I'm pretty sure you actually mean 14x6 'feet' and not "inches"

meatee

NVM im tired and stupid and now realize what you meant.

That Boy Baked

@Senji:

What do you mean its taken GTA4 since april to hit 10 MIL sold... it CAME OUT in april.

That Boy Baked

hahahaha i like it, its original

DethKl0k666

Well played EA.

ST19AG_WGreymon

Thats a genious idea.. it works because it draws people so easilly because at first they are like wtf?

Kocrachon

@sixonedoesitall:

I'm not saying 10 million right out of the gate. Hell, its taken GTA4 since April to hit 10 million unites sold. Given the lengths of illegal distribution of PC games, I could see them hitting the 10 million bench mark in a year, 18 months tops. With how much hype and buzz is generating behind Spore, I don't see how it wouldn't be able to break the 5 million mark set by World of Warcraft or any of the Sims titles.

Senji

@Murderdolls:

But what would become of the fun of insulting people for poor grammar and syntax?

sixonedoesitall

@sixonedoesitall: "I guess to and Idiot"

I love stuff like that ^ this site needs an edit button

Murderdolls

@Senji:

I guess to and Idiot even something extremely unlikely would seem feasible.

sixonedoesitall

@DrWyrm:

Actually, I prefer the LittleBigPlanet billboard. It makes more sense, really. But that is just me, plus, I'm crazy excited over LBP.

Senji

@DrWyrm:They stole the idea from spore. :(

You Are My Friend!

Man those sure are some big smiles. They must be very pleased with the advert, that or the yellow-white fruit (?) soda-beverage he's holding...

What the heck is that anyway..?

NeVeRMoRe666

[ps3center.net]

The LBP billboard is just as good.

DrWyrm

@sixonedoesitall:

I don't know about 20 million, but I could easily see it passing 10 million. Can I get $1,000 if it does that? I mean, that sounds like easy money to me.

Senji

This is very awesome. The whole idea behind good marketing is to make your target audience spend time with your product. If the telescope is part of the "product," and people are interacting with it, then this advert is a rousing success.

I like it.

fecalchaos

dumb at best

jove

@VakeroRokero: black eye? LOL

Silenced

Spore is great!

Nothing like I expected, not nearly as complex, in-depth or "fully realized", but it's still an awesome game if you see it for what it is, not what was promised.

Candlejack

@icegoat: No, you're free to take one. :p

scotty

@VakeroRokero:

I can't wait to see the day a pc title other then cutsey Sims or WarCrack Sells more than 5 million.

If Spore reaches 20 million, I'll pay you 2,000$.

Seriously, my email address is harrison_schaerr@hotmail.com

sixonedoesitall

im guessing the telescope is fixed in place...?

icegoat

@sixonedoesitall: just don't buy it. That's the best way the show a company you expect more from them. Hopefully the other 20 million copies sold won't send the wrong signal.

VakeroRokero

That's extremely clever imho. :)

ArgentAngel

@komoki:

Buy it, and after a couple of disappointing hours, you'll have discovered the answer to that question for yourself.

sixonedoesitall

Smart yet dumb at the same time.

Murderdolls

So brilliant an idea that they've already bonus adverts for nothing! I mean, getting people to look at your billboard is one thing, but getting people to read what someone has written about your billboard - that's good marketing!

Toastbusters

@sixonedoesitall:
wait are you serious?

komoki

Too bad the game's not this clever.

sixonedoesitall

That's actually not a bad marketing idea. At the very least, it means people who see it are actively looking at it and not just glancing out of the corner of an eye.

Plus, free telescope sightseeing! None can resist!

sircrowbar

Very clever... hopefully no one puts ink in the visor that gives you a black eye...

VakeroRokero

Now that is cool. It goes hand in hand with Will Wright's design philosophy of making people look at the world differently.

mrdietsoda

hahaha smart and kinda cool

DespisedMC

This seems like a good idea. People start lining up, then other people wonder what the line is for and get in line, and see not only a parody of the most popular music device of all time, but an ad for a game made by Maxis, creators of Sims, what's probably the best selling game of all time. All juxtaposed to a billboard that isn't big enough to live inside.

