Before the PS4 came out in the US on November 15, Sony began running an ad about two gamers’ perfect day in the world of PlayStation featuring nods to The Elder Scrolls Online, DriveClub and Killzone: Shadow Fall. While it’s a decent ad, it can’t hold a candle to the ad Sony’s European branch put together for the PS4’s launch in Europe on November 29.
For those interesting in the creative process that goes behind game ads, Sony has put together a little making of video that details how they went about creating the European PS4 launch ad. According to the producers, the ad was all about transporting the player to the world of PlayStation. If you’ve seen the full ad, you know that they accomplished this right from the start with overt references to Street Fighter, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, inFamous: Second Son and Killzone: Shadow Fall.
Interestingly enough, the production studio also snuck in little references to PlayStation’s past throughout the entire ad. For instance, there’s a sign that features a silhouette of Crash Bandicoot. This sign alone set off a number of theories that Sony had bought the rights to Crash Bandicoot back from Activision, but it looks like this was merely a reference to the company’s past. Other notable references include a sign pointing in the direction of Silent Hill and a garage door with PaRappa the Rapper on it.
Video game ads may be nothing but marketing, but gamers tend to reserve a special place in their heart for the very best ads, like Nintendo’s “Now you’re playing with power” campaign or Sega’s “Genesis does what Nintendon’t” campaign. Sony looks to have its “4ThePlayers” campaign join the same group of highly regarded ads that cease to be marketing and become an integral part of the gaming community’s shared culture.
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