Kotaku: Commercial

This Is the Worst Nintendo Commercial In a Long, Long Time

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 07:00:00 EDT

Compared to the company's unbridled success of the past five years, Nintendo in 2011 has its back to the wall. It needs now, more than ever, effective marketing to help sell its products. More »

What's on the Menu? The Call of Duty: Black Ops Escalation Map Pack

Mike Fahey — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:40:00 EDT

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I was wondering when Activision was planning on returning to the dual pistol-wielding line cook from that live-action Call of Duty: Black Ops commercial. Welcome back, old friend. Things have escalated since we last met. More »

You Mean Gamers Aren't All Bloodthirsty Domination Maniacs?

Mike Fahey — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:20:00 EDT

It's time for a video Speak-Up on Kotaku! Commenter FuzzleMail takes issue with this AlienWare commercial for depicting gamers as bloodthirsty domination maniacs. More »

LEGO Star Wars III Will Make You Shit a Brick

Brian Crecente — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:19:51 EDT

Hahahahahaha.... More »

A Disgusting Way To Introduce The PlayStation Phone To The World

Mike Fahey — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 12:30:00 EST

This creepy little clip is supposed to be the first commercial for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, aka the PlayStation Phone. I'd say we found out what's become of the advertising team behind those PlayStation 3 baby ads. More »

Kevin Butler Commits Gran Theft Turismo

Mike Fahey — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:40:00 EST

With each new major PlayStation 3 release comes a new video starring Kevin Butler, Sony's VP of game commercials. In this Gran Turismo 5 spot he claims responsibility for the game's greatness, and claims a sporty little number for himself. More »

Super Meat Boy's Meaty 80s Commercial

Brian Crecente — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EDT

This never before seen, by me, trailer for Super Meat Boy is a take on the 80s-style video game commercials we really should see more of these days. More »

Mario's 25th Anniversary Commercial Gets An (Unfortunate) Extended Cut

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:30:00 EDT

That delightful Japanese commercial celebrating Super Mario Bros' 25th anniversary has received a surprise extended cut. Only thing is, there's no new footage. More »

The Suite Life of Making Pokemon Commercials

Brian Crecente — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:00:00 EDT

When they're not making Disney television shows about living in suites located in hotels and cruise ships, the Sprouse brothers are busy hawking goods. In this case, Nintendo goods. More »

EA Brings Hell To The Super Bowl

Mike Fahey — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:40:00 EST

EA is dropping a huge portion of the Dante's Inferno advertising budget this Sunday with the company's first Super Bowl commercial, hoping to capture the massive cross-section of football fans familiar with the work of Dante Alighieri. More »

Extended Spirit Tracks Commercial Has Twice As Much Hallucinating

Mike Fahey — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:20:00 EST

The 60-second version of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks' television commercial displays in more vivid detail why you should probably put down the DS and sleep once in awhile. More »

RUN DMC Beatboxes Along With Wii Music

Brian Crecente — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

Cheerleaders might think it's "bullshit". Bands might think it's not the best. It might put dogs to sleep... figuratively. But Run. Run LOOOOOOVES the beatboxing, drum tapping, piano tripping tunes coming out the Wii thanks to Wii Music. Oh Run. More »

Effing Sweet Rock Band 2 Commercial

Brian Crecente — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:03:48 EDT

You gotta love this new Rock Band 2 commercial featuring VAEDA and sung in the key of AC/DC. Well you don't gotta love it, but if you don't love it you're a horrible person and are going to rot in hell. So you decide. More »

Japanese Zelda II Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 14:00:00 EST

Here is an absolutely bizarre Japanese Zelda II commercial featuring a little girl and a man in drag as an old lady. The little girl comes to a shop and a glowing Tri-force on her hand magically transforms her into Link and the man-lady into a cloaked character sporting a string of old lady pearls. Why they opted to go with a guy in drag instead of a real old lady, I don't know but it makes for some humorous viewing. More »

Dr. Mario Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST

From way back in 1990 (can you believe that was already seventeen years ago?) comes this odd Dr. Mario commercial courtesy the fine folks at RetroGameVideos.com. It features a young teenager fighting the evil forces of some sort of bizarre voodoo witch doctor with a game of Dr. Mario. While it might not tell us a lot about the gameplay, it certainly teaches us a valuable lesson: Never play Dr. Mario against a witch doctor or you will find yourself looking like that creepy raisin headed guy from Beetlejuice and being forced to listen to a bastardized version of an Alvin and the Chipmunks song. Terrifying. More »

Earthworm Jim Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:00:00 EST

From the depths of 1994 comes this bizarre Earthworm Jim commercial. It features a kindly grandma telling the story of Earthworm Jim to a surrounding group of Disney-esque cast of cartoon animals. But things quickly sour as grandma goes from kindly to creepy in a manner of a few seconds. Those with weak constitutions or an aversion to old ladies eating worms may want to skip this one. More »

