I’m not a huge fan of violent video games, particularly for the teen set, but I can’t deny that there’s a visceral pleasure in aggressive, graphic first person shooters, even if I don’t play ’em very often at all. Any FPS gets bad press, however, because, well, they’re violent and aggressive and pump up that ole’ testosterone level as you do your darndest to survive the storyline and come out on top.
Which is why all kudos to Electronic Arts and ad agency DraftFCB for this new video campaign for the violent space shooter Dead Space 2.
Watch this advert, then I’ll comment further:
I think this is a superb example of the martial arts idea of “turn your weakness into a strength”: all gamers know that their parents are probably less than enthused about the more aggressive, more extreme titles on the market, the games that include extra splat in the splatter, but instead of trying to sidestep the issue, EA has made it a cornerstone of its marketing campaign.
And what I like best about it? I bet it’s darn effective because I realize that modern kids are no different from previous generations, part of what they are doing when they pick interests that their parents disapprove of is differentiating themselves and establishing their own identities as independent human beings.
Now, would I buy this game for my son to play? Wouldn’t that just defeat the purpose? 🙂
Do you know where the inspiration for the reactions of the women looking at the screen in disgust came from? It might change your opinion. 🙂
Not sure what you’re getting at, Michael, but I do know that the agency ran an advert and picked women who were “not tech savvy” to watch footage from the video game without knowing it was going to be used in the advert. is that what you mean?
hehe….I personally like playing games especially the goring one, more violent, more fun and more thrill.. Honestly, whats life without fun?
Nice article, we are doing some voiceover for that kind of games here…