Talleh

Well... its definitely different.

TF2Soldier914

I completely lost interest in the game, though I must say this ad was very nice.

How about a big microscope with an even smaller ad?

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

@meatee: No, I don't. The top pic is a mock up.

Michael McWhertor

@That Boy Baked:

Heh...at first I had to reread what I said after your first comment. I was like "Did I say the wrong thing?". XD Its all good.

Senji

Clever marketing scheme, but the game dosen't seem to live upto its expectation. Played it for about half hour on a friend's PC, and it's as interesting as watching paint dry.Sadly, I had to cancel my pre-order, else its going to just end up on the shelf.

harshalizee

def awesome + not what you see all the time

slyzxx786

Cute ad idea, but I was never really all that interested in the game itself.

Moparopie

That is one of the cleverest marketing schemes I've ever seen and likely effective.

MrMister

Whoever thought of this marketing SCHEME is a genius.

Ajey

I paint on bigger things than that

chaos_isnt_here

What about the LittleBigPlanet tiny billboards? They have been out in NYC. I guess tiny billboards are the new trend.

jackal888

@sixonedoesitall: Leave it to the Internet to think of nasty remarks about such an awesome idea.

DukeOfPwn

@jackal888: I think its like that little nagging thing in the back of your mind. You see a little thing like that obviously on display but you can't make out what it is. No matter how anti-climatic the end reult actually may be, alot of people would stop at nothing to figure out what this bizarre little anomaly.

Gantz: Your Trusted Friend in Science.

@jackal888:

Man, I gotta track down these LBP boards in NYC...and steal them.

LittleBigPlaneteer

That's awesome. :)

amorphis

This is pretty cool. But a better advertising campaign would be blowing up the moon. Ok....maybe not.

Dr. Nooooooooo

haha thats actually kind of neat. I know i'd def enjoy looking from a telescope to see it. Just seems like a simple fun idea

DarthMetalHope

Damn, If only I had a good reason to go to the Bay this weekend... Oh well, not worth it for a simple ad alone :(

Aex

I wouldn't even notice the billboard if it was right in front of me.

Im Ebay-Bonechewer(WoW)

Its not the size of your boat that counts,
its the motion of the ocean.

Terrorsaur.

Brilliant marketing. All it would take is one person just seeing someone look in the scope and looking interested. They would of course have to see it. Endless cycle.

Chaos_Bringer

Just an observation on those who feel this is a stupid idea: I notice none of you have cared to expand on why.

Turambar

That is just crap. Nice design, stupid idea.

ViceOfFire

It's a smart idea because if it was just a regular billboard, it wouldn't have been posted on Kotaku.

Am I right?

Korey

@sixonedoesitall:

You obviously haven't played the game. The game IS clever, it just is a bit flawed.

Sotiris

@Michael McWhertor: Aah, that's what was throwing me off.

meatee

@Turambar: I didn't say it was a bad idea before but large advertisements will have perhaps hundreds of people notice it as they pass, out of these hundreds how many will it actually affect? I'd say the ratio isn't very good. Think how many people will use this in comparison - a lot less, and let's face it as advertisment goes it's not really that inspirational. Nevertheless I know I'd have to take a look

MikoKeZ

Till now is my favorite set if 2 words...today...well till now

GodKiller0

I taught this game would be boring because I don't really like rts's but it's pretty fun till now!
I recommend it, it's a mix of sims, E.V.O., civilisation and flash games, up till now.

GodKiller0

@Turambar: Well, I wouldn't say stupid, but I don't think it's a very good marketing strategy in the end. Yes, the Kotaku readers may see this and think it's a clever idea (adding about seven copies in total sales), and the people who look through the telescope might appreciate the cool little idea, but as far as an actual marketing tactic goes, it will likely do very little.

It's a simple fact of product marketing: brand name recognition is king. Simply having the title written on a giant billboard by the freeway, being seen by the thousands that drive by would drive up sales far more than even the cleverest of marketing schemes. As it is, it's a clever little gimmick that'll be noted more as a unique trick than for some successful sales tactic.

EmTeeZ

Very clever idea. But that will not motivate me to acquire an EA game.

