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microsoft
Microsoft Comments On 360 Dash Advertisements
Following the revelation yesterday that the company would later this year be placing advertisements on Xbox Live, Microsoft have moved to assure users that the ads will "enhance, not interfere" with their experience. More » -
xbox 360
Ads Coming To Xbox 360 Dashboard?
Sean Alexander, director at Microsoft's Advertising Business Group, has suggested that you could soon be seeing advertisements every time you fire up your 360 dashboard. More » -
advertising
You Will Be Sick Of Modern Warfare 2 By Christmas
Call of Duty 4 sold, well, millions. So its direct sequel - Modern Warfare 2 - shouldn't be too hard of a sell. Or, it wouldn't be if the game was published by anyone else. But since it's published by Activision, well... More » -
celebrities
Lisa Kudrow Might Be Better Than A Price Drop
We've got more evidence that non-gaming celebrities hawking games on TV is the future. More » -
beautiful people
Famous People Sell Games Better Than Game Reviewers
Publishers should recognize that the televised appearance of celebrities in their underwear hyping Guitar Hero is helping that series beat its better-reviewed competition, according to a gaming analyst. More » -
disturbance in the workforce
Microsoft's In-Game Ad Company Hit By, Ahem, Massive Layoffs [Update]
We've heard today that, as part of Microsoft's already-announced round of 5000 job cuts, up to 75% of the workforce at Microsoft's in-game advertising service, Massive, have been laid off. More » -
health
UK Change4Life Campaign Changes Its Tune
Criticized in March for ads that equated playing video games with an early death, a new commercial for the UK government's Change4Life campaign promotes healthy gaming. More » -
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violent video games
Your Sunday Morning Facepalm
Over on CNET, a writer dares ask the question, "How far should violent video game ads be kept from schools?" Oh, God ... More » -
advertising
Even In-Game Advertising Is Hurting, IGA May Be Up For Sale
IGA, one of the companies that serves up dynamic in-game ads for games like Burnout Paradise, is feeling the advertising pinch, reeling from a recession that has spawned mass layoffs and closures. More » -
advertising
Toronto Killzone 2 Ads Pulled Due To "Menacing Head"
Complaints about images of war and violence have caused Sony to pull around 300 Killzone 2 advertisements from bus shelters in Toronto, Canada. More » -
playstation 3
Sony Takes Over Movie Theater, Opens Playstation Playroom
A Playstation playroom will be just one of the Sony plugs at a new movie theater opening in a LA suburb this week. More » -
xbox 360
Microsoft Would Like You To Believe This Model Is A Halo Fan
Well done, Microsoft UK. Here we were, thinking that, come 2009, gaming - yes, even 360 gaming - was for everyone, when you go and shove a set of Halo Wars-covered tits in our face. More » -
advertising
MLB 2K9 Ads Pushing Toward Obnoxious
In-game advertisements in sports titles aren't that conspicuous because, hell, real-life playing fields are littered with them. But screens in MLB 2K9 show publishers are comfortable with alterations of reality, if they turn a buck. More » -
advertising
360 Commercial Banned Over Movie Purchase Claims
Britain's Advertising Standards Authority say 99% of video games ads are responsible. This commercial, however, for the Xbox 360's video marketplace, is part of the remaining 1%. More » -
advertising
Black Cats Set To Advertise F.E.A.R. 2
This Friday the thirteenth a kendle of black cats will descend on London to advertise F.E.A.R. 2... really.
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advertising
Report: Game Industry Spent $823M Shilling Games In '08
The video game industry racked up impressive sales in 2008, pulling in more than $21 billion in sales in the United States alone. That make for a similarly impressive marketing tab. More » -
uk
99 Percent of Games Are Advertised Responsibly
Time to pat yourself on the back, UK game industry. The country's Advertising Standard Authority states that over 99 percent of games are advertised responsibly. More » -
Nit-Picking
Five Ways Game Sites Can Improve
Been to a game's official site lately? You probably have. Probably noticed while there that it was a bit crap, full of useless flash pages and 320x240 "screenshots". Here's five ways to fix that. More » -
clips
Banned 360 Commercial: The Auditions
Waaay back in 2005, this European commercial was minted to help promote the launch of the Xbox 360. It was promptly banned for encouraging violent behaviour. The ad's auditions, however, aren't anywhere near as troubling. More » -
clips
Pirate Baby's Energy Drink Commercial
Paul Robertson can do no wrong. As evidenced by his latest work, this commercial for Syke, an energy drink that may or may not be real. Way marketing is these days, its hard to tell. More » -
advertising
Best Game Ads? No, These Are The Worst Game Ads
Sure, video game ads are (generally) a classy, expensive affair these days, but in previous days, things weren't so high-brow. They were dorky, they were cheap, they were low-brow. More » -
xbox 360
Microsoft Gets in on Nintendo's Soccer Mom Action
Taking a page from Nintendo's book, Microsoft recently had soccer moms and trend-setters across the country host Xbox 360 parties for their friends in hopes of drumming up a bit more business. More » -
business
How Publishers Are Saving, Making Money Off YouTube
Mr. Rogers touched on this topic the other night, but today VentureBeat have an interesting report up about how publishers - it mostly focuses on EA - are using YouTube to make a quick, easy buck. More » -
ea
EA: Wii Graphics "Not Of Broadcast Quality"
Yeah, you read that right. Britain's Advertising Standards Authority have busted EA trying to pass the 360 version of Tiger Woods 09 off as the Wii version. And EA's defence is just delicious. More » -
marketing
PlayStation 3 Now A "Movie Downloading Machine"
Sony's moving on from marketing just its PlayStation 3 games library, kicking off a campaign to promote the console's movie download service. That's right, the PS3 is "not just for games anymore," according to Sony. More » -
home
And The Home Marketing Onslaught Begins...
