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A advertising poster for Electronic Arts PS2/PSP title Burnout Dominator has been labeled "irresponsible" by the UK's Advertising Standards Authority. Thirty-seven complaints were filed regarding the ad, which featured a wrecked car surrounded by broken glass with the slogan "Inner peace through outer violence." According to an ASA spokesperon; More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=272648&view=rss&microfeed=true Here's the newest Nintendo ad. Or, rather, the sequel to that really boring one that literally confused half of Japan. This one's a bit more straightforward. A tutorial, really. Brian Ashcraft More »
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Reader Jacob sent along pics of this Toronto PLAYSTATION 3 billboard. While looking at it, we didn't think about whether it was aesthetically pleasing or even had nice SPIDERMAN font, but rather: Isn't it waaay low to the ground to be a billboard? Baffled. Brian Ashcraft More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=204785&view=rss&microfeed=true This commercial for my favorite summertime fizzy drink Kirin Lemon features actress Ritsuko Tanaka, Yoshi and is 100 percent Nintendo approved. It's a few years old, but that jingle is catchy as hell. Brian Ashcraft More »
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My interest in LocoRoco diminished significantly when the entire country of Japan decided the game sucked. I kept meaning to buy it, but waffled. Maybe it was as bad as everyone said. Maybe it wasn't. People I trusted and like (well, sorta) bought the game and raved about it. Unloved classic! Yet, the game's price plummeted quickly and copies turned up in spades at used game shops. And like that, LocoRoco fell off my radar. More »
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It's the end of an era. Last spring, Sony installed an enormous PSP near Houston Street in Manhattan. Reader Anthony works around the corner from this local landmark and was heading out to lunch when he saw the ladder. Today at approximately 1:15 pm, that sign was being dismantled, bit-by-bit. Anthony points out: More »
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Here at Kotaku, we're size queens. Bigger means better. (Unless, it's small and cool.) So when we saw this giant PSP display promoting Tekken at a Korean bus stop, we swooned and fainted. This 15:1 scale, non-playable portable, was encased in class around the Han River area in Seoul. Hit the jump for a pic of the folks flocking to this bus stop. More of this please, Sony and less of the stupid! Brian Ashcraft More »
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Over in the UK, chain retailer Woolworths is currently advertising that the DS Lite comes in black and silver. Last we heard, the Europeans were getting black and white DS Lites. There's been no mention of a silver Lite available anywhere on Earth. Either Woolworths knows something we don't or maybe silver is British for white? Brian Ashcraft More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=183228&view=rss&microfeed=true Looks like I'm not the only one that likes the 360 ads (I even dig those Japanese Xbox 360 ads for games that are MONTHS away). The American Advertising Federation awarded advertising firm McCann-Erickson with the Best of Show prize for its "Jump In" advert. The press release reads: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=180551&view=rss&microfeed=true Kotaku reader Scott sent us a heads-up on this incredibly fun Street Fighter Alpha Anthology ads. They were produced by the dudes who designed the US manuals and box art. Great stuff. More »
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Game site Aeropause points to this interesting maze-like PlayStation 2 ad. Not much info on it, other than it is actual maze written with only "PS2" and has an entrance and exit. It is a rather easy maze at that. Brian Ashcraft More »
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AOL Joystiq's Conrad Quilty-Harper (best game journo name evar) stumbled across this odd War on Terror packaging at his local Canterbury HMV retailer. The shop's staff had stuck on stickers that say "Featuring a Canterbury Level!!". Nothing screams sure-fire sales like the promise of watching your town get destroyed. Brian Ashcraft More »
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Naughty sister site Fleshbot points to a new hentai PSP games that allow adult companies to advertise within the title's storylines. Called Jo & The 7 Babes, the saucy UMD will be followed by a new rellease every month. More »
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Game blog Areopause points to a retro 7UP ad from 1982, staring Pac-Man. The sultry female voice and pizza-chasing red Pac-Man add to the commercial's charm, but that chugging noise sure is irritating. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=170911&view=rss&microfeed=true Just how did Nintendo promote Famicom Wars DS in Japan? Strapping, young military men in undershirts and undershorts. The game's been out for almost a year in Japan, but the sentou hasn't been quite the same. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=169349&view=rss&microfeed=true One of the Odama commercials is pure day-glo and looks like Rub Rabbits leftovers. The other is pretty much what you'd expect: Japanese dudes in armor screaming. Is there a best way to sell a military pinballer? More »
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Over in the U.K., ads that use pre-renders CGI footage are coming under fire. Earlier this year, Call of Duty 2 was yanked from British television after consumers complained that the in-game visuals did not match the commercial's. The country's Broadcast Advertising Clearance Centre was unaware of this practice. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=169058&view=rss&microfeed=true For those who don't have cable TV, live in North America or only read books, here's the Brain Age infomercial. It's appearing on the Discovery Channel and making people's parents suddenly "into gaming." Not sure what that means these days anymore... More »
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Last fall, in-game advertising company Double Fusion brought on Yahoo Games General Manager Geoff Graber as the company's new CEO. "With more options becoming available for gamers in the next year, and as the industry continues to mature, we feel that the biggest days for in-game advertising are just on the horizon," Graber told GameSpot last November. With recent deals with Midway and THQ, things look bright for Double Fusion. Things for Graber apparently could be better. An insider just dropped word that the CEO has been "canned." Reasons for Graber's dismissal are not yet clear, but if this is true, things aren't so rosy at Double Fusion. More »
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For those living outside the United States or for those living in the United States without a television (gasp), here's the American TV ad for Tetris DS. It shows a buncha skydivers in multicolored jumpsuits forming Tetris pieces. Neato! More »
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Kotakuite Anthony sends pics from Sony UK's massive PlayStation Portable ad in Liverpool. How big is it? The above photo was taken from the other side of the River Mersey from his apartment 1/4 a mile away, using a ten times zoom. The fact the Anglican Cathedral, the largest in Europe, is behind also gives an idea about the scale. A poster promoting suicide on a train platform and now a lewd billboard in front of a church. Speechless. More »
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Kotaku reader Weefz has been on a quest, taking as many pics of the UK Sony PSP ads as possible. Apparently there are 22 of them in total, and Weefz has documented 15 of them so far. Granted, not all of them are annoying, but there are a couple doozies. More after the jump. More »
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Sony UK's latest ad campaign has not only alienated the mainstream, but now has pissed off the Metro. A PlayStation Portable ad that read "TAKE A RUNNING JUMP HERE" was only a few feet from the subway tracks at bustling Piccadilly station. Disturbing, as according to Manchester Online, there have been a rash of passengers getting hit by trains in recent months. An employee noticed the ad, thought it was inappropriate and had it covered with tape. The ad has now been taken down. The electronics giant refused to comment. More »
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Resistance UK has unearthed a bunch of juvenile Sega ads from the early 1990's, back when Sonic was the shiznit. The cartoonist ads are from Brit humor rag Viz and score high on the raunch scale. How high? Well, they put Sony UK's current PSP campaign to shame. A commenter over at GameSetWatch points out that when companies bought space in Viz, they agreed to let the mag design the ads. Thus, it's possible Sega UK never saw these adverts until after the fact, explaining the odd off-color reference to a joystick the Game Gear never had. More yuck after the jump. More »
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Sony's perplexing PSP poster ads continue to plague London. While previous adverts vaguely mentioned naughty things, this last imagine of a bus stop ad is pretty explicit. Imagine a child telling his mother he wants a PSP, and then she see this. Class, that's real class. More »
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