Aardman Animations, the studio behind Creature Comforts and Wallace and Gromit, have been putting the rest of us Flipnote Studios artists to shame for the past few months with their original animations on the service. I always thought it was weird for such a high profile animation studio to be throwing stuff out for free on a relatively small system like the DSi, but now it's all starting to make sense.

Nintendo is paying Aardman to make these films! Duh!

This wasn't as clear with past Aardman flipnotes, which were generally short, silly, and without an overt message. This one is different. This one is a commercial for the DSi, nothing more, nothing less. Thing is, it's a really good commercial for the DSi. Showing how the cool the DSi is by making a commercial with the DSi was a brilliant idea. If Nintendo of America is smart (which is debatable), they'll start airing this one on TV pronto.

Speaking of TV, any of you see the commercials for New Super Mario Bros Wii that are making the rounds right now? They're nothing mind-blowing or anything, but they do show exactly how a Super Mario movie should be done, with the "Mushroom Kingdom logic" naturally integrated into the real world.

Get on that, Bob Hoskins.

[Via GoNintendo]

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Damn it Sony. How in God's name did it take you this long to come up with a good ad campaign? *Sigh* Well, at least now that you've found one you're milking it for all that it's worth, and you're milking it really well. On Friday Playstation Blog revealed the next ad in the "It only does everything" ad campaign and it is once again hilarious.

This one focuses on the awesomeness of the Blu-ray player within the mighty PS3 and how it could appeal to those of a more elderly age. Kevin Butler, the Sony "rep" in all the ads, nails it again. While I think I still find the price drop rumor commercial to be the funniest (and not just because Destructoid is in it) this one is definitely a fantastic addition.

STICK.

Oh advertisers, you so crazy! A new commercial for Pringles has appeared that is both awesome and ludicrous at the very same time. It seems to be a rather impressive homage to survival horror games at first, with a surprisingly authentic Silent Hill atmosphere and a Resident Evil style HUD.

Then Lara Croft appears and starts getting sexy.

Apparently, this is what Pringles does now. It makes young ladies appear and start taking their cosplay clothes off in dark and sleazy rooms ... I must remember to pick some up the next time I go grocery shopping.

In the grand pantheon of things I have no place writing about MMA might be the top dog. However, last night on CBS's Saturday Night Fight EA ran an ad for their upcoming MMA game, EA Sports MMA and so I must bring you this information since I cover this sort of thing on the weekends.

The ad, which you can view below, shows off about a full minute of gamplay and two MMA fighters who I assume those who know MMA know pretty well. From Nick's previous research I understand that the UFC is really the top dog around these parts, so I don't know if anyone is actually excited for this. Any MMA fans see anything that gets their juices flowing in this trailer?

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Listen, we all know sex sells, but Evony has taken the idea to a truly unprecedented level by plastering attractive women all over their game that has nothing to do with half-naked attractive women. You've probably seen their ads around, but if you haven't here is the lowdown on their bosomtastic ads. It doesn't end at their advertisements, however. Even Evony's sign up page (seen above on the left) has mostly naked women on it, and they have even less to do with the game than the normal cleavage bearing females they show off.

In fact those two ladies have been featured elsewhere in the world and Negative Gamer has found it. That place is on the cover of the film Girls Playing With Girls 102. Yup, Evony grabs its photos from iStock and evidently so do low-budget porn DVD makers. Sadly, the two attractive blondes on the cover of the DVD are not in the movie at all. According to reviews of GPWG102 the women in it "look like they are on a 3 year meth binge, toothless and homely. Found on the street holding signs that say 'will do nasty things for crack rock.'"

Also, I would like to request the the makers of Evony not sue me. K, thanks.

The Activision marketing machine keeps on chugging, with a new commercial hitting UK televisions in the lead-up to the biggest shooting game of the year. The video provided comes courtesy of the Shakeycam Corporation, but it's still a pretty damn good ad and should get violence fans pumped up for Infinity Ward's latest.

It really does look bloody amazing, regardless of your thoughts on Infinity Ward, Activision or the Call of Duty franchise. I have to confess I'm getting rather eager to play it, and not just because I love the idea of shooting civilians in an airport. It might be trendy to hate the game right now, but sod it. It's going to be really good whether we want it to be or not.

Would you like more Left 4 Dead 2 video hotness? Of course you would! Valve's undead-pummeling co-op shooter is out this month and the studio is putting that $25 million advertising budget to good use. This is the latest TV spot for the game, and as you can see, it looks incredible.

This is looking like it'll be Valve's biggest game ever, and I have to say that there are few studios out there that deserve it more. I'm really glad this series has become a mainstream hit, even if there are those willing to resist Valve's success. It's out on November 17 and there are very few of us at Dtoid HQ that can wait.

It has begun.

With Modern Warfare 2 a mere two weeks away, evil publisher Activision has rolled out its advertising campaign of death. Expect total media saturation over the next fortnight, with Activision backed up by American retail titan Walmart. You will not escape Modern Warfare 2.

This video is the first step. It's a Walmart/MW2 joint commercial that features a rather old joke -- two males having a most "hilarious" trash talk session. Personally I think it would have been more fitting, given recent circumstances, to have had a commercial where terrorists burst into a Walmart and gun the shoppers down.

It would also be quite satisfying to see, since I've been in a Walmart before and most of the people in there are scum. Especially the slugs who can clearly walk but are riding scooters around.

Anyway, check out the video. It's right there.

Advertising: No matter how retarded your idea is someone will eventually bump into it and pay attention.

While not surfing for pornography one of our readers spotted an advertisement for Alliance of Valiant Arms, a two-year old Korean FPS that ijji acquired recently.  (They added a lovely coat of localization & Internet bubble wrap for European and American audiences this year).  The game seems to borrow heavily from popular wartime game franchises, so its no surprise that this made it into the marketing.  Better than Call of Duty 4 and Counterstrike combined you say?  "Why wait for Modern Warfare 2?", it says. Check out the gallery below. This must be the greatest FPS of our generation! 

Or not.

You can't blame them for trying. The banner ads appear to be real testimonials from fans, but exactly where these comments were posted remains a mystery.  Their authenticity could not be confirmed by doing Google searches for either of the player handles.  Maybe they were translated from the original game's Chinese and Korean communities, or sent privately though the air to their minister of propaganda by a bilingual carrier pigeon ambassador.

Curious like to see how it stacks up? Check out AVA's site and try to sneak into the beta.  Maybe we can see our our reader testimonials stack up to the ones that made the ads. If you've played it let's hear your comments.

