Ad critic: Auto Assault MMORPG

This edition of our ad critic series is coming to you a day late. Sorry about that. All the excitement over Nintendo's big announcement has left us with little capacity to discuss anything else.

Now that the hubbub's died down a wee bit, we ask you to focus your critical energies on this ad for NCSoft's Auto Assault MMORPG found on the back cover of the May 2006 edition of Computer Gaming World. (Click the thumbnail to view a high-res scan of the ad.)

Does this advert work? How would you compare the quality of the concept and execution to other gaming ads? We already spy a bit of a mistake in this ad. Can you spot it? Also, what's with the Dell logo? Finally, for those of you who've played the game, does this ad capture what's best about the game, from your perspective (in other words, is there a disconnect between advert and experience)?

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/29/ad...ssault-mmorpg/

I like the use of loads of screenshots in ads : it shows the bods behind the development are proud of the beast they have created...
It compares pretty well to the (beta) version I played fast and furious and pretty blooming destructive (often the carnage playing out before you has you whoopin for joy). It perhaps falls a little short of summing up the game as it touts the "third person" bit in the game by showing you the characters, which is quite frankly, dreadful !

If I see adverts I still tend to go off and read a few reviews before parting with cash but it can be a good way of getting upcoming games "out there"...

I went for a wander through "Game" the other day just to see if I could pick up a game I'd been after for a while and saw "Dangerous Waters" (due for release soon) on the shelf there herlading its approaching release : I was a bit surprised as I buy both best selling PC game magazines each month and keep my ear close to the ground on the web too yet none of my reliable sources had mentioned it. Had an advert been published some time before now I would have been anticipating the release greatly.

On the subject of "DELL" branding and for that matter nVidia / ATi / Runs great on Pentium etc - this infuriates me and is clearly a case of trying to convince the stupid that just because they don't have the hardware mentioned in the intro to a game or advert of a game it somehow means they can't run it properly and similiarly that such people not in posession of these brand names should be looked down on (a sort of co-ercing of schoolyard - 'that kid aint wearing nike trainers so he aint cool enough to hang with us crazy cats' or whatever the devil it is you kids say these days....' mentality is being fostered.. This marketing ploy must work i suppose otherwise these big companies wouldnt waste their money on it.

Has anyone saw the "other" advert taken out in magazines which shows a cheerful mother and son standing next to their driveway where one of the metal monsters of the game is parked ? Quite clever but shows nothing of the actual game itself....