Acclaim Tries Bloodvertising To Promote New Game

Thanks to Ananova for reporting that Acclaim UK are trying what they call 'bloodvertising' to promote Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance, their PlayStation 2 and Xbox title billed as "the bloodiest ever [videogame]." The UK promotion will include: "Advertisements in bus shelters.. [where] cartridges of red dye will be placed behind clear sheets of film and released over a six-day period. The 'blood' will slowly appear to spill out on the streets and drip onto the pavements." This continues Acclaim's increasingly desperate series of publicity stunts, including using "spray-painted homing pigeons" at the Wimbledon tennis tournament and trying to place game adverts on gravestones.

Comments

This is a problem

[Apreche]

While this advertising is kind of crappy and cheesy it represents a disturbing trend in video games. The trend for developers to concentrate more on theme than gameplay.

Don't get me wrong, I'm totally against censorship and such. I'm not one of those that think violent video games are evil or some such, hell I play cs lots. But Acclaim (seemingly the worst offender) is trying to sell a game because the game is bloody. Give me an hour and I'll code some blood in opengl. I'll make a program where every time you click a huge pool of blood explodes and spills everywhere. Is it a fun game? no.

I've noticed that lately a lot of people have been buying games based on theme. Like all the people who buy a Final Fantasy game just because it says Final Fantasy on it. Or all the people who put down the GameCube just because it looks like its for kids. These are the shallow minded retards that probably buy games Acclaim makes. You know a video game is a good game when you can replace every sprite with a stick figure and replace every thing else with color coded squares and it's still fun to play. That's a damn good game. If a game is only fun because the pictures happen to be pictures of trademarked characters or guns or blood or whatever the game still isn't a good game.

Look at Smash Bros. Sure they used their entire Nintendo lineup of characters as the theme. But if you took it away and replaced them all with stick figures the game would still rock the house. Now take any Acclaim game, do the same. What no gameplay?

If you want to see some blood there are a thousand websites with videos of hideous injuries you can look at. These ads are just one more way stupid developers are cheapening the industry.

Re:This is a problem

[alphaseven]

Don't worry, Acclaim will not do this, it's just another stupid Acclaim press release.

Every time they got a game coming out the make up some outlandish proposal to get some press. You'd think people would catch on by now.

Re:This is a problem

[Babbster]

Whether you enjoy Final Fantasy games or not, there are people who do. It hardly makes them "retards."

The "crime" of which you seem to consider others guilty is one that you yourself have committed in deciding before playing that Acclaim's game is bad. In other words, you seem to be indicating that buying a game because you've enjoyed other games from the same series or company in the past is wrong, while insulting a game from a company that has done bad games in the past is perfectly acceptable.

I would also suggest to you that just because you feel that Super Smash Brothers, with or without great graphics, can "rock the house," it doesn't make it a great video game achievement - it's a fighting game with Nintendo characters. There are probably plenty of people who DON'T like the game (I didn't care for it that much myself). It's certainly not like Nintendo started some revolution with the series, and the unassailable fact is that the game would NOT have been as successful had it not included Nintendo characters from other games.

Me? I think that Acclaim tends, on average, to produce sub-par games and that their marketing strategies are often tacky and inappropriate. Of course, that's true of most advertising and probably shouldn't warrant extra attention just because they happen to be selling video games.

I want to note, too, that I managed to write all of the above without referring to you or anyone else by using offensive terminology. My rule of thumb is that anyone who would throw the term "retard" around is probably someone in a glass house.

Re:This is a problem

[Dachannien]

"I'll make a program where every time you click a huge pool of blood explodes and spills everywhere. Is it a fun game? no."

I'd play it. I mean, I wouldn't pay for it, but I'd play it. Shoving a guy down the stairs or running a guy into a wall with a truck is fun, so why wouldn't exploding blood pools be fun?

Re:This is a problem

[falcon5768]

hmmm I like final fantasy games,

I ALSO like Xenosaga, Dragon Warrior, and other RPG's.

Im not buying it cause its Final Fantasy, I could give a rats ass, Im buying it cause I love the RPG genire and square does put out a good game even if some people cant stand them.

And having played Smash brothers, I HIGHLY doubt the game would rock if it wherent Nintendo characters. The charm and reason I love playing that game is the pure fact I can beat the shit out of other characters with my favorite character. It would be every other generic run of the mill fighting game with a few cool bonus levels thrown in if it wherent for the fact it allows you to play as your favorite nintendo character. Maybe very fun, but not nearly as much as it is as it is now.

Also Acclain if I am not mistaken tried to sell a game that was sexual exlpicit (BMXXX) but not bloody..... It TANKED. Maybe the reson they market so many violent games is because, well, we are addicted to violence (we in the collective sense, I could do without most of it) Even after getting trashed for night stalker, and getting trashed for columbine, not once did violent game sales go down. They see that message as hey people dont care they like violence. Only if the audience changes will the marketting change

oh yeah...

