Gaming

If high school or F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s subject matter and constant use of symbolism, both obvious and subtle, never encouraged you to read a copy of The Great Gatsby, now is the time to truly realize the scope of the American Dream and play “The Great Gatsby – For NES.”

Designed by Barbarian Group developer Charlie Hoey after he apparently found some form of the 1990 Nintendo version at a yard sale with very little information attached to it (not really), you control the book’s narrator Nick Carraway through four levels of Long Island wealth and Manhattan chaos. Find Jay Gatsby at his mansion, throw your hat at butlers and mobsters, journey through the New York City Sewer and follow that green light to videogame glory as you uncover the mystery of Gatsby’s wealth and relationship to your second cousin, Daisy.

Okay, the game pretty much skips most of the book’s plot save a few cut-scenes. But, if you’re a bigger fan of 8-bit side-scrollers than classic American literature (who isn’t?), then enjoy this game that ends all too soon. Hopefully Hoey can now start working on a game based on For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Wieden + Kennedy gives it another go in promoting the first-person shooter gaming genre with its effort for EA’s Bulletstorm, which allows gamers to perform “Skill Shots” or crazy combos rather than killing your average mutant, alien, etc. In turn, the participants can earn the user more points.

The spot above, dubbed “Duty Calls,” basically rips on Call of Duty for being just another cliched shooter game, proclaims that Bulletstorm goes against the grain and continues W+K’s foray into parody. If you recall, the agency last took a shot at Halo in early January with “Last Call.”

So if you feel like taking a five-minute stroll on the interwebs, check out W+K and Other Ocean Studios’ effort, which heckles some of the genre’s most worn-out conventions.

Credits after the jump.

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By now, most of you have probably seen the “Your Mom Hates ‘Dead Space 2′ clip that Draftfcb San Fran created for EA, which has proven so effective that even the geniuses at Adult Swim are singing its praises and dubbing it the “best marketing idea of 2011.” We can’t say we really disagree. Of course,  the folks behind Cartoon Network’s late-night programming slate have their own ideas for how this ad should run as you’ll see.

“Angry Birds,” one of the most addicting iPhone apps ever created was given the Ken Burns treatment by Kansas City-based web developer Chris Riebschlager.

When not occupied by doing digital work for McDonald’s and Hostess, His idea for the video came out of hypothetical war letters Riebschlager posted on his blog, eventually giving way to “Letters From the Frontline” with Riebshlager himself providing all of the voice work. Admittedly, he is not a professional VO actor, which is probably why all of the birds sound the same. Still, isn’t it comforting to know that there are people out there as addicted to certain cell phone games as you are?

No longer do you have to feel self-conscious for being the only one of the bus/train looking busy texting but actually just throwing bird projectiles into pig-made fortresses. You’re not crazy, at least not as crazy as that guy from Kansas City who made a whole video about it, or at least not as crazy as I am for penning an entire orchestral composition devoted to “Bubble Breaker.”

Seven seasons in, and HBO’s Entourage still seems to have some marketing strength behind it. In one corner, you have EA Games’ Need for Speed, the most successful (and prolific) racing videogame  franchise in history that’s set to have a new installment, Hot Pursuit, released on Nov. 16. In the other corner are a pair actors whose fame comes from portraying two of the most annoying characters in the history of televised fiction. Thanks to Entourage and the inaccurate interpretation of Hollywood douchebaggery as “kind of cool,” we now have the lame spokesbros of what is sure the be one of the most highly rated video games of the year.

Of course, if W+K Amsterdam opted (or had the budget) for Entourage‘s two biggest breakout stars, Adrian Grenier and Jeremy Piven, it would be hard take our “loser by day, hero by night” subjects seriously as valets. Then again, we do know Kevin Dillon as “Johnny Drama,” the untalented brother of a Hollywood star who will take any role he can get. We also know him as Matt Dillon‘s less-talented brother, who has no problem picking up his trademark shades and playing a “renegade cop.” We know Jerry Ferrara only as “Turtle,” the hip-hop speaking fat guy who looks pretty good since dropping the weight. Only through the miracle of videogames could these guys really have a shot at being famous, and even then it would only be their online screen names that people know.

In this sense, W+K has it right: no one would think either of these guys has any sort of rebellious alter ego capable of winning an illegal street race or a high-speed chase. We just wonder if Dillon and Ferrara are wise to the joke.

Credits and two more spots with a bit more acting after the jump:

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Davis Elen Advertising has announced Thursday this week as the day when they will literally be blowing up a four-ton armored truck (Snoop Dogg will be pushing the plunger) in the Las Vegas desert for the world to see as part of the promotion for Mafia Wars: Las Vegas. You can watch what goes down on ustream.tv from 5:30-6:30 PST and also track the event and get more details on the Mafia Wars site.

