How Gaming Marketing Grew Up – Part 2: Shock, Emotion and Creativity

In Part 1, we explored how, just 20 years ago, gaming was perceived to be targeted to a young audience; vying for attention during the Saturday morning cartoons and laden with shouts of ‘radical’ and ‘awesome’.

Then, as home console gaming shifted into the 3D space, graphics became more realistic (well, with some growing pains) and themes became darker. Naturally advertising had to adapt.

There was a definitive pivotal point with the stirring PlayStation advert covered in Part 1, but we should also mention the… weird side of PlayStation.

PlayStation brought to you by… an Aphex Twin video director (1999)

In 1999, a somewhat bizarre advert centred around an ‘unusual’ Scottish girl aired, in which she talked about the power of the mind in achieving great things, enforcing the importance of ‘mental wealth’. Naturally, people had no idea what she was on about. Until in the last few moments a PlayStation tagline appears at the base of the screen, whilst she laughs creepily.

So, why on Earth did Sony attempt this bizarre strategy. Quite simply, to stand out. Nintendo were still using the ‘slightly-too-zoomed-in-wide-angle-shot’ style of filming, whilst Sega were somewhat bizarrely using a Robbie Williams song to promote their final (and highly-underrated) console launch of the Dreamcast.

And then there was a relatively new contender – Sony. Already establishing market dominance, how would it keep the interest ahead of the launch of the second PlayStation iteration, the PS2?

And with a considerably older target demographic as compared to Nintendo, it took a step back, stopped talking about the technicalities of the game, and went weird. Further enhanced by employing the directorial talents of Chris Cunningham, fresh from his delightfully disturbing Windowlicker video, this advert was a perfect storm of weird, compelling and interesting.

Things got even weirder a year later when Sony approached David Lynch, and then reached the absolute extreme with the PS3 ‘Play Beyond’ commercial (seriously, it’s… odd). However, this advert is considered as the first of a trend.

Gaming grew up, and it quickly leveraged a core component of advertising: shock.

Xbox reminds us of death (2002)

In a somewhat misguided example of going too far, Xbox stepped up to the mantle of shocking viewers with their ‘Life Is Short’ commercial.

Showing a pregnant women giving birth to a baby boy, who then shoots through the window, rapidly aging whilst screaming through their air before crashing into a grave, the video was ultimately banned after numerous complaints. And it’s not difficult to see why.

The intent was clear, but the messaging felt off and imagery was too horrific. Whilst likely to appeal to a small subsector of the population that would find this funny, it did the brand little favours, particularly as it struggled to compete with sales of direct competitors.

Much like cinema, the medium had grown from simple, loud and overstated themes, through to complete shock, before turning around to fully appreciate what gaming had become: filmic.

Gears of War gets sombre (2006)

Few trailers in the mid-2000s made such an impact as Gears of War. Whilst the game is a fast-paced, militaristic and violent affair, the arresting tone displayed by its commercial is anything but.

Contrasting the mayhem and panic of a lone soldier over Gary Jules’ cover of Mad World, the commercial brought about a hitherto ignored element of game advertising: emotion. With the 90s a distant memory, gaming turned to cinema to understand how it could convey its messaging and reach new audiences.

Gaming had become storytelling and its advertising had to match this. With releases such as The Departed, The Prestige and Children of Men, there was a distinct dark aggression brought to screens. And this is exactly where Gears of War positioned itself to demonstrate the power of the gaming medium.

Fast forward 5 years again, and it was deftly achieved again – this time with…

Zombies tugging at your heart strings (2011)

This award-winning commercial for zombie game, Dead Island, took storytelling to new heights, by creating a nonlinear narrative around a family facing a zombie attack. By telling a simple yet tragic story underpinned by a repeating piano score, the trailer conveyed an emotive experience, despite not showing any gameplay footage.

Whilst there were some concerns around the subject matter of the trailer, the creators, Axis Animation, said that their depiction fit the overarching narrative. It further gained a lot of appreciation for its powerful message and unconventional approach to a zombie plot.

Essentially, this was a perfect example of storytelling and emotion in gaming and cemented the importance of the trailer.

Gaming's most important character - Michael (2011)

In what can be best described as a pure celebration of a relatively short history but a rich culture, this commercial celebrates some of the finest characters to grace Sony’s range of PlayStation consoles. But rather than be a mere self-satisfied congratulations to themselves, the advert ultimately focuses on the most important person in any game; the player (in this instance, called 'Michael').

Any commercial that can only effectively talk about how great they are and the amazing characters they have created (without actually revealing anything new), whilst still empowering their core audience, can only be considered a masterpiece. Whilst Sony took this further by imagining a trailer for ‘The King’, which is essentially an extension of ‘Michael’, it was the original that captured the attention of audiences and press alike.

Where are we now?

And now, it seems that gaming has found its feet. With a diverse range of demographics and potential audiences to reach (as evidenced by the popularity of Conan’s Clueless Gamer and the prevalence of online streaming), companies have finally found what works best.

From the cynical character-driven comedy of Call of Duty’s ‘The Replacer’, through to a cavalcade of celebrity cameos in the wild Madden Season video, and the swelling majesty of Battlefield 1, it’s safe to say that some of the best advertising content available today is within the gaming industry.

It may have had some growing pains, but there’s no denying it grew up knowing exactly what mattered; the audience.