I must admit that I’m not the avid videogamer I once was. I hung up my gaming cleats in my late teens (about five years ago) and have watched the new releases from afar, flexing my knuckles, trying to avoid a destiny of Carpal tunnel syndrome. Usually, videogame ads all look the same and sport some generic 9/10 rating. But occasionally, a commercial will stand out and make wonder whether I should play again. For those of us who are worried about falling off the wagon, a compelling game ad can be both exciting and scary.

The Bureau: XCOM Declassified trailer – created by Team One, which also handles Lexus of course – may be vague, but it is certainly not generic. The three-minute spot sells tone in a cinematic style, and according to Team One, contains 20 Easter eggs for future customers. The game is set in the Cold War and re-imagines a doomsday Cold War where aliens invade instead of Russians. You then have the fearless protagonist who will stop at no costs to complete his mission. The game will be out August 20, and the creators have promised more mysterious pieces of ad content leading up to the release date.

Credits after the jump.

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Well, we wanted more, we got it, and our latest quickfire–and we mean quick–Super Bowl Q+A comes to us from Chris Graves, who’s spent 10 years at Team One, where he currently serves as chief creative officer, and ten years prior to that at TBWA\Chiat\Day. Answer away, sir, and we appreciate you not being overly biased considering your resume.

Is the ever-increasing Super Bowl ad cost really worth what’s now a $4 million spot? Is there an advantage or disadvantage to releasing ads to social media ahead of time?

Because of the huge investment, marketers are looking for ways to leverage their assets beyond the actual spot. This can extend the life of the commercial and generate a lot of early conversation and interest. Of course, on the flip side, if you release a bad ad ahead of time, you’ll only make it worse. An early release has actually become a great litmus test for an ad.

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Yeah, we’d probably gawk at that mug in the same exact fashion, too. Anyhow, Saatchi & Saatchi’s Team One division has bumped a couple of its staffers, namely the blokes above, Alastair Green and Jeremiah Knight (pictured l-r). The former, who joined Team One as digital ECDin summer 2010 after spending some time at McCann SF in the same role, will now take a chair as part of the agency’s executive leadership team, which also includes president Paul Mareski, CCO Chris Graves, CSO Mark Miller, executive director Julie Michael and executive director, Paul Silverman.

As for Mr. Knight on the right, the current Team One group account director, digital has been promoted to the post of managing director, digital across the agency’s accounts including, yes, Lexus, as well as the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott. Prior to joining Team One towards the end of 2009, Knight spent well over six years at TBWA\Chiat\Day, initially working on the account/management side at the agency’s TEQUILA\ unit before moving up to the post of director of digital strategy at TBWA\Chiat\Day proper in 2007.

Prior to their new roles, the lads recently conspired on the nifty Cineprint Lexus ad promoting the 2013 ES.

Saatchi & Saatchi’s Team One division has welcomed some new creatives to its roster, namely David DeRoma and Eric Arnold, who join as CD and ACD, respectively.  Keith Urban lookalike DeRoma (right) arrives from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, where he spent over three years as an ACD and worked primarily on Microsoft Windows and Burger King. Prior to CP+B, DeRoma racked up tenure as a senior art director at Leo Burnett.

Arnold, meanwhile, spent the past nine years at TBWA\Chiat\Day as copywriter/senior copywriter and recently penned some of the “Before, The During, The After” work for Gatorade. He also played a part in said agency’s work for Visa, The Grammys and Infiniti.

As you probably guessed, the new Team One hires will work on Lexus as well as “any other creative opportunities they can get theirs hands on” according to the agency’s CCO, Chris Graves.