What’s with the new, “edgy and profane” Maxis? I saw this today in an online ad for that most edgy of all computer games, SimCity 4:
“Mayoral Tip #7: Build a big friggin statue of yourself.”
Whoa, now that’s edgy for sure, Wright. Dude, you’re edgin’ out. Xtreme Edge. Still, it’s not completely edgy. Going all the way and using the actual f-word would have been offensive, I guess…
Which brings to mind those recent ads for Emperor: Rise of the Middle Finger. Probably the biggest reason I didn’t buy that game was that I feel like if the marketing suits are so stupid that they don’t understand I don’t like being flipped off in an ad, they don’t deserve my money.
Anyway, just wanted to rant. I think this stuff is friggin ridiculous (ooh, the edge! I can’t stand it…)
Yeah, I thought that ad was pretty awful myself. I don’t see how it could appeal to fans of that kind of game, for one thing, and the demographic it might appeal to… well, are they the historical Chinese God-Game type?
That was an awful ad. When looking for a good geek game like that, I wanna see that the developers RESPECT the source material, not treat it irreverently.
When, exactly, did good graphic design work get overruled by ostentatious MTV sight gags?
FWIW, I agree about the Emperor ad. Bad, bad, bad.
That said, what have been – in your opinions – successful ads? And why? And by successful, I mean ads that have made enough of an impact on you to drive you to seek out more info about a game or even go right out and buy it.
You know I can honestly say that an ad has NEVER influenced me to buy anything, the only thing they’ve ever done is drive me away. If I don’t like the ad then I avoid the product as well.
Hmm, reverse marketing. Maybe Coke paid for all those ‘Pepsi girl’ ads that stopped sales in their tracks!!
Box art is more important than ads, I avoided ‘Advance Wars’ cause the box art looked stupid, it turns out it’s one of the best games for the GBA.
Although I can’t say ads ever make me want to buy any games, I did like a Simcity 4 ad (not the friggin statue one) that was a mayoral election flier filled with patriotic imagery and campaign promises checked off with a hearty YES. “Housing on active volcanoes? YES!”
I find it very difficult to believe those are the worst box covers they could come up with. And “Phalanx”, that space shooter with a hillbilly on the cover: pure genious. (Can’t figure out why they never sent me any royalty checks for that photo, either…)
“…what have been – in your opinions – successful ads? And why? And by successful, I mean ads that have made enough of an impact on you to drive you to seek out more info about a game or even go right out and buy it.”
I thought the Dungeon Siege ad with basically just the box cover design of that elvish woman holding a flaming sword was very, very good. That single image communicated everything the game was about in an attractive, inviting way without insulting anyone’s intelligence (or just plain insulting them, as the Empire ad does). I think Microsoft owes a huge bonus to whoever did that marketing plan for them, as I think it alone probably doubled or tripled DS’s sales.
The Rise of the Middle Finger ad was probably there because that game had a terminally low profile, so marketing figured something that bold could only help and not hurt a game nobody was talking about anyway. They were probably right, but really, it was a bad idea I think.
Age of Empires, and more recently, Age of Mythology, had great ads that showed units in formation and laying siege to cities. The fact that you actually couldn’t gather that big an army, and that the game really didn’t encourage that sort of city building was inconsequential to the fact that this ads showed in game graphics and looked very cool.
My vote for worst ad goes to Battlecruiser 3000AD. Sorry Derek, I know you didn’t have anything to do with that. It was a 2-pager, and featured the game’s title and half a underwear clad model running off the page flinging her bra behind her (the potential good part of this photo was the running off the page part). Derek, if you have a scan of this ad, please share and describe how you felt when your baby got marketed thus.