I've gotten pretty used to the fact that videogame ads typically don't do anything for me as I've already seen everything the makers of the game want the public to see writing for Destructoid. This DJ Hero ad featuring Daft Punk, however, actually wowed me. I just love how the image pans out and you get to see the game on Daft Punk's helmet. It probably also has something to do with my obsession over all things Daft Punk also.

The two other ads for DJ Hero after the break aren't so great though. The Justice vs. Public Enemy ad barely gives you a taste of the game and the GameStop ad is just kind of lame.

Which of the ads did you all enjoy?  

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Deliciously shameless, that is! Phantasy Star Portable 2 is on the way, and Sega has revealed that it will be joining forces with Pizza Hut in order to fill the RPG with pie-based shenanigans. Just take a look at the attached imagery for proof of how tastily tasteless it will be.

A virtual Pizza Hut restaurant will set up shop in the Gurhal Galaxy, where players can buy all sorts of goodies, chief among them being Cheese-Kun (Japanese Pizza Hut mascot) figures to decorate their room with. Equipment items will also be on sale, taking the form of a pizza box shield and a pizza pan weapon. Seriously. 

Of course, it wouldn't be a pizza restaurant without pizzas. Hungry gamers will be able to nab a seafood pizza for 2,500 meseta, cheese & cheese pizza for 1,900 meseta, and a coffee for 1,000 meseta. This has to be one of the most ridiculous examples of in-game advertising I've ever seen. I can't help but applaud Sega's brazen approach.

It took Sony a long time, but they've finally got an ad campaign that is hitting on all four cylinders, and when you've got something that works you need to run with it. For instance, when your massively huge exclusive game is being launched it's probably time to break out your fantastic ad campaign, and so Sony has with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

You probably don't need a funny ad to tell you about the game because you read Destructoid and we tell you about the game, but in case you do this ad will learn you all about the games cinematic awesomeness and exciting action. Of course all the scenes they show aren't all actual gameplay, but who cares the game is going to rock anyway. There's a hot babe in it too. 

[Via TVGB]

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It's funny how you often meet people on the Internet through unusual and fleeting circumstances. 

For example, weeks ago I'd heard that they were making a Tucker Max movie so I checked out the site, bracing myself for a story about sorostitute midgets doing helicopter spins on him in a stolen hearse.  Instead, his blog was about how the Chicago Transit Authority had pulled all of the I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell ads because they found the ad campaign was demeaning to women. I look at the banner and it says "Strippers will not tolerate disrespect. (Just Kidding)."  Is this really worse than the "I support single moms" shirts that the cool kids wear to school? They were looking for people to help spread the word (and I'm always a sucker for the underdog) so I got in touch, and to my surprise they had a gaming story for me. There was a Halo cameo in the movie with something special too: a unique controller made just for the film.

Legendary game hardware hacker Benjamin Heck was approached by the movie's prop people for a "highly customized Xbox 360 controller for a game-obsessed character".  The controller didn't actually have to be functional, but knowing Ben he absolutely did make it real -- and gave them two for backup. Destructoid is now happy to bring you the exclusive clip of Drew raping someone with it in Halo. Warning: it has NSFW language, but nothing your baby nephew doesn't already say on Xbox Live. 

Surprisingly, the controller looks rather comfortable and practical.  I think I want it (also, inside of me).

The Chilean PS3 ads -- one in which pictured a young man giving a blood to a Nazi officer -- were fakes, apparently part of a ‘mock campaign’ created by Chilean design agency BBDO Chile.

In a recent statement (via Kotaku) the agency confirmed that the designs were never approved by SCE and despite this critical fact, were submitted to “various” competitions and festivals without SCE’s blessing. BBDO Chile then apologized to SCE for using the PlayStation brand without its knowledge and misrepresenting the brand “and its values.” Ouch.

This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This "mock campaign" was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values.

We suppose the ads could have been worse. For example, one could have pictured a gamer aiding a Naz--oh right. Well, kudos for the apology to SCE, BBDO.

Our friends over at Bitmob recently scrounged up some ancient videogame magazines that date all the way back to the mid 1990s, and yes, they were nice enough to share their shocking archeological find with us.

Depending on where you live, it's probably way past your bedtime, so allow me to express my thoughts on a few of these game ads in bullet point form:

•  The only way to successfully attract my attention is to use violently bright colors the likes of which my eyes have never seen
• I owned one of those Power Rangers LCD handhelds. Using barcodes to change the action EVERYTIME was exactly as sh*tty as you'd imagine it would be
• In retrospect, Wolfenstein 3D would have been cooler if B.J. Blazkowicz was blind
• My burning desire to play every game with "super" in the title almost caused me to rent Super Alfred Chicken once. Almost

If any of you happen to be in the business of making coffee book tables, here's my bright idea that I totally didn't just come up with fifteen seconds ago: go out and create a book filled with nothing but aged videogame ads. Would that not be the perfect lazy Christmas gift for a geek close to your heart?

I really appreciate behind the scenes look at how videos are made. I was super impressed by the Halo 3: ODST short and couldn’t imagine all the work that went behind it. This making of video, by way of G4, shows all of the work that went into this fantastic ad. 

Many of the scenes that I thought were computer animated turned out to be real too, including the Brute related stuff. The behind the scenes look also has one extra scene that was cut from the final ad and you can check it out after the break. 

[via GameStooge]

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Wow ... I know that Sony can go a little nuts when it comes to weird PS3 commercials, but this Chilean ad really takes home the prize. The commercial portrays a gamer giving blood to a Nazi officer. Seriously, Sony is telling consumers that PS3 fans are essentially Nazi sympathizers. 

To be fair, the Nazi in question is meant to be Erwin Rommel, generally considered the best of a bad lot, but even so, this is has caused quite a bit of uproar since its unveiling. The casual observer isn't going to immediately know it's Rommel, providing that observer even knows who Rommel is. The untrained eye will merely see a man happily donating blood to a decorated member of the Third Reich. 

The ad is one of two revealed so far, with a gamer donating his heart to Joan of Arc in the other. On one level, it's quite a clever idea and the commercials are certainly quite bold and artistic. On another level, he's giving a blood transfusion to a f*cking Nazi!

Both brilliant and stupid at the same time. Gotta love Sony's marketing brains.

In the latest episode of Bonus Round over on GameTrailers, Brian Jarrard of Bungie revealed that Halo 3: ODST has been completed since May. It could have been released at any point now, but it’s been held back in order for Microsoft to promote the game and in preparation to rape your coffers this holiday season.

Yet, doesn't it feel like the promotions started off late? The Halo 3: ODST truck started touring the country a couple of weeks ago and the amazing new new ad rolled out two weeks ago during PAX. It just seems a bit out considering Halo 3 was promoted like crazy for months before the game was released.

