Viral
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Corporate viral video showcase: Philips and Fon
We've seen a lot of pretty bad corporate attempts to woo the YouTube crowd -- for every Will It Blend? there's a million PSP disasters -- so these two clips from Fon and Philips score some points for actually making us smile. Fon unleashed a WiFi-seeking matador with a ridiculous fake accent on the streets of San Francisco, eventually sending him to a Starbucks to curse the high access charges and champion the Fon Community. It's not exactly a knee-slapper, but it's fairly amusing when the guy calls it "Wi-fee." On the other hand, Philips' mockumentary for their Bodygroom manscaper is one of the best virals we've seen in a long time -- the sad story of Frank "Furback" Sack and his walk-through Coney Island body hair remover is an inspiration to us all, if only for sheer number of double entendres it contains. Check both videos after the break. (Warning: the Philips video has some mildly blue language in it.)
Halo 3 viral marketing begins, countdowns and flyers galore
Microsoft has divulged details of their latest viral ad campaign -- called Iris -- designed to promote the über-anticipated Halo 3. According to Eurogamer, Microsoft calls Iris a "spiral campaign" (clever!), promising to reveal details about the Forerunners, as well as other elements of the heady Halo mythos. GamesIndustry.biz reports that the campaign officially began this past weekend, with the distribution of flyers in New York City and London, bearing the apparent logo of the campaign, and the message "We are not alone." At the moment, it's unknown who's behind the campaign, although the absence of the term "Alternate Reality Game" might indicate that it's not 42 Entertainment, the viral veterans behind Halo 2's ilovebees campaign. Either way, Halo and conspiracy fanatics can get their non-game on by checking out the Society of the Ancients website... and this nifty countdown clock! Because we haven't had enough of those already, right? Update: Let's not forget this cryptic e-mail from Microsoft. Read -- MS explains Halo viral ad campaign Read -- Microsoft launches viral marketing campaign for Halo 3
Today's driest game video: Seaman 2
GameTrailers shows off a few brief Seaman 2 videos, our collective pick for today's video. While not yet announced for release outside of Japan, Seaman 2 taps into the risky, creative side of gaming we laud. Admittedly, those gambles don't always pay off, but when they do, they're why we play games.The videos show a few people playing the game, even Japanese schoolgirls! And while we question the focus-group style of the clips -- the clips could have easily been created by an ad agency and actors -- they give a glimpse into this simian sequel to the previous underwater pet title.See the clips after the break.
Viral EndWar content discovered
Yesterday, our Tom Clancy viral website mystery was solved with the announcement of EndWar. Though, information about the game is still lacking, but that's where the original viral website Rev64 comes to the rescue with some new content. Head on over to the Rev64 website and use passcode "s9p1z6" to get in. Once in, you'll hear the plot and backstory that EndWar is based on, including some Russian revitalization talk. Our tipster Mike also mentioned two videos were viewable once in, but after the backstory is complete we get nothing. We're thinking we probably have to register to see the media. The two videos are supposedly a F-22 dropping happy bombs on a few unlucky souls and some shaky cam soldier footage. Can anyone confirm the two videos once in the Rev64 website?[Thanks, Mike]
Emotive's Push Ringer overrides ringtones, pranksters overjoyed
Forget personalized ringtones and ringbacks, the next tween obsession has arrived in the form of Push Ringer, which "enables a caller to push an outgoing ringtone to the receiving phone -- allowing the caller, not the called person -- to set the tone." We're assuming you're either elated or sighing mightily after reading that, but there's 7.7 million reasons why you wish you would've implemented it first. A group of deep-pocketed investors have sunk $7.7 million into Emotive Communications' flagship idea, which temporarily overrides the phone's preset ringer, and moreover, allows the recipient of the surprise sound-byte to "instantly buy a copy" if they so desire. Notably, this very service has already taken the VoIP world over, as Skype users are probably more familiar with the RingJacker concept. Now, who's down for inventing the Push Ringer Reverser to send a "you got punk'd" clip back at the egotistical sender?[Via The Raw Feed]
Judgment generator is guilty of being awesome
Capcom is promoting its release of Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney) in Japan with a "judgment generator" video that anyone can drop faces and text into. The short clip's scene depicts a group of reporters waiting outside a courthouse as a man comes running towards them to announce the jury's decision. The verdict? That's up to you to decide!The prompts to enter text and upload/crop images are all in Japanese, but it shouldn't take you longer than a few seconds to figure out what's required. Why not mock up one of your own, and comment with a link to your video? You'll have to keep Japan's right-to-left text placement in mind and also compensate for the ten-character limit, but we're confident that you'll come up with something creative! We've already made a couple that you can see after the post break!
