Anyone else cant stand the Dead Space 2 marketing?

[jeremysart]

I don't know what they were thinking when they came up with the advertising campaign for Dead Space 2, its god awful. "Your mom hates it"... I'm pretty sure that the target audience that will play Dead Space 2 gives a shit less what their mom thinks about a video game.. are they marketing the game to kids or something? As an adult that does not live with his parents, the advertisments for the game make no sense at all. It seems like something straight out of 1992, I have not seen marketing this bad since the Jaguar commercials..

[Lendorien]

I don't know what they were thinking when they came up with the advertising campaign for Dead Space 2, its god awful. "Your mom hates it"... I'm pretty sure that the target audience that will play Dead Space 2 gives a shit less what their mom thinks about a video game.. are they marketing the game to kids or something? As an adult that does not live with his parents, the advertisements for the game make no sense at all. It seems like something straight out of 1992, I have not seen marketing this bad since the Jaguar commercials..

 

I will admit that the reactions of the women involved is not surprising. I've long felt that the violence in most games of this nature is gratuitous. Most people not really exposed to video games or horror movies would have a similair reaction. Many gamers are now just desensitized by violence.

 

Reminds me of ancient Rome where people would get their entertainment by going to the circus to watch people being torn apart by lions. Grotesque.

 

Ok, ours are virtual lions and people, but it's no less grotesque.

 

What boggles me is that they're trying to turn this into a selling point.

Edited February 21, 2011 by Lendorien

[Itchy Koala]

I agree, its a lame idea. "Lets try to spark interest in the kids by making it edgy and badass." Let the gameplay speak for itself, don't try to hype it up by saying mommy might not approve of this . Not to mention they're not the first to make a game that "crosses the line", the line is continually drawn and crossed.

 

We're nearing the point where theres nothing off limits for video games. Using a game's excess violence isn't a good marketing strategy at this day and age.

[keilbaca]

Well... isn't the game rated M?

 

So technically, if the child is old enough to purchase the game, they're out of their parents house in a year anyways for college.

 

I think the whole idea is stupid, in both encouraging younger kids to play M rated games, to just plain stupid this sounds.

 

Its already bad enough I hear 12 year olds playing CoD online. I don't need anymore.

[xenomorpher]

I think the whole idea is to get people talking about the game, not direct it at children...

[Reaperman]

I had to look that up on the youtube, and it's just horrid.

'M' for mature my rear. I'm not sure exactly what in there targets a mature audience. From the ad, I learned that gore is the only selling point for Dead Space games, and that the average mom on the street probably wouldn't be entertained. I'm with the moms.

 

I'll surely be remembering this slimy EA ad campaign when they're trying to sell me Shift 2. Also in the news, Dead Space 1, just moved down to the very bottom of my to-play queue and may never be unsealed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjL44d7WOQ

Edited February 21, 2011 by Reaperman

[Lendorien]

I had to look that up on the youtube, and it's just horrid.

'M' for mature my rear. I'm not sure exactly what in there targets a mature audience. From the ad, I learned that gore is the only selling point for Dead Space games, and that the average mom on the street probably wouldn't be entertained. I'm with the moms.

 

I'll surely be remembering this slimy EA ad campaign when they're trying to sell me Shift 2. Also in the news, Dead Space 1, just moved down to the very bottom of my to-play queue and may never be unsealed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjL44d7WOQ

 

Indeed. What, am I 15? Most of the people shelling out for these games are males in their late 20's and 30's. It always amazes me how the game industry still seems to like to market their games to nyoung teens when it's people twice that age who buy most of the games and equipment that is sold.

[xg4bx]

I had to look that up on the youtube, and it's just horrid.

'M' for mature my rear. I'm not sure exactly what in there targets a mature audience. From the ad, I learned that gore is the only selling point for Dead Space games, and that the average mom on the street probably wouldn't be entertained. I'm with the moms.

 

I'll surely be remembering this slimy EA ad campaign when they're trying to sell me Shift 2. Also in the news, Dead Space 1, just moved down to the very bottom of my to-play queue and may never be unsealed.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSjL44d7WOQ

 

Indeed. What, am I 15? Most of the people shelling out for these games are males in their late 20's and 30's. It always amazes me how the game industry still seems to like to market their games to nyoung teens when it's people twice that age who buy most of the games and equipment that is sold.

 

 

I totally agree. Last I heard the average age of gamers is 35. How come adult movies and tv are marketed to their target audiences but like you said, mature games are still marketed to the drooling, a.d.d. riddled, mountain dew swigging 15 year olds. I'm 33, I'm starting to find it completely insulting. Instead of choosing to market this to its true audience, horror fans, they chose to go the lowest common denominator route.

 

Game companies themselves feed into the pimply, teenage gamer stereotype. Until they knock it off games will never be taken seriously.

[Itchy Koala]

The average age for a gamer is 35? Thats actually a surprise to me. I figured it would be way younger, 23 or 24 at the highest. Sure there's a lot of 'older' gamers on this forum, but me being a high schooler I definitely see a lot more people my age gaming than older people

[Chuplayer]

The average age for a gamer is 35? Thats actually a surprise to me. I figured it would be way younger, 23 or 24 at the highest. Sure there's a lot of 'older' gamers on this forum, but me being a high schooler I definitely see a lot more people my age gaming than older people

I read somewhere that the 35 figure came from all of those people who play the built-in Solitaire on Windows, and that was before the Wii came out.