Speaking of Halo 3: ODST, look for our review on the game this Saturday.

[via GamePro]

The moment that Japan has been awaiting for over half a decade may finally have arrived today, thanks to a teaser and some Internet Matlockery. A Japanese Youtube flash ad had been teasing the reveal of Final Fantasy XIII's release date today, and a few impatient kids decided to dig a little deeper and find out ahead of time.

All they needed to do was change the word "before" to "after" in the ad's URL in order to come up with the image you now see before you -- a banner bearing Final Fantasy XIII's Japanese release date of December 17. At the time of writing, Square Enix has neither confirmed nor denied the release date, but weeaboo importers may want to contact their local dealer. 

Who knew? Looks like a full version of Final Fantasy XIII might see the light of day somewhere in the world before this year is out.

[Update: The release has now been confirmed by Square Enix at an event in Tokyo. Japanese gamers (and not-so-Japanese importers) can get their hands on the game December 17 for 8,800 Yen!]

It's easy to think of all in-game advertising is pure evil, but in Australia at least, there are attempts to do some good while influencing the supple minds of young gamers. The Transport Accident Commission of Victoria has signed up with Microsoft's in-game ad provider Massive in order to put road safety commercials in a number of games, including Guitar Hero 5 and Forza 3.

Madden NFL 10 is doing something similar Stateside as well, providing its own set of drink driving adverts. Responsibility is all the rage at the moment, you know.

The TAC is one of those organizations that prefer the "baseball bat" approach to getting your attention. Their commercials are violent, shocking and unintentionally hilarious. Kotaku saw fit to post one and it made me smile morbidly, so hit the jump to check it out. If videogames get more ads like these, you can totally count me in.

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There is so much bad marketing out there. Companies just seem to miss the point more than hit it when it comes to coming up with clever ways to advertise their new games. Thus, when a company actually does something that is clever or outside of the box, I think we should inform you of it. This year at PAX we've already had some clever meme use, but not to be outdone Ubisoft has stepped up and shown that it can go entirely original with its clever advertising.

Some in attendance at PAX, where I am not, received these pamphlets that stated on the cover, "The first one is always the hardest." Joystiq filmed their opening of the brochure, and after sophomorically commenting on the fact that there was probably a hard penis in it (We're above penis jokes when others make them, but it's cool when we do it), opened it to reveal...

Just watch the vid.  

A few hours ago, Microsoft released a live-action ad -- a short film, really -- for Halo: ODST. It boils down the life of an ODST in the Halo universe in 90 seconds, and, as you’ll see below the fold, it isn’t a pretty one.

The director of the film is Rupert Sanders, the same guy who did the Halo 3 ad spot “Believe,” which, if memory serves me, faired well with the Internet crowd. I don’t expect this ad spot to do any worse, certainly. This thing is fascinating.

If this ad dazzled you, do look forward to more. According to official release, a two minute and 30 second version will debut on Spike TV this September 7th at 10:30 PM ET/PT. It’ll be the first time I turn on my TV to see a commercial.

Halo: ODST drops on September 22nd. view full story + comments

Prepare for a Massive intrusion. Microsoft’s glorious videogame advertising company is set to supply in-game ads for a host of THQ, Electronic Arts, and Activision Xbox 360 and PC titles this fall. The list of targets includes every EA Sports title and Need for Speed Shift, as well as Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero, and Band Hero. Tony Hawk: Ride, Blur, UFC 2009 Undisputed and other ad-less titles are to entertain Massive advertising, too.

But, wait, that’s not all: Massive will provide stuff -- possibly "Be a Chompion” reminders -- for Battle.Net whenever it’s released in the year 4040 (or 4041 according to some analysts).

Massive is already involved with Madden NFL 10, so there's your taste of the new stuff. While some of it seems out of place, it doesn't detract from the total experience. Ads means money is being made, and in this economy especially, we can’t scream our displeasure from our ultra-awesome pedestal.

McDonald’s would like to remind you to “Make Café your day” with an iced mocha or a cappuccino, available only at select McDonald’s locations at an excellent and competitive price.

[via Edge, via Joystiq]

The clock has struck midnight here on the East Coast, which means that it’s September 1st (holy crap, how the time files). That means that the new PlayStation 3, known colloquially as the “PS3 Slim,” is officially on sale at retailers worldwide (though many stores began selling it a few days after Sony announced it at Gamescom).

During Gamescom, Sony also unveiled PS3 system software v3.00, saying that it would be out in time for the launch of the Slim. The update went live a few hours ago, and as usual, I’m here to provide my thoughts on the changes that it brings to the PS3. Hit the jump for the (detailed) analysis!

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Remember Doritos: Dash of Destruction? How could you forget? The game was surprisingly not terrible for a little free game that was designed purely for Achievement whores, and the charm of a game in which hungry dinosaurs try to eat trucks full of popular corn snacks can't be denied. Dash of Destruction was evidently a successful venture for all involved, because they're planning to do it again and are offering $50,000 to anyone who can design a game.

Doritos and Microsoft are holding an "Unlock Xbox" design contest for creative minds to send in their ideas. If you can come up with a game idea that embodies the "big, bold and intense spirit of the Doritos brand," you could land a job as a Doritos Gaming Consultant (seriously) and nab $50,000 for your trouble.

Frankly, if you can make a game more ludicrous than Dash of Destruction, you deserve the cash.

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Hey, you remember those really annoying Risky Business commercials that Activision was overusing for Guitar Hero World Tour? Well, they’re back for Guitar Hero 5! This time, they feature not one, not two, not three, but ten Playboy Playmates as well as the king himself, Hugh Hefner.

Man, what the hell are these girls doing? They’re not even looking at a TV while playing. The two girls at the end aren’t even hitting the strum button! Watch for yourself after the break.

On a related note, I wonder how much ass Hugh has gotten in his life. It’s got to be in the thousands.

[Via GoNintendo]

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Sony is looking to kill this Christmas. The PlayStation 3 Slim and the price cut are being backed up by an £82 million advertising campaign that kicks off in the UK tonight, and will run through Christmas. Recession? Sony laughs in the face of it.

This will be Sony's biggest campaign for the PS3 since it launched in 2007. A series of TV commercials will big up the functionality of the system, showing off features like Blu-ray, downloadable television and movie content, and BBC iPlayer access. 

"Two years after launch PlayStation 3 is realizing its full potential," says Alan Duncan, UK marketing director. "The console is moving beyond gaming and gaming is moving beyond discs."

£82 million. Some of us couldn't dream of earning that over the course of our lives, and Sony is spending it in the span of four months. It must be brilliant to be a huge corporation.

