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GTA IV Smashes World Records, Nearly Doubles Halo 3 Sales

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 13 May 2008 12:57:25 -0500

Just in time to render the new Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition outdated, the Guinness people have announced that Grand Theft Auto IV has practically destroyed currently held records for fastest-selling game and most-profitable entertainment product.

In the first 24 hours, GTA IV sold 3.6 million copies and earned $310 million dollars.

Prior to GTA IV's record-setting releases, the record-holder for the most-selling game was Halo 3 with $170 million in 24 hours. Compare that to the record-holding movie and book with Spider-Man 3 making $60 million and the latest Harry Potter book making $220 million in 24 hours.

Consider how ubiquitous Halo 3's advertising was compared the the relatively tame promotion for GTA IV. Halo 3 had its own soda and viral videos and ARGs and commercial coverage on practically every network. Then there's GTA IV, with just a few simple commercials and lots of talking heads on the news hallooing about dead hookers and it nearly doubles Halo 3's first-day earnings.

Nintendo Will Stop Running Wii Ads Amid Shortages

Aaron Dunlap — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:37:11 -0600

Back in 05 when the Xbox 360 had just came out and they were impossible to, you couldn't turn on a television without seeing an advertisement for one. It drove me nuts, and probably ruined a lot of Christmases or a lot of easily-disappointed youngsters. Heavily advertising a product that is impossible to get without dropping two month's rent on eBay is just wrong.

After a few months the 360 was easy to get a hold of again, but here it is a whole year after the Wii has released and they're still drawing lines of moms and college kids at Target and the "We would like to play" ads are still in rotation, right?

According to a source inside Nintendo, and this astute TV watcher, Nintendo is shifting advertisements away from the Wii and toward the more-attainable DS.

Will this actually reduce demand for the Wii? Probably not very much. Advertisements don't run our lives as thoroughly as many uptight authors like to postulate, but fewer Wii ads will annoy me less -- and you can't put a price on that.

Dude, Your Xbox is Upside Down. Also, You're Dying

Aaron Dunlap — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 14:12:11 -0600

This couch is going to kill this kid and all the grape soda, upside-down Xbox 360, and bag of "crisps" can do is watch!

Actually, this is a clipping from a a flier being propagated by The HSC Foundation, which describes themselves as "dedicated to improving access to services for individuals with special needs who face challenging social and health care barriers." That makes more sense than a change machine.

The flier, which can be seen in full after the jump, warns that "Lack of exercise and a poor diet puts kids at serious risk for Heart Disease, Diabetes, Asthma, Joint Pain and more."

I don't disagree with that at all, but did they absolutely have to put an Xbox 360 right in the photo, where it logically should not be unless that kid has a special 25' (invisible) video cable? Wouldn't it just be enough to show him holding a game controller?

And what are "Crisps"? Clearly that bag contains potato chips, and anybody who would call them otherwise is a communist.

But seriously, folks, go play some frisbee or something because you're all looking a little doughy and I'm concerned about your health.

Sony Drops Its Long-Time Ad Agency, Creepy Baby To Blame?

Aaron Dunlap — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:50:56 -0600

If the above image scared the hell out of you like it did me, does that make it an effective selling tool for next-gen gaming systems?

The buying public and Sony doesn't think so. Although they've used the agency TBWAChiatDay, Sony Computer Entertainment America has decided to look to greener pastures for their latest campaign. You know, the good campaign that actually lets viewers know that the PlayStation 3 is a game console and not some kind of fancy thing you aren't supposed to understand.

I can't be sure if TBWAChiatDay is also responsible for the horrible PSP ads, including the racist squirrels and this pathetic "Dude, get your own" campaign. I'm just going to assume they are, and resume hating them.

After some kind of reality-TV-esq contest, it seems that SCEA has picked Deutsch/LA to be their advertisement buddies from now on. Estimates show that the SCEA contract is worth $150 million.

EA Apologizes For NFS Pornvertising

Aaron Dunlap — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 15:00:14 -0600

Recently appearing on Page3.com, a property of UK tabloid The Sun dealing primarily in the visual representation of topless young women, was a series of photos featuring two topless models posing in front of an exotic red sports car. You can see an edited sample to the right.

The whole thing was a promotion for EA's Need For Speed ProStreet.

Nudity and video games have always gotten along so well in the past, but this incident has caused some problems. EA has just released a statement to GamesIndustry.biz saying, "We regret that these images slipped through the proper EA approval process." Adding that the nude topless naked nude hot nude photos were "not appropriate for their brand."

The photos bearing Need for Speed branding have been removed from the website, though there still exists a video of the photoshoot, a very NSFW video full of naked nudity and topless nakedness, that we would never link to.

I'll take EA at their word, and appreciate how they're trying to make the breast of this situation. Best of this tituation. Damn it.