Viral website features Tom Clancy game
Ubisoft is uncharacteristically up to some viral marketing antics, hosting some teaser for an unannounced game over at www.rev64.com. The website features the face of a man who winces and grimaces and a news stream heard in the background talking about OPEC and its affect on the US. There's a whole bunch of text flanking the right side of the page with clickable links that either play news clips, make the man's face cringe, or play weird sounds. Again, we're not professionals at figuring this viral stuff out, so we'll leave it up to you guys. But we do know that all of Ubisoft's fingerprints are on the site (that's the easy part) and it also showcases the Tom Clancy logo at the bottom of the page (even though IGN reports it as a Rainbow Six logo ... tisk, tisk). Is it a new Rainbow Six game or maybe it's the next Splinter Cell installment, we just can't tell. We'll just have to wait this one out, unless someone wants to spend hours analyzing the website and report back to us. Please?[Via IGN]
Japanese viral Gears of War videos are chainsaw-less
They've always said, "If you can't beat 'em ... confuse the hell out of 'em." That appears to be Microsoft's new marketing campaign for Gears of War in Japan, where they really need a shot in the arm to start moving consoles in big numbers.However, have you taken a look at the wacky new ads? Kudos to Microsoft for not just sticking to the same old marketing that clearly isn't working, but these draw a collective "Wha?" from us. Although, we never would have thought that tamagotchis and boba would be a huge hit either, so maybe they know what they're doing over in Japan. Check out the second video after the jump, and bonus points to any Japanese speakers who can do some on-the-fly translating for us.
Creepy Sega developer kidnap video hints at April release?
Sensitivity to grainy videos of torture will determine if you want to see an alleged Sega viral marketing video found after the break about their big April shocker announcement . Sega Nerds thinks this is an official viral marketing campaign by Sega, but we're not sure. The Nerds say this isn't the strangest marketing tactic ever used by the company.Nothing about the video jumps out as an obvious announcement. A man is tied to a chair wearing a bunny mask with two pseudo-Geisha girls flanking him. The first thing that happens is the girls wax the victim's leg. He screams that he wont tell what the April release is. Then a man in a monkey mask pops out the right side with scissors, the camera tilts down and the man cuts off one of the mask's rabbit ears to the sounds of screaming. Finally they torture the victim with James Blunt's You're Beautiful. Once again, depending on your sensitivity the video is after the break. So, are there any hints in the video about the April release or is it all just a weird ploy for attention?
