Bonus Assignment 2: "The Top 10 Video Game Commercials" by Anthony Izzi

Top 10 Video Game Commercials by Anthony Izzi

You may be asking what’s so important or worth mentioning about commercials of video games. In my opinion, video game commercials are THE best way to get someone excited for an upcoming game. There are professionally written and executed commercials that explain what the game is, what the player can do in the game, and why you must play it. The commercials are very important to the video game industry and the players. I’ve seen plenty of amazingly made commercials, not just for video games, but also for movies, television shows, soft drinks, and so on. For this countdown, I want to say in my opinion what I think are the greatest video game commercials. I will be discussing what’s good and what’s flawed.

Rules:

·        These are commercials, not trailers or promos. They must have been shown on TV.

·        These are commercials for video games or consoles. Commercials for soft drinks, fast food      restaurants, or milk don’t count even if they feature video game characters.

·        All regions are accepted.

·        One game per franchise.

Alright, let’s do it:

Number 10                              Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII                    

USA/1997 and 1999

Pros:    What’s to admire about these commercials for well-known Playstation titles are not only the portions of the cutscenes shown from the games, what’s gold about these commercials is the sense of humor. Final Fantasy VII was one of the first games to have stunning Computer generated cinematics, which is one of the main reasons why it was so revolutionary. Many people started to call it “like a movie”; comparing the graphics to the animation of Toy Story. The people who made the commercial caught onto this and the narrator of the three commercials (for Final Fantasy VIII) reminded the viewers that it’s a game; and how hilarious the narrator was. Final Fantasy VIII only got one commercial (that I know of). It has the same sense of humor that the commercials of the previous game had and the narrator for this commercial was the late Don LaFontaine; bonus points.

Cons:   As astonishing as the graphics for the two games were, the commercials didn’t show a single screenshot of gameplay. That contradicts the statement that these commercials were saying: if these are games and not movies, than further prove that with shown gameplay. Also, one of Final Fantasy VII’s commercials contains a major spoiler (you know the one).

Number 9                                Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World

USA/2002

(Not from the commercial, from a magazine page.)

Pros:    In a much more big-budgeted commercial for the classic Super Mario World from 1991, this commercial for the Game Boy Advance port does its best to show what Dinosaur Land looks like with gorgeous landscapes, crisp lighting, and soothing music. The men in the Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi suits really do help to bring this world (Dinosaur Land) to life; seeing Yoshi run with antelopes, Mario swimming with crystal clear waters, and Luigi with the yellow cape, and finally, Mario and Luigi swimming like dolphins.

Cons:   Just nitpicking, but why are there antelopes in Dinosaur Land?

Number 8                    Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

USA and Japan respectively/2002 and 2004

(Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance)

Pros:    Similarly for both commercials, they feature average-Joes in suits using stealth techniques that the player can use in both games. In the Substance (for Xbox) commercial, a pencil-pusher, Johnson, is handing in his due-late report on his kinda-furious boss’ desk before he sees him. Johnson hides in cardboard boxes, takes cover behind walls, crawls under desks, etc. In the Snake Eater (for Playstation 2) commercial, another employee in a suit in a jungle for seemingly no reason and he survives no problem by disguising himself using crocodile heads, green paint and he survives by eating snakes (no joke intended at all, you do this in the game). These commercials show how you can use stealth and survival skills to advance in the games and it shows that anybody can be like Solid Snake, Raiden, or Naked Snake.

Cons:   The angry boss does seem over-the-top. Also, to nitpick, where did the employee in the Snake Eater commercial get that pitcher of beer? I don’t remember Snake drinking beer.

Number 7                                            Metroid Prime and Metroid Fusion

USA/2002

(Metroid Prime)

Pros:    These action-packed, live-action commercials give us a taste of what Metroid Prime (for the Gamecube) and Metroid Fusion (for the Game Boy Advance) will be like. They both have that dark and cryptic atmosphere, which are present in the entirety of the games. The suits look fantastic (while a little clunky) the narrators give chilling performances by telling that evil forces want you dead and you have to fight back. What really works is the action. The Metroid Prime commercial shows Samus using her Power Beam, Grappling Beam, Morph Ball, and Wave Beam. The Metroid Fusion commercial shows Samus, in her Fushion Suit, eradicating a swarm of monsters and absorbing their X Parasites, which the player does in the game. To cap it all off, the terrifying SA-X shows up out of nowhere and she/it and Samus bagin to fire at each other when the commercial ends, getting the viewer pumped to play the game.

