Home

 › 

Articles

 › 

Smile With the Lighter Side of Gaming

Smile With the Lighter Side of Gaming

I know we like to say a lot about about companies that rule our gaming world: Ubisoft games are often the perfect examples of basic story-telling, Sony is currently on a power-trip with copyright enforcement, Microsoft keeps trying to market Project Scorpio like a mysterious femme fatale, and EA is far too much in love with soccer. Most of our gripes are understandable, some of them are just because we want immediate gratification more than we want quality. Nonetheless, it’s definitely much easier to complain about faceless corporations than it is the fellow nerd and gamer beside you. Since we often forget that these corporations aren’t quite so faceless, and that they’re often bigger nerds than we are, I’d like to present four reminders that Ubisoft, Sony, Microsoft, and EA, are human afterall.

The most recent, and my personal favorite, is Ubisoft’s announcement of the Nosulus Rift . This video is clearly made with love, attention to detail, and with the heart of South Park humor in mind. The video features quotes from the developers of The Fractured But Whole , Nakata Tuobashi, and Jürgen Bischoff. Ubisoft certainly went the whole nine yards, treating this as seriously as April Fools. The funniest bit, in my opinion, was when the video presented the Bischoff speaking enthusiastically in German about the surprising difficulty in duplicating the smell of a fart. Then, (I can’t even write this without laughing) there’s a row of naked manly butts behind glass and the Bischoff walking by and sniffing each. I don’t think Ubisoft can really get more absurd than that, though I would be overjoyed if they could top it .

There’s certainly no money to be made in such a video, but it speaks volumes to gamers. Another such humanizing video, though not nearly as hilarious, is Sony’s parody of Daft Punk in their PS4 unboxing video. Sony uses the distinct leather gloves and lighting that tastefully mimic the unique band. If nothing else, this video shows that Sony is paying attention to current Western trends. However, it’s a gamble that fans of Sony are fans of Daft Punk, so I think this is purely evidence that someone at Sony is a huge fan of the band. Thus, happily creating this video in celebration of the band’s 2013 hit song, “Get Lucky”. This is a lot more subtle than Ubisoft, but Sony has never been quite as absurd or crass.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is somewhere between Ubisoft and Sony. It doesn’t have quite the subtly of Sony, and isn’t as ridiculous as Ubisoft. Though this example doesn’t pertain to gaming specifically, I still think it helps to remind us fans that Microsoft isn’t always the serious executive selling you the next console. In Microsoft’s commercial for the OneNote on the Surface Pro 3, the company very badly parodied LMFAO’s “I’m Sexy and I Know It”. The re-written lyrics alone make me cringe, but in a way only Microsoft can manage, the video is so bad it’s good. If only they would take the same attitude towards Project Scorpio, we might be a little more interested in it. Nonetheless, the bad puns are a reminder that Microsoft isn’t always so faceless.

Smile With the Lighter Side of Gaming

EA makes this list with an underhanded parody poking fun at Activision during a legal battle with the other developers. This is from way back in 2011, when Activision decided it was a grand idea to claim that EA contacted West and Zampella (developers of Call of Duty ) asking them to delay the release of Modern Warfare 2 ’s “Stimulus Pack” downloadable content in order to protect the release of its “weaker” game, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 . During this upheaval, EA launched “the most epicly epic game of all time”, Duty Calls . The game was free to download for a short period and featured “significant and historically accurate props”, and my favorite from the list: “thwart an enemy threat that could topple the country and possibly the world.” Whether EA was trying to lighten a serious situation or actually trying to attack Activision, we’ll never really know. Regardless, it’s a lovely parody that reminds me that EA doesn’t exist just to create the next million dollar profit in another soccer game.

So whenever you’re really frustrated with Ubisoft’s characterization of Desmond from Assassin’s Creed , Sony’s better-than-thou attitude, Microsoft’s mysterious Scorpio, or EA’s FIFA one too many times edition, take a look at this article again. They are not always horrible, and they are populated by humans who love gaming and other nerdy things as much as you do. If you can find any more pranks, jokes, or parodies by these big gaming corporations, please share them in the comments below!

To top