[Lendorien]

The average age for a gamer is 35? Thats actually a surprise to me. I figured it would be way younger, 23 or 24 at the highest. Sure there's a lot of 'older' gamers on this forum, but me being a high schooler I definitely see a lot more people my age gaming than older people

I read somewhere that the 35 figure came from all of those people who play the built-in Solitaire on Windows, and that was before the Wii came out.

 

Logically, most game buyers will be older because gaming is an expensive hobby and people who have jobs and are established int he world will be the ones most likely to afford it.

[xg4bx]

http://www.theesa.com/facts/index.asp

 

I was off by a year but its pretty much straight from the horses mouth. I guess it makes sense, the 30-40 year olds are pretty much the videogame generation. Even from this site, its pretty much that age range talking about modern games. Its one of those things you pick up as a kid and either it sticks with you or it doesnt. My dad is pushing 60 and he still plays the 360 somewhat. I clearly remember him being into nes and sms rpgs. I inherited his original 2600.

 

It really is just despicable how older gamers are simply ignored. Showing seniors playing a wii doesn't count lol.

 

Along with gamers getting older, I hate to admit it but I totally feel my reflexes slipping away. There's a lot of games that are just getting too hard because my dexterity isn't what it was 10 years ago. Along with the marketing I think devs are making a mistake by pretty much focusing on twitchy,fast action games. My tastes are definitely leaning towards slower stuff. I think that's going to be a hinderance as the average age continues to creep upward, the main audience simply can't play what they're producing.

 

Man,I'm rambling badly lol.

[madmax2069]

I am 32 and i am a gamer. when i was little we had a 2600 Heavy Sixer (which died), then owned a Darth Vader, dont know what happened to those, along side the Dedicated tank console (which i still own). i can see that the average age for a gamer is 30-40 years old (the age of the gaming era).

[Reaperman]

12-20 or so is a good range to aim for when releasing a console game. They're the primary decision makers on what gets purchased for consoles. It just wouldn't hurt anybody to target actual mature audiences more often. That sticker surely doesn't often indicate a game that does, and I rarely feel the need to buy products designed for early-teens.

 

 

 

Average ages are misleading, and are meant to be. The questioning probably goes something like this:

"Have you ever played a game on an electronic device?"

 

That adds old-gamer stereotypes like mmo players, hardcore simmers, lcd video poker (or sudoku now) on the can, facebook gamers, tv-quiz game at the bar, cellphone gamers, and parents sneaking on their kid's system once in a blue moon. Add to that older gamers having a great per-person sway on that average age and you get ~34 (they can get farther over the average than younger gamers can get below it). It's worth noting that the average age of a person in the US is around 35 (link) so gamers tend to be slightly 'younger than average.'

 

I don't believe the typical *console* gamer is 34, though. It probably is on this forum, but not so much anywhere else.

Edited February 22, 2011 by Reaperman

[Rex Dart]

I don't know what they were thinking when they came up with the advertising campaign for Dead Space 2, its god awful. "Your mom hates it"... I'm pretty sure that the target audience that will play Dead Space 2 gives a shit less what their mom thinks about a video game.. are they marketing the game to kids or something? As an adult that does not live with his parents, the advertisments for the game make no sense at all. It seems like something straight out of 1992, I have not seen marketing this bad since the Jaguar commercials..

 

 

It does seem straight out of 1992. I played games in 1992. I'm the target demographic for this game/ad, and I like the ad. It reminds me of ads from the heyday of my gaming. It stands to reason that I might like the game.

 

You're over-thinking it, I think. Maybe it's not the best selection of advertisement, but it does set them apart from all the other shoot-the-alien games.

[Video]

LOL, my problem with the commercials is, by the time you're old enough to actually buy it (without mommy's permission) then you, probably like me, could give a fling less weather she likes it or not.

 

Truthfully, what the commercial says to me is "we're trying to appeal to younger kids" (which means of course, that the game probably isn't directed at older kids/adults meaning it's really probably not worth having)

[Rex Dart]

I admit the commercial doesn't make a ton of sense at first glance, but neither did the 90's ads that it brings to mind. I'm still fairly certain that it's trying to recall those old wacky ads more than it is trying to get underage players. "Six feet of bubble gum. For you. Not them." Do you remember that ad? If so, the commercial's probably trying to appeal to you. Little kids? They have no idea what I'm referring to.

 

And to say that you "can't stand" the commercial... c'mon, does it really offend you that much?

Edited February 28, 2011 by Rex Dart

[SlowCoder]

I'm in the 30-40 crowd. Closer to 40

Like most of us here, I enjoy games just as much now as I did when I was younger.

 

I don't really have a problem with my kids playing scary games, or watching scary movies. My son wants to watch Alien. He's 9. I'm figuring he's getting old enough to govern himself on how scared he wants to get. I've told him it's really scary and it could give him nightmares. And after that, I'm giving him the choice.

 

It's when the games contain sexual material that I have a problem allowing my kids to watch.

 

As far as the Dead Space 2 commercial, I didn't feel any connection to the 90's when I saw it. It just sounded absurd and misplaced.

[Lendorien]

For the record, my mom WOULD hate that game.

[Emehr]

It's funny, I was just thumbing through an issue of EGM from the early 90s and I noticed how all of the ads talk about how a game will affect you. They don't mention anything about storyline, are vague on characters, and are loose on details about what the game is about. They just want to let you know that they are there to kick your ass. Super Metroid was one such ad. Compare that today where Metroid:Other M was selling Samus' personality and back story. I'll take the "this game will kick your ass" ads any day.

 

I've heard about the Dead Space 2 ads. I think they're a clever way to get people interested in the game. As an ad, they work.