AxelMinami

Wow... someone deserves some big time recognition in the advertisement world for this little gem!

Anyone know the name of whoever thought of this idea?

Jayl3w

Nice idea. Instead of 1000's people noticing it and not even bothering to read it about 20 people will notice it, find it clever and perhaps buy the game. They'll probably be curious why there's a telescope in the middle of the street first.

Spore's getting some mixed reviews, i'll still buy it though. It's still a good game with a decent metacritic score. I'm sure it will do well, mainly because it's actually being a advertised, it's probably the first non-ds/wii tv advert i've seen in months.

IAmNotKira

seems pointless ...... i dont see how it advertises the game
only one person can read the advert a time .... seems like EA marketing has been smoking the green herb

crazy_jim

I've pre-ordered it. I think the billboard is kind of a meh idea, but I'm looking forward to the game.

Personally, I think it fits LittleBigPlanet better, as seen previously in the comments.

Xeneizes

First thing I thought of was the stone henge scene in Spinal Tap.

nolanvoid

This really does seem a good idea rather than the normal billboards that go largely unnoticed.

I'd rather have this than vague,marketing commercials or tv ads where you don't really know what the product they're trying to endorse until after the end.

Makes me think of the time Flynn had to go all spy-like on a PR stunt for a certain game. It was good fun.

excaliburps

@DukeOfPwn: You say that but have you bought the game? Its nowhere near what it was being hyped as.

The first two phases of the game are cool, but then you lose the creature creator and its just really lame simple RTS action until the space stage. Sure there is clothing, but if you chose a race that is of no normal proportions then its a chore to make it fit in any way that does not look ridiculous.

Even more annoying are the discrete phases. You go through all the trouble to befriend species in the land stage, only to have an entirely new set of beings in the tribal stage. Everything is just discrete chunks.

Six has a point. It may be entertaining but this game is a fraction of what I expected.

djlowballer

It's still in the early stages. Next month the billboard will evolve to be double it's current size. Just wait.

ChelseaCosta

This is all fun and games until you inadvertently look at Mr Nekkid Bear looking out his window on the floor below.

realyst2k

No matter what the issue is, there will always be "that guy" who always has to bring the room down.
If EA's next need for speed game gave you a free car, people will complain that it's not the car they wanted, or something else.
None the less I do believe this is some strong marketing. You're pulling people in to see what the telescope is for and smacking something kinda funny in their way, and most of all, they are going to check it out no matter what we think.

Wasted_Paper_Cow

Now for the scary thought:

Has anyone at EA thought to add "sanitary wipes" for the Telescope, for the event that some "donor" decides to "sparing some DNA" all over the viewing lens?

Soldier_CLE

The smaller the better in my opinion...I'm so damn sick of billboards and especially in-game advertising..."Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs...blocking up the scenery wasting my time...."

Dizqard

@Candlejack: Spore is a great ga

Shockadin

That is a cool idea. Most of the time, a billboard is not really noticed I think (unless it has an underwear model on it, but then who really notices what it's advertising?)

The telescope is out in people's way and they think, why is that there. They look through it and see the billboard they will remember seeing the billboard and probably what it was for.

Great marketing. Much better than giving Michael Phelps a fake game.

Eltigro

[www.ps3center.net]

The telescope for the Spore one is pretty neat, but the LBP one is just better overall, imo.

mfwahwah

'Cause it looks different in close-up and in the distance.

Ilia Chentsov

Is the ad actually glued on the telescope?

Ilia Chentsov

@mfwahwah: i dont get what makes it better....its on grass...i wouldnt notice it at all if i was a tourist and someone didnt point it out

telescopes tho! im a sucker for those

imo Spore>LBp

Kuririn

@ChelseaCosta: then it will go to space putting up more billboards as it terraforms other planets!