Sony has recently unveiled a ridiculous new ad campaign called "Play Face," which revolves around showing videos and pictures of the stupid faces people pull while playing PS3 games. However, the campaign will be familiar to anybody who knows the work of artist Phil Toledano, who took his own game face photographs in 2006. He doesn't sound too happy about the similarities, either.

"It pretty much looks like they happily ripped me off..." was Toledano's curt reply. 

The "Play Face" campaign features some celebrities, and Sony plans to upload photos of Tokyo and Osaka gamersm to the official Web site, where users can vote for their favorite ones. 

What do you think? Did Sony happily rip this artist off, or is this an honest coincidence? I'm veering toward coincidence myself since photographs of faces aren't exactly anything new, but I wouldn't put anything above one of these companies. 

Hit the jump for a video of this stupid, stupid campaign.

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Today, on what must obviously be an incredibly slow news day, Microsoft has come under fire for BLATANT THEFT, shamelessly stealing the music that was 100% totally invented for LittleBigPlanet. This incalculable controversy has swept up the gaming blogs in such a whirlwind of confusion that the videogame industry may never recover.

On a more serious note, Go Team's "Get It Together" is a song that existed long before LittleBigPlanet came along, and has been a staple in commercials and television trailers for years. I had heard "Get It Together" long before LittleBigPlanet existed, as it's been used to promote all sorts of things, at least in Britain. That Microsoft would use it for an advert may be a tiny bit notable for we hardcore gamers and fanboys looking to start a fight, but it's not that big a deal. 

If you're going to kick up a fuss every time someone "copies" LittleBigPlanet over the use of its licensed, non-copyrighted music, you'll be here for a very long time. LBP uses music that has been in all manner of commercials and TV shows. Most of its tunes are recognizable to me from other forms of entertainment. I'm guessing that's why Media Molecule chose to use the tunes it did -- they've long been established as good background tracks. 

Nevertheless, people have been quick to call this "theft," and get into arguments about it. Just check out the comments to the Youtube video of the commercial, contained after the jump.

I doubt that the chaps who put this MS ad together have even heard of LittleBigPlanet, let alone tried to rip the game off. Show me a Sackboy in an Xbox advert, and then we can talk.

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Last night, we talked about WipEout HD's latest patch, which included a few nasty surprises for those wanting to play the new "Fury" content. In-game ads had been smuggled onto the game, which ordinarily wouldn't be a problem -- that is, until it came to light that the ads were increasing loading times, forcing the game to slow down so that paying customers could be marketed to.

While a few people claimed this wasn't the case and that I was just a dirty biased liar with all the fat bias making biased mountains out of biased molehills, it seems that one entity agrees with me that these ads were not acceptable -- Sony itself. The platform holder has actually done something decent for a change, and removed the offending ad that was causing loading times to double. 

"The ad has been removed from WipEout HD and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay," said a Sony spokesman. 

Wow, I'm actually impressed. No advert should ever affect gameplay, and it's great to see that Sony agrees and would actually listen to irate consumers on this count. That said, this nonsense with WipEout HD could be a grim harbinger of the marketing rape coming our way in future.

The most common argument you ever see during a debate about in-game advertising is one I tend to agree with myself: It's okay so long as the adverts don't negatively impact the gameplay. So, what do we say about WipEout HD, a game that was recently updated to include adverts which double the loading times?

The latest patch now forces players to watch a commercial before each race, courtesy of the fine marketing folks at Double Fusion. Before the update, races took eight seconds to load. Now they take sixteen. This is more than an in-game billboard or Solid Snake carrying an iPod in his pocket. This is a game basically being screwed with in order to push commercials over gameplay. 

I really don't care for that at all.

You thought I wasn't going to show up because Destructoid is going to be up and down all day, didn't you? Well I'm here for the weekends so you're not getting rid of me that easily. Just because you won't be able to read my posts for large chunks of the weekend doesn't mean I'm not going to write them. So buckle yourselves in everyone, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

To kick off this weekend of posts you can't read I'm going to show you some images you probably won't be able to look at, and if advertising/branding agency Fluidesign hadn't posted them on their Flickr site as part of a case study for its promotional materials behind The House of the Dead: Overkill we would have never seen them anyway. There's box art, ad art, and awesomely awesome t-shirts all mocked up for the fantastic (personal opnion that does not reflect Destructoid as a whole) game. If you haven't played the game yet, then hopefully these mockups may convince you to check it out. It's worth having around the house for when all you want to do is point at something, pull a trigger and then watch its head explode.

[Update: Flabzilla noticed that all the artwork has Wi-Fi connectivity plastered on it. Was online light-gunning a posibility at some point? It's probable, and if so one wonders why they cut it out.]

The Chicago Transport Authority doesn't like those evil, evil vidjagames dirtying the city's beautiful buses. In January of this year, the CTA enacted a ban on any advert that  "markets or identifies a video or computer game rated “Mature 17+” (M) or “Adults Only 18+” (AO)." The ESA has taken this as a violation of free speech, and is bringing the issue to court.

"The CTA’s ordinance constitutes a clear violation of the constitutional rights of the entertainment software industry," states ESA CEO Mike Gallagher. "Courts across the United States, including those in the CTA’s own backyard, have ruled consistently that video games are entitled to the same First Amendment protections as other forms of entertainment. The CTA appears unwilling to recognize this established fact, and has shown a remarkable ignorance of the dynamism, creativity and expressive nature of computer and video games. The ESA will not sit idly by when the creative freedoms of our industry are threatened."

Them's fighting words if ever I saw 'em. I'm glad that the ESA won't take this kind of crap lying down. Videogames are always being singled out while other mediums are apparently free to act as they choose, and it's really reaching the point of farce. Hopefully the ESA stikes a blow against the CTA in the courts. Hit the jump for the full press release.

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If a recent ad posting on Gamasutra is to be believed, Silicon Knights is looking for fresh talent to work on a game, and that game may very well be Too Human 2. So far, all the world's babies have not cried out in tandem, so until that happens, the sequel has most definitely not been confirmed.

SK is looking for someone with experience in a range of game systems, "including combat, UI, inventory, progression, levels, NPC actions, play balance and reward schemes." They will also need to possess "familiarity with the fantasy and science fiction genre and role-playing games."

I can feel the bile rising in my throat as I type this, dreading the thought of yet more Too Human in the world. I hear the original design documents have been sealed in a twelve-foot-thick case made of alternating concrete and lead layers, before being shot into space. 

Lord only knows of the wrath that Too Human 2 would wreak upon the world.

