Gaming - News
The Weirdest Video Game Ads Of All Time
By ZACH DIAZ
Mascot Brawl
"Super Smash Bros." had a commercial that perfectly depicted the premise of the Nintendo 64 party fighter, with costumed mascots of Yoshi, Mario, Pikachu, and Donkey Kong beating each other silly. The ad then transitioned to gameplay with the narrator detailing the 4-player chaotic gameplay of "Super Smash Bros."
Toy Baby
Riding the high of record-breaking sales for the PS2, Sony decided to be experimental with the PS3’s marketing. It made a commercial where a toy baby sits with a PlayStation 3 in an empty white room, gets excited, then cries while horrifying images are seen in its eyes; at this point, the Playstation rises off the ground with the tagline "Play Beyond" underneath.
Rick and Morty
PlayStation teamed up with “Rick and Morty” for three ads promoting the PS5 and some popular games. The first featured the two titular characters traveling through the world of “Death Stranding”; the second was a more straightforward ad, where Morty rattles off the features of the PS5; and the last was a play on “God of War” with Rick as Kratos and Morty as Atreus.
Kirby’s Friend
"Kirby Canvas Curse” was a Kirby game where players would use touchscreen controls to draw rainbow lines. Nintendo’s commercial for the game involved a finger mascot spending a day with Kirby in a real-world environment —- an idea that sounds wholesome, but is off-putting once viewers see the faceless, sandal-wearing finger with Kirby’s unchanging smile.
David Lynch
David Lynch, the prolific director of psychological horror and surrealist films, once made a trilogy of PlayStation 2 ads that live up to his strange reputation. All three commercials hint at the PS2 being out of this world, with seemingly random and strange events occurring, such as a deer walking away unscathed after getting hit by a car or a duck talking directly to the viewer.