“We want to continually deliver the most exciting game experience for our community and expanding the game to Las Vegas was the obvious next step,” says Scott Koenigsberg, Mafia Wars general manager at Zynga, in a statement. “New and existing players are flocking to Vegas–more jobs are being done there than anywhere else. This launch also marks an exciting first, where our players take action in-game and can experience the consequences of their actions taken offline with the armored car explosion.”

More: 7-11 and Zynga have launched a digital ad campaign with the help of out of OOH firm Titan.

Some hard-lining Christian types call video games a tool that keeps men from doing better things with their lives. We call them ‘Monday nights with the guys’. Though enriching one’s life with volunteer work and philanthropy is probably a good thing, there’s no guarantee it’ll get you into Heaven. So, why not enjoy what little free time you have by pwning some bitches with a digital character you could never hope to be?

Along with the games are their campaigns, and after the jump we’ve posted some of the best. We compiled these with the help of our Twitter followers, many of whom are as-big-or-bigger gaming nerds than we are. After the jump, enough trailers to keep you busy til 5. There’s 20, so settle in.

(Note: We’ll go from our least favorite to the best, from top to bottom. Let us know if we missed any at agencyspy[at]mediabistro[dot]com)

More: “Video Games as Mass Medium for Your Ads”

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This week we’ve been chasing down information regarding TBWA\Chiat\Day’s campaign work for Infinity Ward and Activision-Blizzard’s latest game title, Modern Warfare 2 &#151 which, according to some predictions, could be the highest grossing entertainment release of all time. That means it would be bigger than Halo 3, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Dark Knight. Word on the street is last Monday, Activision-Blizzard (the game’s publisher) pulled the plug on Chiat’s campaign, calling it too racy, graphic.

Various sources have confirmed the same story, both noting that an outside agency has been called in to cut together some in-game clips for the national campaign that will effectively replace Chiat’s. That shop: LA based Ant Farm, we’re told.

The game launches next Tuesday, November 10, and according to GameStop has the most pre-orders of any game, ever. Activision is predictably giddy as well, with Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick reiterating that it could outsell all other entertainment titles before it.

So the question arises: what kind of campaign is needed. Considering this is a holiday game, we’re presuming many pre-teens will be asking for it as gifts. That means their parents probably won’t but it if all they see are gory ads.

Even still, as recently as this summer, Acti-Blizzard (nickname) CEO Brad Jakeman was all about the agency’s work &#151 which was handed to TBWA after a review including Razorfish and Droga5. Per AdAge: “We believe the idea that TBWA presented to us delivers on that goal,” said Mr. Jakeman. “What we liked most about the TBWA campaign is that it’s an idea that’s big enough to be articulated in lots of different kind of media … that is always the acid test for a great idea.”

Well, not anymore. There’s no verdict on exactly what lead up to Acti-Blizzard cutting the work. They have yet to respond, and from what we hear Chiat has moved on from taking our calls to calling us mean names. We miss you Chiat, can’t we make amends?

The Martin Agency produced the work you’ve already seen (video after the jump). It targets gamers old and young by pulling on the trash talking heart-strings of humorously immature kidults who will gladly drop $60 for a taste of modern carnage.

More: “Obama’s In Game Advertising”

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From time to time a gaming device comes along that pushes the envelope on our perceptions of what it means to be entertained. Yesterday XBOX launched the next took in product integration that has potential to turn your client’s products into transcendent tools they use in their entertainment experiences.

First thing, watch the video above. It’s a trailer for Project Natal which was announced at E3 &#151 the biggest gaming event of the year. Natal is basically a combo camera/scanner/audio system that can recognize your face, voice and body movements then translate them into actions.

For example, you’re playing a boxing game &#151 rather than pressing the A button, then B plus up for a left punch, upper cut combo &#151 you punch the air with your left hand and follow up with that uppercut. Again, the video above shows you how this works.

The product integration is what you should be really stoked about though. In the clip, a kid holds up his skateboard, the XBOX scans it, and then he uses that board in the game. In his living room, the kid is standing on that deck.

Off the top of my head, let’s say you represent Nike which is launching a new skate shoe. But how to get 15 year olds to buy it…Well why not offer secret levels in the new Tony Hawk game for people who use the new shoe while playing?

Since the unit can scan pretty much anything (or, will apparently be able to), the potential for integration is wide open. Tell us what you think (oh, and it won’t be available until 2010).

More: “MindShare Paid For A Bunch Of BS”

Check out Obama’s in game advertising in Xbox’s Burnout Paradise. There is some speculation that the captured images are actually photoshopped, but no one is certain. Looks darn good though and the idea of political advertising making a play into gaming? Sick.

More: Screw Vista. Microsoft’s Next Big Thing.