Game Ads Guaranteed to Win Your Attention

Regardless of how dull or worthless the actual product displayed may be, a controversial, eye-catching ad will always win your attention. Many game publishers have used this age-old technique over the years, often for lackluster titles that, without an “edgy” ad with shock-value (often depicting violence and sex), you would have just flipped right past. Here are three ads that you’ll definitely garner more attention to than the typical, generic gaming advertisements commonly found in magazines.

Daikatana (PC, Nintendo 64)

This was a highly over hyped and severely disappointing shooter. Produced by John Romero (lead producer of such legendary first-person shooters like Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and Quake), Daikatana had a troubled development life and was universally panned by critics.

Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix (PSX)

All right, so Fear Effect 2's supposed to be pretty damn good. Unfortunately, more people seemed to be talking about the controversial lesbian ads around the time of release than the game itself. Notice that this ad features absolutely no game play screen shots - who needs 'em anyway?

Spawn: the Eternal (PSX)












Spawn titles have had a history of failing to live up to their source material, and The Eternal is no exception. Just forget about this horrendous action title and lookit that bloody arm! This advertisement is most likely the only memorable quality about this otherwise unworthy product.

The Top-Selling Titles of the Past Year: Did Your Favorite Make the List?

Entertainment website Next Generation has revealed the top 100 best selling games of the past twelve months. Here's how the top ten stacked up:

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
2. Halo 3
3. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
4. FIFA Soccer 08
5. Madden NFL 08
6. Need for Speed: ProStreet
7. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
8. Assassin’s Creed
9. Super Mario Galaxy
10. Brain Age 2: More Brain Training in Minutes a Day

Notes of interest:

-If you would had told people last year that Call of Duty 4 would outsell Microsoft's chief juggernaut, Halo 3, then they would have possibly called out the men in white coats to take you away. However, that very thing happened over the past year... Considering that Call of Duty 4 appears to have more online players and an overall higher percentage of satisfied customers, this should come to no surprise to gamers who have been following these two heavyweights lately.

- An enormous amount of rubbish has sold this year, often beating out quality titles that deserve high sales. Wait, you mean the abominable Imagine: Fashion Designer outsold such well-received titles like Ratchet & Clank: Future Tools of Destruction, Heavenly Sword, and Burnout Paradise? Yup, it's true.

- This list accounts both Europe and North America. With that in mind, the reason titles such as Fifa 08 and The Simpson's Game had such remarkable sales are due to Europe, whose purchases account for the vast majority of the sales for those titles.

- Assassin's Creed is the only original IP to crack the top ten.

Take a look at the entire list for yourself here.

Pikmin and Fire Emblem Titles Price Increase Most Likely Due to 'Brawl'

Not too long ago the two entries in the Pikmin series and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (all for Gamecube) weren't fetching an ample amount of dough. It wasn't uncommon to find the original Pikmin for less than $20, its follow up for around 30 beans, and Fire Emblem in a similar price range. Hell, in terms of Fire Emblem, I recall spotting it on clearance at Gamestop brand new for a mere $10 and they still had a excursive time selling off their stock.

Now, with the release of the obtusely-popular Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, these titles have gone way up in value. What would that title have anything to do with this, you ask? Well, for one thing, the characters found in these particular titles can also be found in Brawl. Add in the fact that the Wii is backward-compatable with the Gamecube and you now have a decent, if temporary, market for these somewhat-overlooked titles (Fire Emblem didn't sell like hotcakes, but the Pikmin titles did reach Players' Choice status. Despite that, tracking down copies on the market as of late has been tough - and that's putting it lightly).

Browse any auction site and you'll see that the original Pikmin sells used for upward of $40, the sequel for $70 and up, and Fire Emblem for around $40 used. However, all three of these titles commonly eclipse the $100 mark when sold brand new.

Yeah,yeah, these are fantastic games... but there's never been a superior time to sell off your copies to make a quick buck.

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