The Sony PlayStation was the first ever console to truly pitch itself at an adult market. This meant that the machine’s advertisements set a more mature, often strange tone that continues through to this day.
The PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3, all have had their share of kooky advertisements, and all have had their share of truly woeful ones. Yet they’ve also had some of the best ads ever made, not just for the video game market, but in the field of commercials as a whole.
We’ve picked a bunch here that stand out as the most memorable. That means some are the best, some are the weirdest and some are, well, the worst. Remember, this is just a selection: if you favourite is missing, drop it in the comments below!
Total Recall is a look back at the history of video games through their characters, franchises, developers and trends.
Let’s begin with one of the most famous: this masterpiece for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.
Sony’s US arm has never quite managed to be as tasteful or as subtle as its European counterparts.
Sexual innuendo, a men’s bathroom, a PSP… this one had it all.
The 1990s were a dark, dark time.
It seems crazy, but remembering the PS3 launched in Japan on November 11 makes it less crazy.
This delightful little ad may have had nothing to do with video games, but it’s still a charm.
This series of Ratchet & Clank ads for the US market had some impressive special effects.
Did you know David Lynch made a PS2 commercial? Unsurprisingly, it is batshit crazy.
Ah, the PlayStation 3. Such a wonderful machine. Such terrible advertisements. Let’s take a look at some of the worst.
Ugh.
OK, this one wasn’t so bad.
This one? This one was. The terrible “This is Living” campaign in Europe really set the tone for how disastrous the PS3’s early months were.
Japan, you keep doing what you do best and we’ll keep on loving you.
This. This is my favourite. I HATED it at the time, but she’s just so damn creepy that the ad has stuck with me over ten years after it was first shown. Film and music video buffs should know that it was directed by Chris Cunningham (and you can what the freaky girl actually looks like here).
Perhaps the most famous, and successful PlayStation ad of them all, “Mountain” won a swag of advertising awards when first released. And it’s not hard seeing why. A truly amazing ad.
We’re gonna need a bigger PS2….
Giant babies? Adorable. Yet also terrifying…
The PlayStation! It’s a menace!
And finally, Kevin Butler. We couldn’t put one of these together without him.
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