5. World of Warcarft
I never really got into WoW (as it’s known on the street) to the point where I was an addict, or needed a support group to break the habit. I did, however, always love their commercials. What’s great about the WoW ads is that they allow the viewers to see just who and what plays World of Warcraft. From commercials with Mr. T and William Shatner, to the ever-growing famous Chuck Norris commercial, the WoW marketing campaign has always been a great for gamers of all ages. If I had to pick a favorite it would be the WoW commercial that utilized a great scene from Officespace. Why I enjoy it is because it shows Blizzard's unique brand of humor, and gives us all a view of who exactly would play World of Warcaft and the answer is everyone!
4. Super Smash Bros.
Back in 1999, before the world was assaulted by Super Smash Bros., gamers knew about an All-Star Nintendo fighting game, but I still feel as though this game gave us a sneak attack. While Nintendo had failed with commercials for Mario Kart 64, the commercial for Super Smash Bros. not only captured the silliness and fun of Nintendo, but focused on characters beating the ever-living snot out of each other! I loved this commercial and it’s perfect choice for a theme, “Happy Together” by The Turtles. Throw in an over-the-top announcer and you have wacky marketing gold. Every time I hear this tune, I still think about this commercial and all of it’s glory! It represented everything great about good advertising, and the perfect onslaught of our N64s for the next 3 years. I don’t want to credit the commercial for Super Smash Bros.’ ultimate success, but I could see this advertisement creating quite the stir in the gaming world. Remember kids, this was before the Internet was in every home; and a time before gaming news was updated hourly.
3. Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts
This may be a stretch, and just a vehicle to get more commercials in on this list, but Square has done some excellent work with its US advertisements. I feel that video game commercials really started to take off in the mid-late 1990s where gaming was slowly breaking out of the basement and becoming a mainstream success.
Starting off with Final Fantasy VII, square hit the US with a gigantic marketing campaign. Think back to the wonderful era of 1997-1998 and try to not think about Final Fantasy VII! It was everywhere: magazines, game stores, television commercials, you name it, FFVII was EVERYWHERE! This first commercial is one of my favorites for a few reasons, it’s short, shows some of the prettiest parts of Final Fantasy VII and has a great catch-phrase “If he fails you can always hit the reset button.” A tag-line that will always reverberate in the deepest corners of my subliminal mind.
Say what you will about Final Fantasy X-2, I’ll say it’s terrible! However, it’s one thirty second spot was filled with wondrous J-Pop and guns-blazing. This commercial greatly hit my ADD side, as it’s filled with too much clutter for half-a-minute, but I have always loved this spot. I still sometimes catch myself singing Yuna’s pop tune, while working out, cooking dinner, or driving. Luckily the commercial only uses the good part of the song, because the rest of it is fairly terrible, like Final Fantasy X-2.
Square’s last “great” commercial in my eyes, was a collection of TV spots for Kingdom Hearts. We were introduced to the game’s theme song “Simple and Clean” while bombarded with an array of Disney and Square characters. Once again, more J-Pop leading to an original commercial to propel a new idea, and one of the most famous “mash-ups” in video game history. I still feel as though the Disney characters take away from the games, but this commercial sold this game to both Disney and Square fans alike. At the time, gamers knew about Kingdom Hearts but a commercial like this, brought it to non-gamers and helped to create the Kingdom Hearts revolution that ripped apart the early part of this millennium. There aren’t any spoken words until the very end, so the commercial reminds us what we’re looking at. “Simple and Clean” is also another song that has become part of my video-gaming memory, and I doubt I’ll forget the commercial and it’s theme for years to come.
2. Kevin Butler
Does any one remember the PS3s first commercials? I do, they were terrible. As was the launch and first 18 months of the PS3. The original advertisements for the PS3 were vague and creepy, with baby-dolls crying black paint, and white walls. They still give me nightmares. But after a few years, and the release of MLB:The Show 2009, Sony gave us a fictional VP, Kevin Butler. Butler has been the face of the PS3 for the past two years and it fits! His funny arrogance, and perfect delivery make the PS3 sound like a fun, off-beat system that can and will compete well with the 360. Butler and his ads brought a new humor to the PS3 and while Sony had a rough year in 2011, all I can say is that these commercials represent everything the PS3 was trying to do: be fun, and beat both the Wii and the 360. Sony may not have succeeded fully, but their advertisements speak their true intent. Great marketing.
1. Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction
Ratchet and Clank have been known to have some of the greatest commercials in the recent history of gaming. Just check out any of the “Not fit for this world” commercials for the first smattering of Ratchet and Clank games:
These ads embrace everything about Ratchet and Clank fun, chaos, and wacky weapons. They also have a certain college-born lunacy feel to them that perfectly spoke to any gamer in their teenage years. My favorite of all the Ratchet and Clank commercials is by far my favorite gaming commercial ever. That is the TV spot for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. One part Saturday Morning Cartoon, One part explosion, all parts amazing. This commercial gives you a chunk of the game with a fully rendered CGI advertisement, all with Joey Ramone’s cover of “What a Wonderful World” in the background. Very few gaming commercials have been able to capture a game’s essence like this, and I will always love this commercial for all the things it is. It’s silly and wacky, sure, but it speaks to me from a time that was a little less serious and more fun. And it’s a wonderful world.