[herrvinny]

Shaun White, Communications Manager at Acclaim, said: "The concept of 'Bloodvertising' ties in with our marketing strategy and sticks to the theme of blood and carnage which is consistent throughout the Gladiator video game."

Terrific. The parent and "think of the children" groups are going to have a field day with this. Blood dripping into the streets? Yup, someone in a high place is going to be told about this and raise a firestorm.

Turok

[Luigi30]

Don't forget when they got someone to name their kid Turok for $100,000... (sorry for repost, slashdot hiccuped and said I was an AC)

It's funny until someone gets blood stains...

[hookedup]

The 'blood' will slowly appear to spill out on the streets and drip onto the pavements.

What happense if if someone gets this on their pantlegs or shoes?
But really....I think one of the advertisers was watching simpsons and saw the episode with the itchy scratchy: the movie billboard which poured blood onto the newlyweds below.

They have already won..

[Yakman]

You see, the point of these campaigns Acclaim does, and especially their promotion of them before their fact, is that they get more publicity than by just running the campaign. Even if they never actually go ahead with the bus shelter campaign the game, their brand, etc, is all out in the media.. and FOR FREE!

Pretty good marketing, really.

Re:They have already won..

[JFMulder]

Exactly. I don't even live in the US, and reading about the ads affected me. I instantly went to the game website to see if it really was the bloodiest game ever. Nope it isn't. At least, not on the videos it showed. I then hoped over to Gamespot. The review is pretty good in fact. I had never heard of the game before, but it seems pretty cool. Maybe I'll rent it someday.

Too bad...

[Anonymous Coward]

The Acclaim marketing department has more creativity than the actual project developers.

Final Fantasy and buying it for it's name

[Cecil]

I have a problem with the following implication:

Like all the people who buy a Final Fantasy game just because it says Final Fantasy on it.

which concludes that:

These are the shallow minded retards that probably buy games Acclaim makes.

I am not a Final Fantasy Fanboi, although I'm sure some people would disagree. I do think it's unfair to say that people who bought it just for the name are retarded. I buy Final Fantasy games just for the name, granted. It does not make me retarded. I buy them because they are a franchise which has excellent quality standards, because they are made by the same company, a company that I admire and trust with my purchasing decisions. Brand loyalty? Yes.

Admittedly, some people don't enjoy the FF series. Are they the people who keep buying FF games? I doubt it. If they are, then I grant you your point, those people are stupid, and would likely also buy Acclaim crap.

If you like the series, and have in every past iteration, and have liked every spinoff line, then why SHOULDN'T you buy the game just based on it's name? It's very likely that you *will* end up enjoying it a lot. (and if not, it only takes bad purchase to break you of that habit pretty damn quick. See: Master Of Orion 3, Sim City 4)

Re:Final Fantasy and buying it for it's name

[JAYOYAYOYAYO]

"I am not a Final Fantasy Fanboi" bro, your username is 'Cecil' and you have a link to Final Fantasy music videos in your sig.

Re:Turok

[FatalTourist]

I hadn't heard of that so I Googled for it and found this.
But I also accidently found this other Turok marketing thingy, where they brainwash you into thinking you're Turok or something. Now I'm not exactly sure if that means that you become the video game character, the video game itself, or the $10,000 baby.
Either way you get "500 in cash, plus an X-Box, plus every Turok game that ever was." I woulda settled for a $2 and firm pat on the buttocks.

Re:The right step down the wrong path

[Babbster]

Do you even have the slightest clue what you're talking about?

PC games don't get advertised as heavily because a) the number of people interested in playing PC games is much, MUCH smaller than the number of people interested in playing console games and b) the PC, despite what some believe, was not designed as a video game machine and was in fact designed as a productivity tool. It requires a significant investment to turn a basic PC (with CPU, 256MB of RAM, onboard video and sound, hard drive, monitor, etc.) into a capable gaming device, whereas it takes less than $200 to obtain the hardware necessary to play console games (a little more than $200 in the case of the PS2).

Further, your system-specific points barely make sense and provide no information to back them up. Who claims that the PS2 is "most difficult...to figure out"? Which gamers, besides the most lunatic proponents of other consoles, call the Gamecube "kiddie"? And which Xbox games have "little replay value without Xbox Live"?

I'll save you the trouble of answering those questions. Nobody but the addle-minded find the PS2 hard to operate, ONLY rabid anti-Nintendo nuts dismiss the Gamecube as being a kiddie console, and very damn few Xbox games can be considered as needing Xbox Live to be enjoyed.

The truth is that console titles sell more units and, in general, make more money than PC games. Thus, the console games are naturally going to be more of a marketing priority than PC games owing to the fact that 'it takes money to make money' and television advertising still isn't what I would call cheap.

