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(spoilers ahead)
I love Alan Wake. The game's creepy atmosphere, engaging gameplay and awesome visuals hooked me, but what impressed me most was the carefully crafted story. It's a story that you can take seriously--at least at first.
In Episode Four, though, there's a piece of product placement that's so jarring, so nonsensical, and so downright bad, it's the fictional equivalent of a game-killing glitch.
Keep in mind, at this point in the story, we're unsure if the insane asylum which Wake is escaping from exists in real life and is haunted, or is some twisted figment of his imagination. Either way, why would there be a commercial on TV? The electricity is being controlled by the swirling darkness outside. Does the evil force want Wake to buy a Mustang? For that matter, why would Alan stand there and watch?
This is way different and way worse than a billboard in the background or a TV commercial in the "real" world -- those can be justified within the fictional universe. To add insult to injury, you even get an achievement for sitting though Verizon's pitch. The argument about whether games are Art is ridiculous in the face of this kind of evidence -- it's obvious games are commerce.
10 Comments
NordlichReiterI was thinking of buying it. But not now.
When I bought Rainbow Six Vegas and I saw the add placement for Repo-men I was disgusted. Rainbow Six Vegas sucks too. The multi-player was horrendous.
IAmTheBlurrWoah!!! For anyone that hasn't seen it, I highly recommend searching for the Mustang Drift videos. They're somewhere on Ford's website but it's a very impressive series of videos for the new Mustang. They get one of the top US Formula Drift drivers to go to Japan with a 500hp mustang. It's really cool seeing an American muscle car driving around Japanese streets, using their automated car parks and drifting on some of the most notable tracks in all of Japan.
vaporlockSeriously... WTF
dystopianfuturetodayIs that real?
Trancecoach*viral
siftbotAdding video to channels (Viral) - requested by Trancecoach.
budzos>> ^NordlichReiter:
I was thinking of buying it. But not now.
When I bought Rainbow Six Vegas and I saw the add placement for Repo-men I was disgusted. Rainbow Six Vegas sucks too. The multi-player was horrendous.
What the hell could possibly offend you about this to the point where you're not going to buy the game? To me, having a real ad on the TV screen in an extremely realistic game only adds to the immersion. I know it's a fine line, but I seriously don't understand your reaction to this specific example.
gorillamanIt amounts to an undeclared surcharge on the game, which frankly ought to be illegal.
NordlichReiter>> ^budzos:
>> ^NordlichReiter:
I was thinking of buying it. But not now.
When I bought Rainbow Six Vegas and I saw the add placement for Repo-men I was disgusted. Rainbow Six Vegas sucks too. The multi-player was horrendous.
What the hell could possibly offend you about this to the point where you're not going to buy the game? To me, having a real ad on the TV screen in an extremely realistic game only adds to the immersion. I know it's a fine line, but I seriously don't understand your reaction to this specific example.
For you it may make immersion greater, but for me it breaks the whole survival horror immersion.
It's like a salesman in a bright red leotard standing amidst the brown haze of a horde of zombies.
Vic2Point0I disagree 100%, this was one of the BEST product placements ever in a video game! You're just not getting the subtle humor. To me, it was very obvious. First, take note of the fact that they were inarguably wanting to make this game feel a bit like a television series. This is made most evident by the way they ended and began each episode (not to mention the fact that they called them "episodes" to begin with), but also by the cinematics in battle, the independent camera controls that let you see what was behind Wake as he was running forward, the narration, the fact that all the manuscripts had to appear on screen with the author's voice reading it aloud- erm, I think I made my point there.
So what would a television series do, naturally, at a moment like this? Why, GO TO A COMMERCIAL BREAK, OF COURSE! That's why this TV was in the break room. Commercials? Break room? You get it now?
However, I wouldn't even agree that this did any noteworthy damage to the tension. Because, arguably, the most "scary" part was over. At this point, all you had to do was get by that chandelier ball thingy and you're outside with Barry Wheeler, comic relief! I thought it was brilliant.
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