Virtual Boy Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 13:00:00 EST

Watch and witness how Nintendo tried to suck people into what was arguably one of their biggest flops. The soothing, semi-detached and slightly echo-y announcer's voice was even then synonymous with "artificial intelligence." (Thank you HAL 9000) And let's face it, a person telling you something is cool is one thing, but if a computer or robot tells you it's cool, then it must be true. So, if you've ever wondered how to market your own headache machine that will eventually become an industry joke and desktop novelty, now you know. More »

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Commercial (With Special Guest Appearance)

Brian Crecente — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST

Super Scope 6 Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST

With all the hoopla that was raised regarding the Wii Zapper and its similarity to using real guns, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at one of the Nintendo gun peripherals that would never be made today. The Super Scope 6 was not only gun like, but you rested the thing on your shoulder with the object of blowing things away whilst looking through the titular scope. I can only imagine the insane dialog that would ensue if this thing came out in 2008. "Won't someone please think of the children!!" More »

Mini Me Does World of Warcraft

Mike Fahey — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 11:20:03 EST

The latest in Blizzard's "What's Your Game" series of World of Warcraft advertisements has been unleashed on an unsuspecting planet. This time around, as promised in the Van Damme post, is Verne Troyer of Mini-Me fame, in what is arguable the most appropriate combination of race and class in the series so far. The guy looks just like a gnome mage! It's spooky. If I were Verne I'd be drawing royalties on much more than this commercial. It's enough to make me want to sneak up behind him and cheap shot, hemorrhage, and kidney shot him, perhaps with a gouge for good measure. Freaky little bastards. Gnomes. Not Verne Troyer. Um. More »

Atari Pac-Man Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST

RetroGameVideos.com is just a treasure trove of these great videos that I love to post. This one is for the Atari 2600 version of Pac-Man (which incidentally is one of the worst versions ever) and features the hideous eighties novelty song "Pac-Man Fever" by Buckner and Garcia who brought us such other hideous video game themed hits as Do The Donkey Kong, Ode To A Centipede and the enduring classic Goin Berzerk. More »

Bayou Billy Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:00:00 EST

It was a great retro gaming weekend for me (more on that later) and part of involved being given a disc with a bunch of old Nintendo commercials on it. I saw quite a few that I had posted here previously and some that I had not. After seeing the above video on the disc I knew I had to post it and figured the fine fellows over at RetroGameVideos must have it up on their site and lo and behold, they did. More »

Zelda II Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 20:00:00 EST

From RetroGameVideos comes this Zelda II: The Adventures f Link commercial featuring yet another live action Link. It amazes me that in pretty much every commercial featuring a live action Link, they never actually look like Link. In this version we get some Fabio looking hippie Link running through a lot of dark empty hallways only to be met at the end by an invisible wall blocking his real self from entering Zelda's 8-bit room. Note the plug for the Ghostbusters II game at the end. So timely. More »

Wii Want to Play: Super Mario Galaxy

fdemarco — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:00:00 EST

The latest in the Wii Want to Play TV advertising campaign focuses on Super Mario Galaxy. While the commercial isn't terribly exciting, just the thought of playing SMG on a giant movie theater screen just fills my heart with glee. Actually, the thought of playing any good game on a theater screen would be great but the fact that it's Mario makes it all the better. More »

Japanese Kid Icarus Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 20:00:00 EST

Here's a terrifically bizarre Japanese commercial for Kid Icarus circa 1986. Something that always strikes me about these 80's commercials, be they US or Japanese, is the absolute manic pace they seem to keep up. Everything is always amped up just a little too high. Of course, the kids (us) watching these things were usually just as amped up having just cracked out on giant bowls full of sugared cereal. It's a wonder we all didn't just explode. More »

Nintendo Power Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 19:00:00 EST

Another little treat from RetroGameVideos.com. Back in the days when they used to advertise magazine subscriptions on TV comes this seizure inducing commercial for Nintendo Power magazine. I've said it before and I'll say it again the eighties may have sucked in a lot of ways, but the video game (and related) commercials are the stuff dreams are made of however twisted those dreams may be. Get the power! More »

Super Mario Galaxy Japanese Ads

fdemarco — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 15:00:00 EDT

Just can't get enough of that Super Mario Galaxy footage? Are you burning with a SMG fever that just can't be quenched? Well this might help a little. Here are two new SMG commercials from Japan featuring some gameplay that you might not have seen before. Each one has different footage, so be sure to make the jump to check out the other one. More »

Atari 2600 Pitfall Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT

It's been a while since I've posted one of these old commercials so I figured it was high time for a little retro gaming advertising goodness. For your consideration is this Atari 2600 Pifall commercial circa 1980 something. I guess they hadn't yet found the uber talent that is Jack Black to push their game so they decided to go with a bunch of crusty old British Explorer types and a completely bonkers American guy. Not quite the same somehow... except for the completely bonkers part. Interesting to note that they actually mention the name of the game's creator at the end as a selling point More »