Cons:   None.

Number 6                                            Super Smash Brothers

USA/1999

(“So happy together”)

Pros:    Where do I begin? You have a live-action commercial where men in Mario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Pikachu suits are skipping happily in a meadow with sunflowers everywhere, the sun is shining, and the song “Happy Together” by The Turtles is playing. But then…Mario suddenly changes the scene by kicking Yoshi down to the ground and a record scratch is heard. Then for no reason, the four begin to beat the crap out of each other; and it’s awesome. The song keeps playing and Don LaFontaine narrates about the new fighting game “Super Smash Brothers”, where my favorite characters go toe-to-toe in one four-player, star-studded SLAMFEST…only on Nintendo 64. I still remember when me and my younger brother first watched this commercial; our jaws dropped, our minds exploded, and we were never so pumped; our young minds couldn’t take the awesomeness.

Cons:   Pikachu didn’t throw a single punch. Where’s your spirit, Pikachu?

Number 5                                                        MOTHER

Japan/1989

(“No crying until the ending”? We haven’t even gotten to MOTHER 3.)

Pros:    That’s right, I’m an American who knows about the MOTHER (EarthBound) franchise (and vies to play the games legally). The setting of the commercial is dark yet beautiful. Three children portraying the main heroes Ninten, Ana, and Lloyd are battling a giant robot and defeat it with ease with the power of love or something. How can a gray and cloudy-looking landscape look so hollow, but have so much passion? Throughout the entire commercial, the song “Eight Melodies” sung by the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir. In the end of the commercial, the narrator tells the player “No crying until the ending” and “Guaranteed masterpiece” to help show that MOTHER is more than a game, it’s a work of art. They weren’t being too self-confident, it’s that good.

Cons:   What was that robot anyway? It wasn’t an important character (from what I remember). The robot also didn’t attack the kids at all, why was it destroyed?

Number 4                                               Pokémon Colosseum

 USA/2004

(“Gotta save ‘em all”)

Pros:    The people who worked on this commercial must have been very dedicated to it. The game’s story is about an evil organization capturing Pokémon and turning them evil and it’s up to you to save them all. “Gotta save ‘em all”, a nice opposing call-back to the main slogan of the franchise: “Gotta catch ‘em all”. The commercial has parades of people carrying posters and banners about rescuing the Pokémon. There are also posters the size of buildings, messages written on parachutes, shirts, etc. Messages that say: “Save the Wailmers” and “Blaziken is amaziken”. The reason why this is such an extraordinary commercial is that it makes the plot of the game look like a real event and you must take part in it. It really is a captivating commercial.

Cons:   None.

Number 3                                            Segata Sanshiro commercials

Japan/1997-1998

(“SEGATA SANSHIRO. SEGATA SANSHIRO. You must play Sega Saturn”.)

Pros:    The early years of the Sega Saturn were very harsh for Sega. A lot of people weren’t buying Sega Saturns, so Sega decided to use the ultimate tool: fear. Enter Segata Sanshiro; for those of you who don’t know about Segata Sanshiro, let me explain about him as he is commonly known as: Japan’s answer to Chuck Norris. The commercials had unaware people living their daily lives, and then Segata Sanshiro shows up out of nowhere and beats the hell out of them and tells them “they must play Sega Saturn”. It’s hilarious. Segata Sanshiro is an unstoppable force of destruction. He has an intimidating glare, he throws people and makes them explode, he fights off zombies, and he has an army of Segata Sanshiros, and he’s got an incredible theme song. But he’s also has a soft side, he’s an inspiring Soccer coach, he saved a man from a burning building, and he’s a hero. After his final commercial and the Sega Dreamcast was nearing its launch (in Japan), he got his own game aaaaaaand…it was okay. Thanks to Segata Sanshiro, sales for the Sega Saturn sky-rocketed in Japan.

