I don't remember seeing video game commercials when I was growing up. We may have gotten the occasional commercial when an entirely new system was about to be released, but video game release dates were only known by the people who worked in the store. As Madden was hitting its peak you may have heard about when it was going to be released, but I never felt like their was a marketing blitz. Now you see a video game advertised at every commercial break (if you watch the same channels as I do) and they look like movie trailers, complete with the anticipated release date. And just like a movie they must be sold to the general public through any means necessary. Since re-launching his late night talk show on TBS, Conan O'Brien has been test driving video games, despite the fact he doesn't play or like video games. What I like about it is that because he has no idea what he is talking about he spends most of his time just cracking jokes, giving it the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, which is my favorite way to watch most things. Anyway, this week the new Tomb Raider game is coming out and they gave Conan a copy to play with. What came next was comedy gold.
Thursday, March 7, 2013
A Serious Game
I used to think I had a pretty serious video game habit. I had been known to stay up extremely late playing Madden the day I got it to have as much time building my roster as possible and then be a zombie for the next day. Now I realize that by doing that on the first night I had a new game I was nothing compared to the people who play that way every night. My little collection of Madden, Tiger Woods PGA Golf and the occasional Grand Theft Auto doesn't even register in the gaming world. I guess that is why I was so unaware of just how far gaming had come. Even a person who doesn't play video games would be able to tell you that video games have come a long way since the days of Pong, but the last couple of systems have taken games to new levels. Just like with a normal computer, as gaming systems come with more and more memory they are capable of running more complicated programs. Thus, the games which are coming out today are amazingly detailed and look more like movies than video games. I guess that it is why it is no surprise to see more games as now being marketed like movies as well.
I don't remember seeing video game commercials when I was growing up. We may have gotten the occasional commercial when an entirely new system was about to be released, but video game release dates were only known by the people who worked in the store. As Madden was hitting its peak you may have heard about when it was going to be released, but I never felt like their was a marketing blitz. Now you see a video game advertised at every commercial break (if you watch the same channels as I do) and they look like movie trailers, complete with the anticipated release date. And just like a movie they must be sold to the general public through any means necessary. Since re-launching his late night talk show on TBS, Conan O'Brien has been test driving video games, despite the fact he doesn't play or like video games. What I like about it is that because he has no idea what he is talking about he spends most of his time just cracking jokes, giving it the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, which is my favorite way to watch most things. Anyway, this week the new Tomb Raider game is coming out and they gave Conan a copy to play with. What came next was comedy gold.
I don't remember seeing video game commercials when I was growing up. We may have gotten the occasional commercial when an entirely new system was about to be released, but video game release dates were only known by the people who worked in the store. As Madden was hitting its peak you may have heard about when it was going to be released, but I never felt like their was a marketing blitz. Now you see a video game advertised at every commercial break (if you watch the same channels as I do) and they look like movie trailers, complete with the anticipated release date. And just like a movie they must be sold to the general public through any means necessary. Since re-launching his late night talk show on TBS, Conan O'Brien has been test driving video games, despite the fact he doesn't play or like video games. What I like about it is that because he has no idea what he is talking about he spends most of his time just cracking jokes, giving it the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" treatment, which is my favorite way to watch most things. Anyway, this week the new Tomb Raider game is coming out and they gave Conan a copy to play with. What came next was comedy gold.
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