Commodore Vic-20 Commercial With William Shatner

fdemarco — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:00:00 EDT

It's the wonder computer of the 1980's! Or at least so says William Shatner in this old commercial for the Commodore Vic-20. Not only does he think it's great, but even takes a jab at good old Atari and Intellivision. After all, Atari and Intellivision don't have a real computer keyboard! And it's under $300 which according to the inflation calculator would be about $800 today. A true bargain. More »

Geometry Wars Hates Particle Man

Mike Fahey — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:40:03 EDT

This advertisement for Geometry Wars Galaxies for the Nintendo Wii and DS gets it completely right and completely wrong at the same time. On the one hand, it does use They Might Be Giants' Particle Man in possibly the only commercial instance that would ever make sense for the song. On the other hand, it doesn't use the original version of the song, the producers apparently unaware of the fact that 50% of the song's charm is the Johns' delivery. That and Universe Man's random exclamation is going to give me nightmares. What the hell is he even saying? More »

Live Action Jeanne d'arc

Brian Crecente — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:00:15 EDT

This almost makes me not want to play the game, and I'd been waiting for it since it was first announced. More »

Coleco Tabletop Arcade Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 19:00:00 EDT

This really gives a new meaning to portable gaming. In 1982, Coleco released these miniature versions of classic arcade games like Pac-Man, Galaxian and Donkey Kong. This commercial is classic 80's from beginning to end. We even get the never seen before or heard from again, Mr. Arcade, an 80's cool cat with some killer shades and the power to shrink arcade machines. Those kids seem awfully excited with their new tiny arcade games, I just wonder how they felt when they got that thing home and realized it was absolutely nothing like the original game... Poor little bastards. More »

Atari Pong Commercial

fdemarco — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 11:00:00 EDT

Holy smokes! I think I may have just found one of the oldest home video game commercials in existence. Before the 2600, Atari came out with a home version of Pong which was making a huge splash in arcades and bars across the country and this is the ad they made for it. More »

Clip: Mr. Intellivision Ad 2

fdemarco — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EDT

As a follow up to last week's Intellivision ad featuring George Plimpton and E.T.'s Henry Thomas I bring you this little clip. Featuring the same two actors, this commercial was obviously from the same ad campaign as the last one with Henry Thomas calling Mr. Plimpton "Mr. Intellivision" and babbling about random games he loves while Mr. Plimpton agrees. At the end we get another take on the joke of Mr. Plimpton not recognizing the arguably more famous at the time Henry Thomas. So, essentially this is the same commercial as last week. The same only different... and blurrier. But certainly worth a watch if you're an old game commercial aficionado. Flynn De Marco More »

Clip: Sega Net Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 26 May 2007 19:30:12 EDT

They just don't make video game commercials like this anymore, which is really a shame. Exploding trailers, decapitated teddy bear heads and a special glimpse at the world's most terrifying mullet are just a few of the treats in store for you in this ad pushing Sega Dreamcast's online gaming service Sega Net. Too bad the commercial lasted longer than the service. Flynn De Marco More »

Clip: Gameboy Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 19 May 2007 21:00:00 EDT

It seems to be Nintendo video day today so I have one last one for you. This time it's a GameBoy commercial featuring a giant armoured robot thing that shooots blue lasers out of it's fingers. Apparently the blue laser has the power to transport human boys into the misty land of the GameBoy nebula. When used by humans, however, the blue finger laser can be used to destroy your robot enemies. More »

Clip: The Wizard TV Spot

fdemarco — Sat, 19 May 2007 12:00:00 EDT

I've seen a lot commercials in my time, but a commercial for a commercial? OK, so The Wizard was a movie, but it's widely regarded as being a ninety minute commercial for Nintendo which, essentially, it was. Now I invite you to set your Way Back Machines to 1989 and enjoy the awesome Nintendo thrill ride that is The Wizard. Free Nintendo Pocket Power Magazine while supplies last... awesome! More »

Clip: NES Commercial

fdemarco — Sat, 12 May 2007 17:00:00 EDT

"Will you be the first?" More »

Clip: Ancient Atari Ad

fdemarco — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:00:00 EDT

This one is truly ancient and believe me, I should know. It's amazing to look back on these ads and remember a time when we thought those giant chunky things were the greatest thing ever. Not to mention how excited I remember being about Adventure on my brand new 2600. That square with an arrow for a sword was the most amazing thing we had ever seen, especially right in our own homes. I can only imagine what games will be like 25 years from now when we look back and say "Man those PS3 graphics sure were crap. How did we ever play that and think it was cool?" Flynn De Marco More »

Clip: Wii Would Like To Prey

Mike Fahey — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 11:20:04 EDT

The man behind the terrifying Miyamoto Operetta is back, and he's brought friends. This time they carry the "Wii Would Like to Play" commercials to their inevitable, gruesome conclusion. More »