I'll finish by addressing one more of your points: Even though I watch television via ReplayTV, and thus watch VERY few commercials, I do see snippets and Sony and Nintendo do plenty of advertising for systems and games. There is no way that 29 of 30 video game ads are for Xbox titles. If you think so, then you're not watching a lot of TV - which, of course, most would consider a good thing.

What next?

[morcheeba]

zoocube ads will excrete poo?
ducatti world leaks oil?
I don't even want to know what liquid they'll use to promote Iggy's Reckin Balls!

WARNING: HORRIBLE PUN AHEAD

[shadowcabbit]

I guess you could call this an attempt to squeeze blood from a stone...

Why always Acclaim UK?

[Rayonic]

What I really don't get is why, in all these crass advertising campaigns, it's always Acclaim UK that's doing it. (Go and check if you don't believe me.) Are Britons forever cursed to be the testing bed for low advertising? Any real-life Brits care to illuminate us on this subject?

Uh, guys... the earlier ones weren't REAL.

[AllenChristopher]

Regarding the Turok contest:

About Identity Marketing

Dr S. Cantrell isn't real. His book, "Market Their Pants Off!" (Engell International, ISBN 0552546925), isn't real. The whole thing was a hoax. I mean, my God, look at the man.. could that more clearly be a prop bow-tie?

The gravestone thing was a hoax as well... I haven't the link at the moment.

So the chances of this being real are terribly, terribly low. Especially with the cleaning of the sidewalks....

In a few days, we'll find out this was a hoax. Those of us who were here to read about it will remember, but a whole new set of people will get interested, and maybe angry, about the next one. Yay. Pthppht.

False advertising

[cgenman]

Sadly, if you go to the images page, it is apparent that gladiator is not actually all that bloody. It's not a member of the elite class of games where you can hack your opponent's limbs off, for example. There are no explosions, so bits of grizzle don't spray everywhere like in FPS games. No internally bits are ever on the outside. It's not even funny. Where is the violence? The nastiness? Where is the dark foreboding nature of of the world laid bare like scraped flesh covered in dirt and pebbles?

No, what we get is a series of repetitive blood textures added to the grounds around where a traditional penetration damage model is taking place. Nothing new here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Happy Tree Friends to watch.

Let's tell Acclaim that this ad hoax is too much

[1iar_parad0x]

rant

I don't want to play games anymore because their so violent. Okay so this game isn't the most violent, but they're advertising is over the top. Games are dark. I feel depressed after spending hours killing stuff. Maybe I'm getting old, but I like a little bit more in my entertainment.

I was just killing some time at the mall yesterday. I start to overhear (she was hard not to hear) a mother getting upset about the ratings on a video game. She was worried that "Syphon Filter" was too violent a game. She started asking some of the salespeople (read saleskids) if they had played the game. She asked them if the game was violent. Hmm. Let's see, your a trained killer sent by the government to kill. Geeze, I don't know if the guy carrying a gun on the cover is any clue. I guess in the world of video games it's not as bad as that new serial killer game or the naked bike riding game or the anarchy game. I know it's easy to code the hunt and kill AI. It's hard to parse out text. And we all know games can't pass the Turing test. MMORPGs are still young and we just aren't all that creative. Trust me, hackers are smart but they're just not creative. Most games looks like a cross between Snowcrash and the Evil Dead.

You know I heard a story about Nero once. People around him were starving yet he would hold these massive feasts. There would be too much food for even Nero too eat. The party-goers would gorge themselves until they became full. Then they would proceed to vomit the food they ate so they could run back to the dinner table and gorge some more. They became addicted to the pleasures of life. So much even the simple act of eating became unhealthy.

Look, I'm going to do more than boycott this game. I intend on personally blacklisting Acclaim and the designer. Any other game that this desinger(s) or Acclaim puts out, I won't buy. I'm going to write them an email telling them this. I don't want Joe Lieberman to create a new law. I don't want Phil Mushnik to write a bunch of articles about this. I want to boycott Acclaim. I'm part of their prime demographic. I'm a young male who writes code for a living and can afford to buy such a game. We've got to let them know. Frankly, the game industry is worse than the music industry. There aren't any legitimate artists making games. John Carmack can code, but he couldn't design his way out of a paper bag. He's got the creativity of a 13 year old hopped up on Ritalin.

end of rant

It's remarkable to what lengths...

[Kyouryuu]

It's remarkable to what lengths a company will go to foist a sub-par video game into the limelight. Acclaim hasn't made anything worthwhile in months, if not years. A desperate advertising campaign like this is only trying to mask their shortcomings in game design.

Desperate

[t0ny]

This game must really suck badly if they need to resort to shock advertising. They are just trying to get the media to advertise for them, like Running With Scissors did with Postal and Postal 2. Sadly, P2 didnt do so well because it was a shit game (I liked the original quite a bit).