Cons:   As funny as the commercials are, many commercials aren’t relevant to the games that are being advertised. Segata Sanshiro beats up everyone in a club and that’s a commercial for the RPG, Shining Force III? A bunch of kids are going to play Baseball and Segata Sanshiro beats them up. Is this a commercial for a Baseball game? Nope-Sonic R. What?

Number 2                                            Playstation 3 “Michael”

USA/2011

(How awesome would it be to drink with Snake or Ezio?)

Pros:    This is the ultimate commercial a console as powerful as the Playstation 3. You start out with a couple of soldiers most likely from a World War II game enter a pub and when the entrance door opens, we see Nathan Drake dressed in the attire of the then-upcoming Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception talking to Lighting from Final Fantasy XIII (drops jaw). We also see Cole MacGrath from Infamous 2, Kratos from the God of War franchise, Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet, Old Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4 (beginning to scream like a child), Chell from Portal, Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal, (screams like a child) Ezio from Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood! Where can I find this pub?! Anyway, throughout the commercial, the characters are speaking highly of a hero named Michael; who is Michael? He’s just a normal guy like us who plays a lot. In the end, the slogan of the console “Long Live Play” is shown and the commercial ends. That pub in theory is what the inside of a Playstation 3 looks like, similarly to the Game Central Station from Wreck-It-Ralph. Notable voice actors Nolan North (Nathan Drake), David Hayter (Old Snake), and Rodger Craig Smith (Ezio) portray the characters in live action and they a bang-up job as always. What’s also notable is that the characters aren’t SONY exclusive; Final Fantasy XIII, Portal, and Tekken are multi-console games. As long you can be on the Playstation 3, you’re part of the club. There’s always room for more heroes.

Cons:   None

                                                               Honorable Mentions

·         Kirby: Nightmare in Dreamland                         USA/2002

·         Kevin Butler commercials                                  USA/2009-2011

·         Pikmin 2                                                              USA/2004

·         Super Metroid                                                     Japan/1994

·         Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction                           USA/2007

·         Jak II                                                                   USA/2003

·         Genesis Does                                                      USA/1989

·         Banjo Tooie                                                        USA/2000

·         Fire Emblem                                                       Japan/1990

·         Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga                        USA/2003

·         Mario Party 4 and 5                                            USA/2002 and 2003

·         The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past                          Japan/1991

·         The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time             USA/1998

·         The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker                   USA/2003

·         Every Zelda commercial in 2011                      USA/Japan/Europe/2011

Number 1                                The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

USA/2000

(Play to the finish)

Pros:    Oh, man, this is a big one. Not only is this the greatest commercial for a video game, it’s quite possibly the best executed and most striking piece of advertisement I’ve ever seen. The plot of the game is that the moon (which has a face suddenly) WILL fall onto the earth in 72 hours and Link must find a way to save the world from the impending apocalypse. Most commercials allow the viewer to see what the main hero sees, but in this commercial, we are still ourselves. We’re not in Link’s position, we’re waiting for his success and during that time, people are reacting to the end the world; we’re terrified. As the time passes, people are calling their families telling them they love them, trying to spend their last moments happily, staring at the falling moon, and singing to children to comfort them. Throughout the commercial, a radio show host from Radio Zelda is calling people about the apocalypse and speaking to Link, telling him that everyone has high hopes for him. Much like the Pokémon Colosseum commercial, this makes the apocalypse look like a real threat and much like the Segata Sanshiro commercials, fear is used to strike the viewer; it’s eerie. It tells us, “If you don’t play this game and help Link, it’s all over”. This commercial is similar to a part in the game where it’s the final hour and all residents of Termina are panicking, terrified of the end. Looking up to the moon, facing death as death faces back.  Despite the ominous atmosphere, this commercial is beautiful. The shaky isn’t under or overused, the people aren’t screaming their lungs out, they’re trying to keep calm, but you can tell they’ve almost lost all hope. So much like the MOTHER commercial, it looks so hollow and unsettling, but it’s executed so well, for some reason I feel calm. Majora’s Mask is an outstanding game and it has the best commercial of all time.

Cons:   The ominous music in the first half of the commercial is much more disturbing than the music used in the second half. As the time nears zero, the music should be gradually getting darker and more cryptic to help build up the end.

Thank you for reading and I hope you learned something.