make a rather amusing commercial that I rather enjoyed when I first saw it. I'm old enough to get these games myself, and my Mum still hates Dead Space as well, but hell, she laughed at the commercial. Because, you know, she has a SENSE OF HUMOR.

Oh, this silly day and age.

I promised myself that this would be the last time I'd post in this thread here because no one seems to be able to open their minds to a differing opinion.

I'm sure personally that those with families within this group don't let their children purchase the game if they are under the required age.. but that IS NOT the point.

It has nothing to do with parents just being good parents and not buying the game or them fueling the fire. They gain absolutely nothing from this whole ordeal other than to voice their opinion, which they are entitled to.

It is about the LAW, pure and simple. This is the only argument they are making.. yes, parents need to be informed and not purchase their children these types of games until the time is right. And you know what.. that is one of the things they try to accomplish on their website simply by giving them the information.

This whole thing would have been funny with the focus group if it wasn't so clearly aimed at a group of women who would give them the exact response they wanted. Someone pointed out how much older the women in the ad were and how they most likely didn't have children under 17 or even slightly over.. that was the whole point of it. They TARGETED much older CONSERVATIVE women who are out of touch with the world today as it pertains to the younger generation because they expected this kind of result. I knew exactly what was to be expected as soon as the word conservative was uttered.. took all the funny out of it for me.

And now I officially give up. So back to responses such as parents shouldn't just buy their children these kinds of games, how they are just giving Dead Space 2 more publicity, etc.. which is far from the point of their argument.

One word.. Laws..

 

[Harbinger_]

Just a small comment on the OP: Not everyone has a mother. Thank you.

 

[Fidelias]

I actually agree with the advocacy group; the ad was definitely targeting a younger audience. I'm 20, what do I care if my mom hates something? 17-year-olds and older are usually past the whole renegade stage, so they wouldn't care about whether mom likes it or not. Only little kids do.

Besides that, I hate the Dead Space team and this add because it's a step back for gaming as a whole. Their add is basically saying that if you're a responsible adult, you will hate this game.

 

[Ninonybox_v1legacy]

i hate to say it...and i mean REALLY HATE to say it.....but i can see common sense medias point....i hate that i agree with them, because i hate them so much. I mean look at this review they did of halo 3

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/game-reviews/halo-3

yes i know that is not the cover for the game but they didn't

and yes they did just ask why the humans cannot try to become allies with the covenant thrue diplomatic means

yes i know that they are retarded.

 

[Lucane]

When watching these ads I was under the impression that they were marketing to people under the age rating.

At first glance or if it was just audio I'd agree but if you think about it these were older middle aged women (Who I guess said before being selected they had children[Which could possibly mean a son or daughter who's already 17 years or older and maybe more than one.]which would tie-in the whole mon angle.)

Although I can agree on the thought that it seems like it's more in tune with people who would still be living with they're mothers which is mostly people under the age of 18.

I found it in pore taste myself like on ENN's news room.

 

[RA92]

Did it occur to anyone that EA was just trying to take a fresh approach to advertisement and not particularly trying to appeal to a demography?

Honestly, that would incriminate them even further. If they are not trying to target the older adult demographic...then who do they target? Nerds living in their mom's basement?

Once again, like I said, it doesn't have to necessarily target a demography. I'm 18+, I don't care what my mom thinks of my gaming habits, and still find their ad campaign funny and relevant.

Making a advertisement for your game that appeals to your target demographic is something ANY company wants to make. EA is a big boy and probably has a small army of marketing people who think these things up. They don't just think "hey, lets make a funny add" they think "how can we make this product seem appealing to our target demographic". Now why would they play up a juvenile desire to spite your parents instead of playing up the horror aspect of the game? (probably because it's not really scary in the first place, hah!) These people don't just to stuff for shits and jiggles. There is lots of money involved and guess what demographic makes up a big chunk of people who play violent games...teenagers who are under 17.

Have you seen the Volkswagen commercial involving Darth Vader? That ad campaign involved a lot more money than this one we're arguing over. They actually spent just seconds showing the car itself. Hell, you could remove the car entirely and make it a Darth Vader costume ad. But why was it effective? It was quirky and unique. What's to say EA wasn't doing the same?

 

[zarix2311]

...Wait, ummm...uh hold on,a-...what?

 

[thisbymaster]

I found the dead space game in bad taste, it was boring. Havn't played Dead space 2, but if your kids are stupid enough to believe this sort of thing then let Darwin take's course.