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Has a videogame commercial ever convinced you to buy that game?

C

cvxfreak

Member
I always wondered how effective advertising was with GAFers.

The only instance I encountered where a commercial sold me on a game was Kingdom Hearts, because the commercial went on twice or thrice during commercials on multiple channels, and the song was very catchy, so I bought the game. Whee.
 
G

Gattsu25

Banned
never

I thought Sony's commercials last gen were great (especially the Soul Reaver ones...so damn cruel and funny at the same time) yet this gen all commercials seem to suck...then again...all TV sucks now sooo---
 
L

lexi

Banned
Yes, once. I was honestly going to skip on Majora's Mask before I saw the commercial.

It wasn't those 'End of the World' US commercials, I believe it was unique to Australia, but man, it rocked.
 
B

bitwise

Banned
no, but the reverse is true. Several nintendo commercials have convinced me that I didn't really want the game.
 
F

Forgotten Ancient

Banned
When I was younger, sure.

I don't know what it was about the Secret of Mana commercial (I can't really even remember it), but I HAD to have it that Christmas. I didn't know anything about the game until after I started playing it, but it turned out to be one of my favorite games during the 16-bit era.

I've been unexcited for Halo 2 and pretty much every videogame lately. I just don't have the time to play anything other than Advance Wars 2 for a half hour or so before I go to bed. But, the Halo 2 commercial really has me wanting to buy it. Good thing I traded my Xbox to a friend for a shitload of Magic cards. :(
 
D

duderon

rollin' in the gutter
bitwise said:
no, but the reverse is true. Several nintendo commercials have convinced me that I didn't really want the game.
Click to expand...

Equally as sad.

And no, no videogame commercial has sold me a game.
 
F

FoneBone

Member
Never has, never will. I know better than that.

Edit: And yes, being convinced not to buy a game by a commercial is pretty stupid, too.
 
D

dskillzhtown

keep your strippers out of my American football
I wouldn't say that the commercials convinced me to buy the game, but I will say that commercials have gotten me excited for a game. Halo 2 definitely has commercials that are VERY effective in that respect. The Final Fantasy VII commercials actually did make me take a closer look at the game.
 
D

duderon

rollin' in the gutter
dskillzhtown said:
I wouldn't say that the commercials convinced me to buy the game, but I will say that commercials have gotten me excited for a game. Halo 2 definitely has commercials that are VERY effective in that respect. The Final Fantasy VII commercials actually did make me take a closer look at the game.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i'd say anyone on GAF, or any other gaming forum has made their mind up before the game actually comes out. If not they go by impressions of other users. Commercials are more of a hype tool for the hardcore, but i could see casuals buying a game from a commercial.
 
A

ArcadeStickMonk

Member
LakeEarth said:
It's made me more excited for games I was already gonna get, if that counts.
Click to expand...
Yeah, after being away from TV for months, I caught the end of a Halo 2 commercial while doing dishes and the ghostly vocals made my knees go wobbly.
Been away from Halo too.
 
N

neptunes

Member
well not any american commercials.

but the whole japanese marketing blitz for ffx (commercials etc..) made me purchase the game.
(I went from not even interested to -> This game looks awesome!)
 
G

Grubdog

Banned
lockii said:
Yes, once. I was honestly going to skip on Majora's Mask before I saw the commercial.

It wasn't those 'End of the World' US commercials, I believe it was unique to Australia, but man, it rocked.
Click to expand...
:eek: that's what I was going to say too. Yeah, that commercial was awesome, I wasn't really a gamer then so I didn't know it existed until I saw that ad, then I bought it straight away. The aussie one, i'm talking about. Ah memories.
 
D

Dylx

Member
Yup the Halo 2 commercial/Trailer............well I was already going to purchase the game but the commercial/trailer solidifed my purchase :D
 
G

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
Forgotten Ancient said:
When I was younger, sure.
Click to expand...

Same. I bought Genesis games all the time based solely on the cool art that was featured in magazine ads. I was stupid.
 
T

TheGreenGiant

Banned
more precisely ... has a commercial/review/opinions/previews ever convinced you to buy a game?

I would say no to the first two. Opinions yes - that's how I ended up buying ICO + Mark of Kri + Jak 1. Because of stuff I read on GAF. Yes you guys. I think as a gamer; you have a sense of what games you'd want to play/buy so you do. I've known what titles I would be buying this year months before they're out on sale during the previews. Commercials don't sell you anything.

Except.. when its like "20% off a title" or something like that
 
D

Dan

No longer boycotting the Wolfenstein franchise
Commercials don't do jack except raise awareness for most people. The vast majority of people aren't going to be sold on a game from a commercial, but a lot of casuals are going to see it and then might look into the game more online. I know a lot of people that do that.
 
P

pj

Banned
I saw a commercial for grim fandango in 1998 and thought "WOW THAT GAME LOOKS SO COOL, I WANT IT" but I didn't see the whole thing so I didn't know the title. I didn't find out what it was until about 4 years later and I didn't play it until about a week ago..
 
S

Sein

Neo Member
Commercials occasionally motivate me to learn more about a game, which may result in a purchase. But no commercial has had the direct effect of convincing me to buy a game without further investigation.
 
M

MightyHedgehog

Member
LakeEarth said:
It's made me more excited for games I was already gonna get, if that counts.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Game advertising is meant for those generally not considered hardcore. It's the same with any other product, really. If you're educated about something, adverts aren't generally going to do much to change your view on the product. When you already know about it, it's probably just going to have the effect of hyping you up on it and maintaining or increasing your active interest in it.

And, yes, I've been sold on games thanks to advertising...but not really any in the last 10 years, though.
 
A

Alex Anderson

Member
The only one I can think of is the 10-second spot I saw on WWF Superstars for WrestleMania: The Arcade Game (got the PC version). This was in 1995 -- at least a year before I got internet, 2 years before I subscribed to a game magazine. I wouldn't have known it existed otherwise.
 
L

luxsol

Member
Commercials only remind me that it's time to go out to buy the game. I don't like to preorder games (because no game is hard to get when released) and i usually don't buy things on the first day it's out, so I don't remember release dates that well.

I do like how Gaming Age now says what games are released every week on the main page though.
 
S

samusx

Banned
Umm, have you seen the commercial for Mawaru? When I saw that commercial, the first thing I said, is I want to play that game. I have yet to buy it, but man, it looks so fun, I will when the price comes down.
 
Chittagong

Chittagong

Gold Member
The old NES commercials did... IronSword (uhh.. embarrasing now..), Top Gun 2, Duck Tales, Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers all did the trick. Back then the commercials were a lot higher in production value - more than just mere game footage (for an obvious reason). Since that - no.
 
R

Red Dolphin

Member
Kuramu said:
I bought Final Fantasy VII because of the commercial, but that's it.
Click to expand...

Oh man. That is my all time most hated commercial as far as convincing the masses and casuals to buy a game because they thought all the FMV was in game graphics/gameplay. Morons.
 
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