HomeVideo Games5 Memorable Video Game Trailer Campaigns That Remain Stuck in My Head

5 Memorable Video Game Trailer Campaigns That Remain Stuck in My Head

Unlike television commercials which are thrust upon viewers many at a time, granted things are a bit different nowadays in the streaming economy, video games don’t have that same captive audience when it comes to their trailers. Having been unwell for the last week and a half, in sort of a brain foggy stupor, I took far more time than I usually would of my isolation scrolling through Youtube browsing various trailers from games of the past, and there were a few that I think nailed the marketing and kept me coming back to them again and again.

To celebrate some excellent marketing and pushing the standards of a trailer more than just showing snippets of a game, below are five trailers/trailer sets that have both earned a permanent spot in my brain and should be celebrated for their ingenuity.

1
Rare Replay

We blew our budgets on this hall
Just so you can play them all

Marketing 30 of the game’s from your development studio’s 30-year history would be very easy, especially when you are a company like Rare, enjoying a long history of hits and a loyal fanbase over the time. Going the simple route of just highlighting all the games in the collection, and a few interesting titbits would have probably won over a lot of fans (at least on Xbox consoles). But Rare and Microsoft did something Broadway-worthy to promote pre-orders opening for the game, they put on an animated show!

With a catchy song celebrating the studio’s 30 years, and the non-canonical outlandish nature of the whole trailer, it was the perfect solution to bring characters of such distinct styles and generations together in a style that suited Rare’s 90s and 00s humour perfectly. Plus, who can say no to another line from one of video games most… memorable antagonists… the Great Mighty Poo.

Granted I have a personal love of musical theatre, but musical numbers I believe are always a great way to keep your game in the mind of players.

2
Elevator Action Deluxe

HE’S BACK, SO IS THE ELEVATOR.

More than ten years ago, Square Enix published a ‘Deluxe’ Edition of TAITO CORPORATION’s 1983 game Elevator Action onto the PlayStation 3 – giving the game a fresh coat of paint and a whole new market to expose the arcade classic to – in a time where downloadable gaming was still very much in its infancy. While I am not sure just how well the game sold, I still remember reviewing the game, sharing its trailer on this site, and heck, still find myself drawn to re-watching it ever so often.

Again, music is a shining element of the trailer. Despite not being a song in the original 1980s game, the new theme song gives the impression that you are indeed taking control of a spy who finds himself trapped in a labyrinth of elevators – with the visuals and animation both synced well with the song.

Also, it is evident that the creatives had a lot of fun in creating this. Not confined to just gameplay snippets, seeing scenes of the “bad guys” dancing for good portions of the video and delivering rather impressive pelvic thrusts was a nice touch, and is also something that has stayed in my mind since first watching it. The choice of gameplay footage was also appropriate, and while more late-game footage, it showed the chaos that could unfold both in the single player mode, and the multiplayer mode.

Heck, I think we need a comeback of Elevator Action!

3
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

EVERYONE IS HERE!

Many fans of the Super Smash Bros. video game franchise will likely remember what they were doing when they first watched the EVERYONE IS HERE! trailer for the Nintendo Switch instalment in the series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. What started off as a video of franchise mainstays making an appearance quickly escalated (in time with the increasing intensity of the music) from “Oh wow, Breath of the Wilds Link” to “Oooooh! Ice Climbers!” and then to the appearance of Snake with the words “EVERYONE IS HERE”.

Nintendo had done what many believed would be nigh impossible to achieve… every character in any of their past games would be making an appearance. Those butterflies that you feel in your stomach with a surge of positive emotion…. yep, those flew up higher and left my mouth entirely. The choice of music (an instrumental rendition of the game’s main theme) complemented by the ordering of characters, and the tiny changes evident in each returning character make this video surpass a normal gameplay video reveal.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, in my opinion, had one of Nintendo’s best marketing campaigns to date, both for its pre-release content and post-launch content. Part of this needs to go to director Masahiro Sakurai, who was the public face of the game, and also that they made the announcement of each DLC character an event. Rather than just an announcement on a website, they took over The Game Awards in announcing Joker from Persona 5 as a DLC character, they made a scene of finally getting Banjo-Kazooie into Super Smash Bros. despite multiple console generations and the franchise now being owned by Microsoft. Looking at generating hype, few can beat what Nintendo accomplished in their several year long campaign.

4
Early 2010s Nippon Ichi Software America

NOW, GO KILL THE PERV WHO‘S SOILING MY PURITY
WHO THE HELL STOLE MY PANTIES?

While Nippon Ichi Software / Nippon Ichi Software America have some great niche games on the market even today, which I have undoubtedly pulled a combined thousand plus into, some of their best years were easily in the Early 2010s. This was a era of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, where their games were clearly seeing a rising demand from the western market, and they had this whole “lets go all in” air to their promotional material.

While it was hard to pick just one video for this article, to encompass everything amazing with Early 2010s NIS America trailer, but in the end I could not pass up on the official English Trailer for Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood!. While often in the 5+ minute range, these videos generally featured English voice acting, fourth-wall breaking a-plenty, offered plenty of nods to long-time fans, and all the while serving as an instructional video to the mechanics of the game. Other examples I recommend checking out include those for Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten and Z.H.P. Zettai Hero Project.

The sad thing is that NIS America stopped making trailers of this style after a few years, and I believe they are well overdue to return to this style of promotion.

5
Saints Row: The Third

TALL CAT PARADE!

Continuing on to the last set of game trailers on this list, we stay in the Early 2010s and the release of Volition and THQ’s open-world action-adventure game Saints Row: The Third. With a change in game location also came a deviation of the series, from something akin to Grand Theft Auto and into its own genre of unique comedy. And the inclusion of the legendary mythology behind Professor Genki, came one of the most out-there live-action games I have seen to date.

In addition to the normal wave of trailers at the time, the studios partnered with Eric Wareheim and Tim Heidecker to produce a full-length version of Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax – a game show featured in Saints Row: The Third – albeit one with substantially less guns that in-game.

From cult worship, to wacky transitions, to the sexy genki girls to some…. rather morbid punishments for contestants win or lose – there is a lot to take in from this video, and whether a fan or newcomer to the franchise, it is certainly worth a watch.

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Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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