We always knew Home was going to be heavy on advertising and corporate sponsorship. But this heavy this soon? It's a little unexpected. More » -
nintendo
Nintendo Toys Hit Burger King
What, the prospect of apple fries (?) and a tub of macaroni & cheese doesn't sound appealing enough to you, purveyor of fine, fatty American fast foods? What about some crap Nintendo toys? More » -
psp
New York City Losing Its Giant PSP (Again)?
The giant PSP in the SoHo district of New York City looks like it's on its way out... again. No, it's not the first time the PSP has been dismantled from its billboard. More » -
playstation 3
Red Bull Builds An Addition Onto PlayStation Home
In addition to all those video games setting up shop in Sony's Home, expect to see plenty of non-game advertisers. First out of the gate is energy drink Red Bull, complete with its own game. More » -
resistance 2
Resistance 2 Advertising Takes Over Dublin Newspapers
Sony scares the living shit out the nice folks in Dublin. Ireland today, will full page advertisements for Resistance 2 masquerading as front page stories declaring "America Under Attack!" More » -
advertising
Massive Gets Exclusive THQ In-Game Ad Contract
THQ has awarded Massive Inc. an exclusive contract to provide dynamic in-game advertisements for future THQ games. More » -
playstation portable
Sony's Christmas PSP Ads Are "Urban" In Nature
Here's Sony's holiday season ads for the PlayStation Portable. I thought the PS3 offerings last week were a little hit-and-miss. These PSP ones? Despite trying far too hard (something has gone wrong at marketing when the introductory post has to use the word "urban" so many times), these ads actually succeed where the PS3 ones failed: they show what the PSP can do. Like, it plays games. When you're outside/on a train. -
Guitar Hero World Tour
Yes, Bike Hero Was Viral Marketing
Did you detect that stench of viral marketing wafting from that "Bike Hero" YouTube clip? Your nose doesn't lie; the clip purported to be made by "madflux" and the "Brierwood Vandals" is really the work of production team Droga 5, MTV Multiplayer reports. Activision's chief creative officer Brad Jakeman tells MTV that one of the clip's more impressive technical feats — the flashing LEDs on the handlebars — was born from "some filmic magic." More » -
clips
Microsoft Creeps Us Out With Lips TV Spots
Microsoft is aware that Nintendo is the company that "puts more smiles on more faces," so it doesn't bother trying to compete on the happy front. Instead, the company wants to invade your nightmares, filling them with hollowed out heads and disembodied mouth creatures. The company's newest creative torment is for the iNiS developed Xbox 360 singing game Lips, in which a man is haunted by a stalking pair of sentient, lyric-forgetting lips. The mouth beast travels across harsh terrain and unfavorable weather conditions to force the man to do his bidding — to sing A-Ha's "Take On Me" for the sadistic ambling maw's delight. The horror.... -
playstation 3
PlayStation 3 Holiday TV Spots Teased
How will Sony combat the forces of Microsoft and Nintendo this holiday season? It's up against the cheapest current gen console and one of the fastest selling of all time, both of which undercut the PlayStation 3's $399 price tag by a considerable margin. Marketing to the rescue! Sony's begun to tease its holiday marketing campaign, dubbed "Reflections" — yes, we're teasing television commercials now — and it's... err... we'll wait until the full ads hit on Nov. 21 before making up our minds. -
NBA Live 09
The Real Reason Melo Cut His Hair
Denver Nuggets all-star and totally not a pot-head, Carmelo Anthony stars in this video about a bet gone awry. We've all been there man, betting shit we really don't want to lose in the heat of the moment. In this case things end with a razor, but on the bright side it wasn't about to cut off one of his fingers. More » -
advertising
Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead Advertising Kicks It Up A Notch
Gone are the days an EGM cover and some developer diaries did enough on the marketing front to get a game some money. These days, publishers need to try a little harder. Dig a little deeper. Namely, do what Bethesda and Valve/EA have done with their big holiday releases. Bethesda took out the entire back page of the New York Times for a classy Fallout 3 ad. Which can't have been cheap. Valve/EA probably went one better, however and sticking with the New York theme have put up this enormous Left 4 Dead banner overlooking Times Square. More » -
clips
Heidi Klum Strips Down To Shill Guitar Hero: World Tour
Anyone watching last night's Monday Night Football likely caught a glimpse of Heidi Klum's underthings as she jiggled for Guitar Hero: World Tour. (I was lucky enough to catch this one with my mother, in town for a brief visit.) Activision's going for the zipper in the newest Guitar Hero spot, one that swaps out Kobe Bryant, Michael Phelps, Alex Rodriguez and Tony Hawk for a solo Klum. We'll withhold judgment on just how successful it is until we get a good look at the page views on this one. -
wii
Vampires Love the Wii Too
Apparently the nearly dead aren’t the only one’s getting their kicks on the Wii. The undead are way into the Wii too, as seen in this video from a recent episode of HBO’s True Blood.





