Oh Microsoft, you and your wacky patents! Hot off the heels of discovering that Microsoft has patented squad-based dynamic co-op, the Internet has also found out that Microsoft has reserved the right to produce advertising spaces that allow customers to play with mascots and characters in a sinister interactive advertisement plot. Allow Microsoft to explain ...

In one example, to advertise the movie TRANSFORMERS, an advertiser may provide the robot BUMBLEBEE, which is a popular character in the movie, as the advertiser-generated avatar. The BUMBLEBEE avatar may include functionality to "transform" between the robot and the CHEVROLET CAMARO depicted in the movie. In another example, to advertise the cereal TRIX, an advertiser may provide the TRIX RABBIT as the advertiser-generated avatar. The TRIX RABBIT avatar may include functionality to say the popular catchphrase "SILLY RABBIT, TRIX ARE FOR KIDS." In yet another example, to advertiser the ZUNE digital media player from MICROSOFT CORPORATION, an advertiser may provide an image of the ZUNE digital media player as the advertiser-generated avatar. The ZUNE digital media player avatar may include functionality to change colors, change models, and play various digital media.

Think of it as something similar to PlayStation Home, but with all the pretense of a social networking tool completely stripped out and the focus on marketing put squarely in the spotlight. These playable avatars are being dubbed "Advertars," and Microsoft suggests that players who interact with them could recieve "compensation," such as money, points or virtual pets. 

Just think ... all these years of videogame development, platform research and corporate showboating, all in the name of giving us a playable rabbit that tells us Trix is for kids. Kind of sad when you think about it.

The Advertising Standards Authority has cropped up many times over the past few years in connection to videogames, mostly because the group in charge of London's many adverts seems to buckle under the pressure of as many as twelve complaints and has pulled a number of videogame commercials. Now the ASA is hoping to nip the whole thing in the bud -- telling game companies to stop causing controversy.

Publishers are being asked to consider "the wider context" of their advertising to ensure that the ASA doesn't ban them from television. Apparently, publishers are being encouraged to not just stick to the rules, but to go beyond that and work extra hard to make sure they don't "distress" members of the public. 

Absolutely ridiculous, if you ask me. This is why so many people have become utterly weak and unable to fend for themselves. Pure mollycoddling, kid glove nonsense. If we've reached a point where we're worried that someone will be "distressed" by a bit of digital violence on a television screen, then we might as well just give up. 

I also still have no idea what videogame ads are doing that's somehow far worse than the amount of sex and violence already prevelant on television.

Switch on your Xbox 360 and you may find that the Xbox Live subscription you're already paying for has been further subsidized by all-moving, all-talking ads -- full on commercials that have been smuggled onto your dashboard and will make noise at you whenever you scroll past them. You might have seen them in the past, at least for MS' own stuff, but it seems that people are starting to notice them far more. 

We've been assured by the digital media experts at IPG that these ads won't be as intrusive as feared, and that the Silverlight-powered ads are designed to "fit right in with the interface," meaning that they'll be individual scrolling windows within the rest of the NXE. So, no annoying pop-ups or anything ... for the time being.

Intriguingly, IPG also believes that the entire New Xbox Experience was, in part, designed as a way of bringing more adverts to Xbox Live. IPG has realized that the NXE windows "just so happen to be IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) standard sizes". Well, how about that for a coincidence? 

Hit the jump for a video of one of these ads in motion. Meanwhile, I'm going to continue wondering exactly what my Xbox Live Gold subscription is paying for, and wonder why the PlayStation Network has remained ad-free and subscription free for the past three years. 

Oh wait, I remember, I'm just paying for the sake of it, right Microsoft?

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Are you ready for the most over enthusiastic trailer you've ever seen? No, I mean are you really ready? You're about to be blown over by enthusiasm for a game no one should be that enthusiastic about so you're going to need to be sitting down and have MadWorld turned on to remind you that the Wii can do cool stuff. OK, if you're ready, hit the jump and experience the trailer for Walk It Out.

It's a game about walking that even Dad can play, and if it comes with that "personal trainer" lady it will even make him punch the TV and probably turn to alcohol abuse. The amount of chipperness exuding from her is disturbing, and one wonders why a personal trainer would be so excited about a game that mimics walking when, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, going outside and walking is even easier to do than turning your Wii on and setting everything up. From my experience personal trainers usually work to remove barriers between people and exercise.

I understand Wii Fit, and most of the other fitness games, as they offer something in your home that you may have to travel to a gym for and pay some money to do, but walking? Yes, the game let's you "walk" to beats and if you do it well it opens new areas and it has a plethora of mini-games, but if you give me 50 bucks and pop on your iPod I'll open your front door and show you a nifty little game I call Strolling Around the Block.

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The big Microsoft news yesterday wasn’t Kodu-related. No, the story of the day was about Xbox LIVE and Silverlight -- a match made in ad hell, we’re sure. We speculated that the upcoming integration was no good. That it would only result in bringing more ads to a service that many shell out a good bit of coin for. According to Major Nelson, these thoughts aren’t accurate. While he successfully avoided mentioning that more ads wouldn’t appear, the Microsoft man did say that the Silverlight integration would make existing ads “more organic.”

“I’ve seen quite a bit of discussion today about how we’re bringing Silverlight ads to LIVE in the future,” Nelson said via his blog. “I need to let you know that you don’t need to worry about a huge influx of ads across the dashboard.”

“One of our core principles is to enhance, not interfere with the gaming experience, and we work directly with our partners to only deliver experiences that are relevant to the LIVE community,” Nelson continued. “Silverlight will help make those ads a more organic part of the dashboard, like we’ve done with some of the NXE slots in the past. No one on the team wants to turn the dashboard into something that looks like Shibuya Crossing. That’s just not good for anyone.”

It’s hard to believe that ads will enhance our experience, but we’ll take that line over dealing with a massive amount of new ads on a paid service any day of the week.

We may pay Microsoft a fee for the honor of using its online gaming service, but that doesn't free us from having to look at a load of advertisements. Microsoft is aiming to make commercials on the Xbox 360 even more blatant, by bringing its Silverlight software to the system.

According to MS' Sean Alexander, companies will be able to run ad campaigns that simultaneously spread across computers, television screens and mobile phones. Basically, we can drown in adverts thanks to Microsoft, while the platform holder sits back and becomes a money magnet. 

"Silverlight-powered media on Xbox will have the same appearance as ads seen on a web browser," says Alexander.

Truly exciting stuff ... for people who aren't us. We gamers who contribute millions of dollars to Microsoft every year are left wondering what, exactly, we need to pay for if the company is already making mad bank on ads. Of course, the answer is that we're paying for nothing, but we'll need to keep doing it in order to play The Halo. I bet we'll be forced to download the thing, which is of no benefit to us, onto our systems as well.  