Socket Mobile teases with smartphone concept
Socket Mobile, the company formerly known as Socket Communication, has set up an intriguing teaser website that alludes to a mysterious smartphone concept. A first glance at the badly put together flash teaser that greats you when you first visit www.socketmobile.com will probably make you reach for your calendar: we can assure you that it is in fact February, just under two months to go until April Fool's Day (we checked.) There's no way we can take the dodgy animation as a confirmation that this device exists, but if Socket Mobile actually expects to release a device based on the concept image above, we can expect it to include a CompactFlash and SecureDigital slot, and for it to run Windows Mobile 5.0. That's it; that's all the information that the dodgy flash animation gives up, other than the concept image above and the assertment that a second concept will appear next week. Until it does, we'll scratch this one up to a really lame attempt at viral marketing, and nothing more.[Via Pocket PC Thoughts]
Learning from Sony's viral blog mistake
"From this point forward, we will just stick to making cool products, and use this site to give you nothing but the facts on the PSP."These were the last words of Sony's viral-blog-gone-bad. The site is now suspiciously empty, showing how empty that apology/promise really was. Advertising Age did an interesting write-up on the whole ordeal, making note that the FTC is now taking steps to ensure that companies disclose the true nature of any viral communications they produce. The article has four things to learn from Sony's mistakes, and I found the following to be most important: "The consumer is smarter than you think, alternative marketing tactics must be genuine, authentic and in today's world, transparent." As Penny Arcade smartly noted, "The reality is that no agency can create viral marketing, this is the sole domain of the consumer."Sony has to stop thinking we're idiots, and start treating us as educated consumers that know what we want. The homebrew community is a testament to that statement. Sony: listen to the gamers, read some PSP Fanboy and Joystiq, and figure out what we want.[Via AdJab]
Microsoft and Sega create new deal to promote Sonic Rivals
Sega will be running a pricey viral ad campaign through Microsoft's Windows Live Messenger to promote its upcoming games: Sonic Rivals on the PSP and Sonic the Hedgehog on Xbox 360. One may notice that the PLAYSTATION 3 version of Sonic the Hedgehog is not mentioned. Just like Sonic and Silver pictured above, Sony and Microsoft are fierce rivals, and it appears that Microsoft wants no part in promoting Sony's next-gen platform. Of course, without a handheld gaming device from the Xbox folks (for now), it seems Redmond's empire is willing to litter your IM-ing experience with ads for the PSP Sonic.Expect a full review of Sonic Rivals and a giveaway soon.[Via Brand Republic]
GoW graffiti campaign hits San Fran
Loyal Xbox360fanboy reader Ali works next door to an advertising agency that handles things for Microsoft. Perhaps that has something to do with the suspicious (not to mention cool) Gears of War graffiti turning up around his block. This advertising is in the vein of the PSP graffiti campaign that got a lot of press a while back, and it makes sense given that locust are supposed to come up out of the ground. The familiar Gears logo is always accompanied by a cuddly phrase like "Humanity had a nice run." Ali snapped these pics (more after the jump) on his lunch time stroll through the streets of San Francisco, where we assume it's legal to spray paint skulls on the sidewalk. Either way, it has to be confusing for non-gamers, who undoubtedly think the stencils are part of some Rovian plot to contaminate the sewers. Have you checked the sidewalks in your town?
Viral blog takes girl to the broken lands
Viral ads are the hottest thing in advertising right now (see examples here and here). They try to spark your interest, so that you spread the site/idea/product around to a friend, like you would a disease (like how I caught this cold!). One reader, Mike Sutter, discovered a blog called "Honey for Tango" which focuses on a girl's encounter with the paranormal. This could haven been a convincing, and interesting viral blog, but unfortunately, it seems like the reveal happened too soon: her latest entry over-enthusiastically hypes the upcoming Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony.The game itself looks interesting, but her obviously fictional blog does a poor job of getting me excited about the game. Also, I understand the game is releasing on Halloween, but in my opinion, the blog's focus on the supernatural doesn't seem to mesh well with the fantasy environment of the game.
PS3 viral web code cracked
A few days ago, Sony launched the PlayB3yond web site with a picture of a melting clock and minimal fanfare. Yesterday, the site updated to a feature a mysterious assortment of 26 clickable symbols that bear a passing resemblance to the PlayStation controller buttons. Mere hours later, the mystery has been solved by intrepid Joystiq reader Zelda X (who either has an inside source or way too much free time). Using the alphabet key and codes in the image above, PS3 fans can use the PlayB3yond site to unlock wallpapers, soundtracks, videos and behind-the-scenes interviews for some big name PS3 launch games. Try not to get too excited.It's not clear whether this list is complete or if other words and phrases will also unlock content. Some common PS3-related phrases returned nothing when tried by Joystiq, and the codes found on recent PS3 billboards were similarly useless. Perhaps something more interesting will come out of the site in the weeks leading up to the PS3 launch, but as of now, this attempt at a viral ad campaign doesn't really hold a candle to a major multimedia marketing event like ilovebees.