Kuririn

I don't think a telescope is required for 16feet by 8 feet, so maybe it actually is inches and not feet.

gnudna

That billboard is just asking to get vandalised.

selfhatingotaku

Great ad. Supercool if you don't have a clue about its meaning too. Plus you just got to love a billboard that doesn't scream for your attention and really tries to be amusing and nice instead.

wooki

On my third play through and still seeing new things. According to my ustream, I have put at LEAST 25 hours into this game. And those are solid, gameplay filled wonderous hours. I think people who say this game is too repetitive or simple or lacks depth, need to play the game through again and/or on hard. I made a creature that had the sucker things all over its body and it was near invisible to melee attacks as it would cancel the attack and start sucking from the enemy, which in turn heals you and hurts them. Instead of a carnivore who must kill the creature to reap rewards. Another nice build is flying and spitting, as then you can just fly up high away from enemies and spit down at them safely out of reach.

stereoa

omfg! I'm gonna go see it today =D I want to take pictures with the telescope at least XD then... only then will I become "cool"

hrabbit

Pretty sure Sony did this first with their Little Big Billboard campaign...but A for effort!

The Yam!

Brilliant idea for advertising. It's just reinterpreting the age old trick of staring up and having others trying to see what your looking at.

I really don't mind adverts when there is a fun twist to them although a lot of the virals are getting pretty stale and annoying.

strix

Am I the only one?

Telescope = Microscope

Al87

Haha. The SF marketing for this is great.

I saw some pretty cool and ambiguous ads while out there.

Will be my first PC game in two years (other than Sam & Max).

sascha23

Well, that's fun.

.em.

hgvgvk

Zezzler

@sixonedoesitall:

Brilliant comment, sir.

Soulrivers

j hnusgnfbg

Zezzler

@VakeroRokero:

I don't see this game selling 20 million copies but I'm sure it will do well, especially with all the Sim obsessives out there. I personally won't get it, but it's not my type of game.

Import98

@sixonedoesitall:

Oh it will, because they went in for the casuals too.

However, no matter what you think of the game the technology behind it is going to be an amazing advancement for all of gaming. The game may seem like cute and simple fluff but the programming behind it is progressive, unique and frankly unheard of. Just wait until other developers get this procedural content generation and procedural animation stuff down.

MPSai

I want that telescope.

ViRiS

they did better advertising in boston. the harvard subway stop is covered in spore ads

kratos1010

I hope no one tries to donate their DNA into the telescope.

Torley

I'd love to have that telescope. I am sick of taking iPhone pictures with my crappy Meade Polaris.

Patient

@DukeOfPwn: Leave it to EA to butcher one of the most hyped games ever.

Roflcopter_Down: Wants you to follow HIM!

@Torley: lol.

thanks for giving me disturbing mental images...with me in them mostly....

O_o

Onizuka-GTO

@sixonedoesitall: That would probably be because evolution is not 'clever.' It's complex, but incredibly obvious from a scientific point of view. Enter, Spore.

The Magnificen7

Will Wright you are a smart man. Or... maybe they wanna save some money....

ManlyVGnoob

great ad. i live in san fran and went by to check it out. thank goodness for kotaku taking a closer pic of the sign cuz i certainly couldnt see it well.

maraxusofk

Haha, v.nice.

Jnas

@Al87: ditto i was expecting to see it on one of them tiny lil glass slides, thnking maybe they laser inscribed it or something...... oh well, its a 9.5 out 10

karmakid

Anyone see the giant add on youtube's homepage

lifeinthefridge

I was going to buy Spore today but we have been without power since Hurricane Gustav. Camping out at a coffee shop right now. Generators have become fetish objects for me. Going to buy one and will probably be playing Fallout 3 on it before our power gets restored (Oh, hello Ike)

Trencher-1

Very clever advertising. Everyone passing by that telescope is going to wonder what its for, and when they see people who currently looking through because of the same reasons they think they gotta do it for themselves as well. When each person that looks through that telescope they are actively looking at the billboard, unlike most of the other ones where people hardly look at em or even concentrate on them.

madbassman39

@Trencher-1: At this moment, you screen name seems very appropriate. Good luck.

The Magnificen7

Seemingly random telescope aimed right at an advertisement... Very good. People can't resist looking in telescopes.

Kenshi_Ryden

Talk about clever and creative advertising.

Vyse

looks more like fourteen FEET by six FEET. the double quotation mark symbol (") means 'inches'. don't you remember how the stonehenge set got fucked up in spinal tap??

Nick Kostalas