The VG Resource

I thought I'd make this thread for if anyone wants to post up some video game advertisments and commercials. The weirder, funnier and/or more obscure, the better.

I'll start with a few SNES and Game Boy commercials from over here starring the sadly recently deceased Rik Mayall. For those who don't know him too well (ie. most people outside the UK) he was a comedian and actor who was very popular for helping to push "alternative comedy" into the mainstream with shows like The Young Ones and Bottom, both of which were very absurd and very violent.

I'm assuming Nintendo hired him for their ad campaign to try and give themselves a bit of an edge and shed their "kiddy" image, although I don't think it worked too well since Sega continued to dominate the console market in the UK as far as I remember.

Super Mario All-Stars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsON9PJRR4g
Link's Awakening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su3kMZ7sEm8
Star Fox (Star Wing in Europe): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnE_B6pXQdk
Game Boy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRYH4f0_oag
Nigel Mansell's World Championship: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAGlIzgv58E

I absolutely love that goofy general MIDI "vocal doo" instrument in the Tetris 2 ad. Of all the things I wasn't expecting... XD

I'm particularly fond of the GBC commercials that aired for a short while; you know, the ones with the giant Gameboys floating in the middle of a white void? They usually came in two variants: either the Gameboy was used to demonstrate the game's wacky gimmicks, or it was a playing field of sorts for the characters in the game. What always stuck out to me specifically was how there were never any GBC ads outside of this campaign, barring a few early ones and ads for the Pokemon games for some reason. Was it because the Colour didn't last that long, or was the campaign that successful? Probably the former, but they were always amusing, so it could be the latter too, who knows?

Launch Ad (presumably begun the campaign): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRiwW6M55qg
Mario Golf: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9Q07fIzyfk
Donkey Kong Country (yeah, remember that port?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma1Kq4JVwb8
Kirby's Tilt 'n' Tumble: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYBFZQhpPbg

A strange Japanese ad for Link's Awakening, with weird-looking puppets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trl0cvBFgCk

A commercial I fondly remember from my childhood: http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_...asp?ID=963

A unique and creative ad for Japan-exclusive PS2 models: http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_...p?ID=16523

A heartwarming ad for Xbox Live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn-aFbLODDo

Two Japanese commercials for Bayonetta, featuring a hot cosplayer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UttCvfYPHI

A...somewhat disturbing...GBA ad: http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_game_...asp?ID=443

And some sick rhymes involving WaveRace 64: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UB9YFmENdAM

Another Rik Mayall for Kirby's Dreamland and Kirby Pinball, also where my current avatar is from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx4ZOn5GViE

A Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIT3_Q4z6QY

Can't be going about mentioning video game ads without bringing up this gem.



Does this remind you of anything?

I'm sure you're all well acquainted with Segata Sanshiro, the very memetic "spokesperson" for the Saturn in Japan from about 1996 to the Saturn's discontinuation. If not, give him a Google search and watch his truly awe-inspiring commercials. But hey... what about the Saturn's advertising in America?

The ads were, to say the least, pretty fucked up...