If we end up with that Smiley advert where the girl shouts "HELLO-OOOO" really loud, I am canceling my subscription.

I used to live in the United Kingdom, and in all my years as a British resident, not once was I considered posh enough to go into a Harvey Nichols. The clothes store is quite upper class and full of designer nonsense, but at least the firm's marketing department has a sense of humor, ripping off Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat to promote its latest sale.

A collection of images which parody fighting games have been created for Harvey Nicks' big sale, and they look ... well ... kind of disturbing, actually. You'd think sexy fighter ladies would be somewhat enticing, but they just creep me out. That's even before you consider that these girls are selling designer clothes, which means they are naturally emaciated, starvling skeletor women. Not sexy at all. 

That said, it's a fun collection of images. I'm still not posh enough to enter the store though.

IndustryGamers revealed today that Electronic Arts and Dr Pepper have struck a multimillion-dollar partnership. EA will be advertising Dr Pepper products in their games starting with The Sims 3 in early 2010. The partnership will see codes appearing on Dr Pepper products that will unlock special content in games, such as beach party items for Sims 3.

It's really impressive to me that this deal was with Dr Pepper and not Coke or Pepsi, two companies that usually get these kinds of deals. I'm glad Dr Pepper was chosen though, as it's the best soda on the market. No other soda comes close to tasting as good as Dr Pepper. Yes, I sound like an ad here, but I truly mean it.

Speaking of which, Dr Pepper, you can send me cases of Dr Pepper as thanks for this free advertising.

I have absolutely no idea what is going on here. Normally you can kind of derive some semblance of understanding out of a commercial or television program just by watching it, but I have no clue what deep sea fishing and Dragon Quest IX have to do with each other. That being said, and to completely contradict my first two sentences, I think I've got a clear picture of what's going on here.

See the fisherman wants to catch some Poorly Dressed Japanese Men (PDJM) to take them home to be his slaves. Since the Japanese love Dragon Quest he uses it as bait. However, once he catches one the rest want it too and he has no idea how to handle five PDJM and so he runs away from the commercial. Things start getting crazy then. PDJM 1, who originally caught the game, swallows it and his life must be saved by the rest of the PDJM team. However, once that is done the Japanese's insatiable hunger for all things Dragon Quest takes over and they leave him on the deck alone and go off to play their DSi.

To summarize: The Japanese are crazy about Dragon Quest and it doesn't matter how insane the commercial for the game is, it's going to sell better than rice. 

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Weekend Destructainment is a collection of funny videos brought together from all across the Internet to bring you entertainment on these slow and boring weekends.

Music mashups, fake trailers, sketch skits, a cat and more are all part of Weekend Destructainment today. After the break, "Thriller" meets Resident Evil. Then it's another awesome Super Mario World music level. Next, Mega64 introduces "Same old shit". Random Robot Intermission follows with the pancake making robot.

Then it's a fake, yet very convincing trailer for a new Duke Nukem game. Next up is the new Mountain Dew World of Warcraft ad. A really cute claymation ad for Monster Hunter Tri follows that. Then Dtoider sickNasty shows us how funny he is. Next, GiantBomb re-examines the Nintendo press conference. The Destructainment ends with 8-bit Keyboard Cat playing us off.

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Samit hat is go!

I suppose I can reasonably say I have interest in the video below because Spike Lee is a filmmaker and I like movies. It's a well known fact that no matter how piss poorly the Knicks are doing Spike Lee is courtside cheering them on -- or attempting to coach the team. So how does he feel about Kobe Bryant landing the cover of NBA 2K10? Well, I'm sure he's fine with it, but he of course has some suggestions that lean more towards his favorite team.

If you're into sports, or even just know the very basics of the basketball season, this is pretty clever. I'm just wondering if enough of the country votes for Kobe in a Knicks jersey if they'll actually go through with it. I think that might be taking it one step too far. I was just in LA and saw what the Lakers fans are like; we don't need any riots caused by videogames. What if Germany heard about that?

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We admit, when we first saw this little exhibit being put together outside the doors of Los Angeles Convention Center’s South Hall, we thought it was Katamari-related. Honestly, it just looks like a bunch of junk -- everything from stuffed animals to an iMac to trash cans -- being piled up.

Further investigation reveals that it’s some sort of installation piece for Ubisoft’s upcoming Wii title, Rabbids Go Home. What does it have to do with the game? According to the game’s trailer, it sounds like the Rabbids are collecting stuff -- everything and anything, in fact -- to build a fort (or... something) to the Moon.

We’d imagine our confusion will be cleared up this week, when we get our hands on the game at E3. We’re also not sure if what Los Angeles needs is a pile of trash sitting on the sidewalk, but far be it from us to question Ubisoft’s marketing department.

Media analyst Screen Digest has predicted that in five years time, in-game advertising will be worth $1 billion, turning it into an irresistible prospect for businesses. Audience media habits and the "unique advantages of dynamic in-game advertising" will drive videogames to become 1% of all digital media marketing by 2014, according to the report.

"There are many ways in which advertising can help evolve business models for video games and we have only just begun to explore that potential," says number cruncher Martin Sorrell. "Given gaming is now a mainstream leisure interest, in-game deserves the same consideration as mobile and social media."

Maybe it's just me, but the projection of $1 billion by five years seems a little ... low. We'll see how it goes, but one would expect videogames to be exploited far quicker than that, especially with Activision in this industry. You can bet they'll welcome the rise of in-game advertising with open arses. 

It is inevitable that videogames will be sucked into the world of advertising in the game way everything else has. We can hope and pray that it's kept tasteful, but we're asking for a lot.

I will have to echo my Kotaku counterpart's feelings on this video and wonder how it took a week for us to find it. Unless of course I'm totally blowing up Hamza's spot right now for the Weekend Destructainment because he's been waiting all week to show this to everyone. Well if I show up with a black eye at the next NARP and say I fell down the stairs, you'll know the real story. He hits because he loves.

Anywho, someone dubbed the Scout from Team Fortress 2 over the infomercial with the guy who likes to beat up on hookers. The sad things is that the ad is far more effective this way then it ever was before. From now on whenever I'm slicing vegetables I'm going to be shouting insults at them constantly. Teach them to be all healthy and stuff. Why can't they just taste like candy?

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GameStops at the Herald Square and Rockefeller Center in New York City celebrated Mutton Chop Madness today in celebration of the release of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The GameStops handed out thousands of fake sideburns that may or may not have been laced with toxins that will make people wearing the sideburns subscribe to Game Informer.