PS-Peeing viral vid for Gangs of London [update 2]
Nintendo's not the only Japanese gaming company making tinkle jokes. Sony's latest "viral video" for Gangs of London, their upcoming crime-themed, action game (with turn-based strategy game mode, watch out GTA), decides to up the ante and do what Nintendo can only allude to (it's like, they didn't even spell it right, y'know?). Yup, that's a fella peeing on a car. But that's not it, there's plenty more peeing to be seen which is why, in addition to saying that this is probably NSFW, we'd also highly discourage anyone who might not be able to step out for the requisite bathroom break this clip inspires. That sound, it's like yawning. It's contagious.[Update: Embedded video got pulled by YouTube gremlins, so we've tracked down another one and embedded it after the break. Get it while it's hot ... err, rather ... we've also clarified gameplay style. For more, check out this hands-on.]
Sony makes you PS-pee for Gangs of London [Update 1]
Our sister site AdJab has discovered a new PSP ad. And it continues Sony's strange fascination with bathroom jokes to promote their handheld. In this ridiculous viral ad for the upcoming Gangs of London, gangs must relieve themselves in order to "mark their territory." Funny or not? You decide.[Update 1: YouTube video was removed, so I've updated it with a new video. Also, updated AdJab link.]
Grouper purchased by Sony Pictures, gives tons of videos to PSP owners
You know YouTube, right? And GameVideos? How about Grouper? I've honestly never head of them until now. The service is pretty much like every other video uploading service, except Grouper is now owned by Sony Pictures. Sony paid $65 million to own these obvious Sony fanboys (watch the video after the cut). Like Google Video, all the videos available on the site can be downloaded in PSP format, but even cooler than that, there are PSP-compatible RSS feeds, so you can have crazy viral videos, or some "sexy" videos delivered to your PSP on a daily basis. In fact, checking out the RSS feed, you'll have access to hundreds of videos on 2.80+ PSPs. It's sorta insane.[Via DownloadSquad]
Emergence Day emerges as *gasp* Nov. 12
The reason viral gaming campaigns bug us is 'cause the hype never matches the delivery. Last Monday Epic's Mark Rein declared, with a theatrical wave of a rather ham-shaped hand, that there would in fact be a "BIG announcement coming next week." At the same time, in another corner of the gamerverse, XBL gamertags using the fictitious names of fictitious characters pleaded with eager (or disinterested) gamers, "We need your help. Can't talk now. Don't know who to trust. Will send more tomorrow." Codes were delivered, codes were broken, retail sites were apparently updated a little too early and now, on Thursday of the foretold "next week," we know the truth: Gears of War is coming out this fall ... specifically, November 12th! And gone is the Microsoft-published pricepoint of $49.99. This fall, $59.99 (with $69.99 special edition, natch) is the new $49.99. Yay?You see? It's just not that exciting. We already knew it was coming out this fall and educated guesses would have pegged November, just prior to the Nov. 17th PS3 launch, as a likely candidate. And announcing a higher than expected price isn't usually received very well (just ask Sony). Then again, maybe this isn't the BIG announcement. Maybe this is all part of a cleverly orchestrated plot by this guy to get our hopes up, dash them against the rocks like so many brains, and then, when we've hit bottom, throw a face melting Gears of War demo in our very melt-able, exceedingly cynical faces. Your move, Epic.
GoW viral campaign on XBL?
An Xbox Live user by the name of MFenix (the main character in Gears of War is Marcus Fenix) is spamming confused gamers with the message "We need your help. Can't talk now. Don't know who to trust. Will send more tomorrow." See pics here. Is this a nascent viral marketing scheme, a bored GoW fanboy, or just CliffyB drunk on XBL? Whoever MFenix is, he doesn't game much. His gamerscore is zero with no games played and the motto "Offline...for now" (Too busy blasting Locust to cheese out Madden, I suppose). Several users in the Epic forums report receiving cryptic replies after contacting him. And, of course, the developers officially mum.Why do viral marketing campaigns, real or imagined, inevitably promote games that are already hyped to hell?[Thanks Seth]