GameStop is also holding a contest over on their Web site where a $100 GameStop gift card is up for grabs. All you need to do is submit a picture of yourself with mutton chops. They're going to be picking one winner a week until May 22. If you don't have mutton chops or can't grow them because you have a vagina, you can download and print out these mutton chops that GameStop has provided. 

FOX is promoting the f*ck out of this game and movie. Oh, and don't forget, Destructoid is giving away a $200 GameStop card sometime today through our Twitter account. 

Anyone see the movie yet? I saw it last night and liked it. It was better than X-3 at least.

Remember those silly ads in Madden 2009? You do? Good. You’re now a statistic. IGA Worldwide -- a huge in-game advertising agency -- recently uploaded a video on YouTube (via VG247) that is positively jammed with statistics that publishers will undoubtedly use as fuel to put more McDonalds billboards in your favorite games.

There are two big claims in the video. The first is that “90 percent of gamers recalled brands they had been exposed to through in-game ads.” The second claim -- and perhaps the most unsettling one of the bunch -- is that “36 percent of gamers bought or requested information on a product after seeing an in-game ad.” Uh oh.

I look forward to the day when I boot up Street Fighter V and choose to fight with the free version of Blanka, who just so happens to be wearing a pair of Nike shoes in an arena sponsored by Lucas Oil. Oh wait, nevermind -- “86 percent of gamers feel contextual ads fit the games.” Scratch that scary dream.

[image via Flickr]

With viral marketing, regular marketing, internet marketing and marketing you don't even know about, the advertising world is a complicated place and game companies need to be at the top of their games in order to catch our attention -- or they can just be really funny. Every year the MI6 Awards honor those gaming companies that pulled off this stunning feat and this year Blizzard, who won for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, and Bethesda, who won for Fallout 3, took home plenty of ice, which is what I assume they give out as these things.

Blizzard took home Gold for the Outstanding Overall Marketing Campaign, with Bethesda picking up Silver. However, Bethesda was really the big winner for the night with nine awards for Fallout 3, including Standout Print Campaign for its "DC Metro Takeover" (check it out here at this totally awesome cblog), Sharpest Pen Award for its "Vault Dweller's Survival Guide" booklet, and three awards for its E3 trailer. Other winners include Guitar Hero: World Tour for Most Effective Viral Marketing/Promotion and the Don't You Wish You Thought Of This award going to the Rayman Raving Rabbids Ringtone Creator. You can check out the full list here, but reading about good ads is boring; watching them is awesome. Hit the jump.

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The Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that Change4Life's stereotypical and stupid ad campaign can stay. Despite infuriating the British game industry with its implication that videogames are part of the "doing nothing" that leads to premature death, the ASA sees no reason to step in.

"Whilst the ASA Council understood the concerns of Tiga and those complainants who worked in the video games industry, it noted that the ad did not claim that playing computer or console games alone would lead to illness or premature death," stated the ASA. 

While I don't think the poster was all that offensive (just, as I say, stereotypical and stupid), I find it quite rich that the ASA will pull videogame adverts that generate about twelve complaints from idiots, yet won't step in when an entire industry is pissed off. It's not that I think Change4Life should be forced to stop. I simply think the ASA is being rather inconsistent in its ruling. 

What confuses me is that the ASA will ban a poster for Burnout simply for implying violent behavior, yet it won't pull these adverts because implication is not enough. I'm just sick of double standards. After all, imagine the furor there would be if the kid in the poster was reading a book. Book reading is even more passive than game playing, but Change4Life would never dare portray books in such a light. If it won't have a kid reading a book, let's not pretend the campaign didn't know what it was doing when it put a game controller in the boy's hand. 

Hypocrisy. Change4Life has it.

I don't know why, but I find the concept of Game Fuel hilarious. It's possibly thanks to it being the dumbest marketing idea in a long time, since it's just a drink that tastes of Gummi Bears and possesses no properties that should ever be able to aid one's gaming habits. Nevertheless, Game Fuel is making its long-awaited return, this time promoting World of Warcraft instead of Halo 3.

The original Gummi Bear "Citrus Cherry" flavor is coming back, rebranded instead as "Horde Red." In addition, a new berry flavor called "Alliance Blue" is on its way. I cannot wait. Game Fuel was around during my first ever trip to America, so it has a somewhat nostalgic quality for me. Now that I live in the States, I shall drink nothing but this cynically marketed fizzy liquid candy. Until the inevitable heart attack stops me. 

I shall await this glorious beverage with glee while clapping my fat hands together. You can also look forward to a full Destructoid review of the drink when it hits Walmart shelves. I promise to finish the entire bottle before reviewing!

Before the weekend we talked about the UK health campaign Change4Life, which had caused controversy in the gaming community for strongly implicating videogames in premature death. UK game industry representative Tiga has officially lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority, which has been reproduced for the Internet to read.

"This advert is absurd and insulting in equal measure. To imply that playing a video game leads to a premature rendezvous with the Grim Reaper is a non-sequitur of colossal proportions. Alcohol and drug abuse, smoking, obesity and involvement in violent crime are forms of behaviour that risk an early death.

In contrast, many video games are mentally stimulating, potentially educational and social and some involve physical exercise. Brain Training, Wii Fit, Civilisation, Singstar and Buzz are cases in point.

This advert is offensive to the 30,000 people who work in the UK’s video games industry, particularly the 10,000 who work in games development. Game developers are typically intelligent, very qualified and creative individuals who work to produce high quality games for people’s entertainment. They are not in the business of driving people to an early grave.

With nearly a quarter of men and women and almost a fifth of two to five year olds in England obese we clearly need to encourage a more active lifestyle and healthy diet. It should be possible to achieve this objective without misrepresenting a creative industry of 30,000 people."

Since the Advertising Standards Authority has pulled several videogame commercials over the years, I hope they'll be just as quick to respond in this case as well. Fair's fair, after all.

Yes, despite all the drama and controversy, Killzone 2 has NOT been released yet, can you believe it? It feels like the bloody thing has been out forever with all the chatter that's been had, and I'm not sure if that's the attitude Sony wants to foster. Still, this is what happens when you have reviews and obligatory fanboy overreactions three weeks before release.

Despite a rising amount of "hype fatigue" that I seem to sense over this game, I am still pumped for its release. Sony hopes to keep us pumped with the above TV spot, which looks like a very typical PS3 commercial. Very arty and "deep", but sexy at the same time. So sexy in fact, that Guerrilla will be offering a "playable" version of the commercial itself on PSN.

"To offer you some insight into the technology behind this game, we will release a playable version of this in-engine ad vignette on the PlayStation Network coming in March," states Sony's Scott Steinberg. "You’ll be able to control the camera and hear director commentary on how the production was completed using only the game’s technology. The project codename is 'Killzone in 4-D' – hope you can check it out."

That's silly. But also kind of cool!

I've never used the Xbox 360 to rent movies, mainly because I'm not buying pretend money to then spend on borrowing a film. Of course, if you're one of the many UK folks who have been watching recent TV commercials for the 360's download services, you might not have known that, because Microsoft didn't tell you.

The Advertising Standards Authority has decided to pull a recent advert for the 360 since it failed to clarify that you only rent movies from the 360 Marketplace and can't buy them. While Microsoft argues that it shouldn't have to tell people an important detail like that, the ASA disagrees. The advert's small print tells viewers that they need a hard drive to take advantage of movie downloads, but fails to note that such downloads expire after 14 days, or within 24 hours of use. 

"Because the ad focused on the Xbox 360 download function and new users could be influenced to purchase on the basis of being able to download and keep movies, we considered that the time limitation to play downloaded movies and the fact that they were being rented rather than bought were significant conditions that should have been clarified in the ad," explains the ASA. 

The ASA tends to overreact and has pulled a number of commercials due to kneejerk complaints from busybodies, but this time I am inclined to agree with the judgement.  The very fact that Microsoft wanted to dodge the issue in the first place should be a big indication that it was probably worth bringing up.

This was bound to get awkward.

The Destructoid Bordello recently received footage of Derek Jeter, John Cena, Tiger Woods and Reggie Bush at the Gillette Champions of Gaming Event last Tuesday where, I shit you not, they shaved on stage. 350,000 people were involved in this ... and what are we supposed to say after witnessing this?  "Bro, that bro's face is smooth like Halo, bro! Does that XTREME aftershave come in a Mountain Dew scent?"

It's kind of like the time we watched the Foo Fighters half-heartedly perform at the Spike VGAs: Celebrity involvement looks good on paper but lacks cohesion when you can smell how uninterested or absurdly paid they must have been to show their faces there. Shouldn't the focus be -- call me crazy -- gaming?

Marketers, please don't do this.  Competitive gaming is in its infancy.  Don't make it look retarded. When the context of your product makes no sense to gamers and you force it, it just makes everyone involved look silly. Including your brand.

Either that, or I'm wrong for pissing on this.  Tiger Woods says he had fun. Maybe this is hip. Maybe I had to be there. Drunk. At least Gillette isn't in the business of butt plugs.

This isn't the first time we have run a story about a twisted Craigslist sex ad, and I personally hope it won't be the last. We've spotted a "27-year-old professional male" who is seeking three women to roleplay as Naomi, Mei Ling and Meryl from Metal Gear Solid while the placer of the ad portrays Solid Snake himself ... and yes, he does make the joke about having a snake that is solid. Twice.

Anyway, we thought we'd give the guy a helping hand. Any takers?

"Must be in the age range of 20-30," he states. "If none of you are Asian, you can choose amongst yourselves which one will be Mei Ling. If by chance one of you has a mother or older sister wishing to play the role of Eve, by all means, do so.

"I will of course be playing the role of Solid Snake, equipped with a VERY solid, and robust snake. If you catch my drift. We will start with the first game and work our way on, night by night.

"Imagine me, crawling around the floor, hiding under the bed, ready to pounce into one of your sloppy p*ssies. Maybe you wont be able to see me, because of my Octocamo suit. Or maybe Ill be blunt and forceful, showing each one of you what a real solid snake is like.

"While I am getting to the CQB with one of you, the others are expected to cheer us on, as they exhibit great lust for each other."

The hopeful Craigslister will supply the costumes, but you must be in the size range of 3-8. You'll also need to be familiar with the characters, although no gameplay experience is expressly required. Just in case you're not wet enough yet, he is open to the idea of meeting for cocktails. What are you waiting for? Go get him! 

[Thanks, Mr. Satsu]

The new Yankee Stadium is currently being finished up in time for Opening Day, which is scheduled for an April 16th game pitting the Yankees against the Cleveland Indians. Built at an astounding cost of $1.3 billion, it’s going to be a state-of-the-art facility -- and you probably won’t be able to walk two feet inside it without seeing something advertising Sony.

This afternoon, the team announced a deal with Sony to bring “a corporate marketing and high-definition technology relationship” to the House that Ruth Steinbrenner Built. What does that entail? Well, there are plans to install over 550 BRAVIA LCD HDTVs around the building -- in luxury boxes, administrative offices, suites, lounges, restaurants, and along the concourses -- as well as “Sony HD branding elements” everywhere. In addition, fans will have access to PlayStation 3 units and VAIO laptops around the stadium. Presumably, Sony’s equipment will be an addition to Cisco Systems’ extensive high-tech systems, which were unveiled in November.

The agreement doesn’t just apply to the building; the right-field wall will feature a Sony ad, and Sony has now been named the official LCD, HDTV, and consumer electronics manufacturer of the team. Such endorsements are common for entire sports -- Samsung is the official HDTV of the NFL, and Sharp is the MLB’s official HDTV -- but I can’t recall an individual team having a deal like this. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if this wasn’t the first time.

While I personally wouldn’t go to a baseball game to play a baseball videogame, I’m sure it can’t hurt to have Sony’s MLB 09 The Show playable for fans -- fans who might end up liking the experience enough to pick up a PS3 (and maybe even a BRAVIA HDTV while they’re at it).

[Thanks, power-glove!]

The Advertising Standards Authority has been an annoying thorn in the side of the videogame industry for a while, having posters and commercials pulled, often for silly reasons. The ASA might be right this time, however, pulling a TV commercial for Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, which can no longer be shown in its current form.

The basis of the complaint is the fact that, despite sporting a Wii logo at the end of the advert, EA has (naturally) chosen to use footage from the Xbox 360 version of the game. The commercial states that the game is available on all formats, but carries a Wii logo. One busybody has complained to the ASA, stating that the footage is "misleading" to Wii owners.

The fact that Tiger Woods is shown swinging a Wiimote to match gestures on the Xbox 360 version isn't misleading at all, of course. 

Everybody knows that no sane publisher would post Wii footage if they have superior footage from another system, since most Wii games look like rubbish. EA put it even more bluntly, defending itself by saying that the Wii version was simply not of "broadcast quality." Ouch. 

Of course, if you own a Wii, you should already be prepared for a game that looks ugly as sin, comparitively speaking. However, the fact that EA showed a Wiimote but not any Wii footage at all is totally false advertising. A lot of stupid people could be suckered in by that and while, technically, it would be their fault for suddenly expecting HD graphics on their white waggle box, the ASA seems to have made a sensible decision. For once.