PlayStation Nation,
This is one of the fun parts of my job, when we get to unveil our TV commercials and give you, our loyal fans, a preview of our spots before they hit the airwaves. This year’s campaign is dubbed “Entertainment Unleashed” and for good reason.
The campaign actually began quietly a few weeks back with three fifteen second “tease” executions. Hopefully, you’ve seen these by now. These initial ads depicted various people catching glimpses and reflections of beautiful PS3 game footage magically appearing on building facades across a city.
This weekend, we’re excited to reveal what triggered the excitement. The spot begins with a guy creating a LittleBigPlanet level on a building wall and from there, the PS3 takes on a momentum all its own, spreading amazing entertainment content uncontrollably from building to building throughout the city. The ad prominently features not just LittleBigPlanet but also two other PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive titles — Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. And we’ve also highlighted PS3’s Blu-ray capability by featuring Blu-ray movies like The Dark Knight, showcasing PS3’s unrivaled leadership as both a gaming and multimedia entertainment experience.
PLAYSTATION 3 offers unrivaled game content, with not just one platform-defining game, but an array of groundbreaking games across virtually every genre throughout the year that are pushing the envelope of creativity and sheer gameplay.
And at the end of the spot, you’ll see that all this great exclusive content has literally been unleashed on the city and its residents. I know our fans will appreciate spotting some of your favorite games across the cityscape.
This week marks an important milestone for the PS3. And one of the things we’re most excited about as we head into year three is the tremendous adoption and excitement found on PlayStation Network. This year alone, we’ve added great new features you guys have been asking for like a service to deliver High Def movies and TV shows that you can rent or buy and store directly on the PS3’s hard drive; a robust trophy system that lets you compare your gaming prowess with others as well as help you discover everything about the great PS3 games you’re playing; and of course, the groundbreaking Home service, which is just around the corner for all. All of this and a lot more has resulted in more than 14 million active PlayStation Network accounts – a very rapid expansion of a service that we have equally aggressive plans for in the future.
So with its tremendous growth and adoption, we thought it was time to give the PlayStation Network its own moment in the sun with a TV spot that sings its praises. This PlayStation Network ad will also make its debut this weekend. The ad is a metaphor and itself depicts the relentless spread of the PlayStation message from user to user. We’ve featured various ways you can “Download/Play/Connect.” Great downloadable games like Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, PAIN, Wipeout HD and Echochrome. Free online gaming and downloadable levels with games like LittleBigPlanet. Human connection and community via Home. And downloading great movies like Hancock directly to your PS3 and then sharing it with your PSP.
When we launched the PS3 two years ago, we said we would deliver on the most advanced next generation console that would offer ten years of entertainment value. We are committed to that promise and remain confident that we’re now just scratching the surface on PS3’s potential.
We hope you like these new ads and look forward to your feedback and continued support for PlayStation.
Enjoy!
Peter
PS: Killzone 2 is real and it’s spectacular…
The ads are weak. They are cleverly done but too vague and don’t show users interacting with the system. Where is the context? A bunch of random images flashing on different surfaces. Looks pretty but isn’t going to pull in customers especially at the PS3’s price point. I think the marketing department is still stuck in the days of PS2 when Sony could put out the most obscure ad imaginable and still sell a million. Times have changed. Sony should be emphasising the value for money, show a family playing LBP together, some girls using Singstar, a married couple watching a Blu-ray, some friends playing Motorstorm 2, all in the same house.
Wow, I’ve never seen sackboy look so scary!
PS: Killzone 2 is real and it’s spectacular…
Thats how you do marketing, amazing.
Awesome job guys and gals.
These ads are just unbelivable. I’m workin as an ad creator in Europe, so I know what I’m talkin about ;) Great concept.
Peter, lobing the commercials! Now if some ofthat content (like Hi-Def videos) could just spill over to Europe a little faster, I’d be all happy.
But seriously, I am a typical Nintendo girl, have been since N64. Lovethe cutesie games and never even considered buying a PS§ or an XBox. For me, those were “guy consoles”.
Then I realized that with my new HD tv, Wii was just not going to be “it” for me, and bought the PS3 as a media pc only. Stream movies, watch Blu-rays and go online- that’s all it had to do for me, and I really didn’t get al the religion-like hype around which console you choose.
Oh well. Then I discovered High Stakes (love poker), MotorStorm and now LBP. Since LBP was published? Got myself a sackboy tattoo last week, haven’t been watching TV once and I hug and cuddle my PS3 before going to bed, I love it that much.
I think I finally saw the light and will now defend it with my life. I just never realized all it had to offer; I think that is what the ads really communicate.
Girl gamers unite!! :-D I support the PlayStation (am a general Sony brand supporter) ever since PlayStation. PS2 was IMO more of a “girls” console than the PS3 is right now. Though PS3 has also games to offer that should draw females to the console only Sony isn’t using that, mostly targeting with advertisements and commercials on boys sorry men. WipEout HD, LBP, Singstar, Buzz Quiz, Ratchet & Clank, even Uncharted (for Nathan only :-D), Valkyria Chronicles, PSN titles such as Pixeljunk Monsters / Eden, only a few (exclusive) titles that should be interesting
to female gamers.
Hmm saw the light ey? Maybe Sony should use that in one of their future commercials, play the PS3 and you see the light, the light of future gaming my friends :-D It ain’t only the way of living but also the way to salvation. AMEN!
Too bad the PS3 is going to sell a lot worse then the competitors. Maybe next year Sony.
@ featurepreacher i told you months ago that sony had nothing to do with why alot of games do not have trophies and am gald you just got that infoe . if you stop buying the games that do not support trophies in the first place sony wouldnt had to make them mandatory to have stop pointing the finger at sony and point it at us and game dev. here some more infoe for you and i hope it dont take you months to understand home will not be out next week stop lieing to yourself and others dude, am in home and trust me it wont be out next week .
I love the look and feel of these ads. Make sure you over play them, though. You only see Playstation 3 commercials once in a blue moon. Target the MTV, VH1, Spike, and other TV stations around that area! Sony has so much to offer, but the commercials never display that! Anyways, these are great!
Interesting. I dig some of those ad spots. If you don’t release Home by christmas, a lot of people are going to [DELETED] themselves.
The PSN still has much work ahead. But i’m certainly a proud Sony owner in some respects. It has only been getting better and better, even though only in small increments. Keep it up… Home will determine lots.
Thanks Peter.
I don’t care what anyone else says, but I still think my purchase of my PS3 was one of the best I’ve made in years.
It is a true media center for gaming, socializing, music, videos, podcasts, internet, etc. and that’s one of the reasons I bought it.
Many people said they didn’t like the ads Sony was putting out, but I definately like what you’ve posted here.
Keeps everyone that may not have a PS3 guessing and maybe, just maybe, they’ll research it out to find out it is one great console.
Keep up the great work you’ve been putting in especially this year coming to us in the future.
I love my PS3 !
@78 You took the words right out of my mouth.
You need more ads for your exclusives showing gameplay and features. Wonder why LittleBigPlanet sales aren’t so great?!? NOBODY KNOWS WHAT THE GAME IS!!! I was talking to some people in the Home Beta last night and they didn’t have LBP. They were asking me what kind of game it is. AND THEY OWN A PS3!!!! Seriously, stop with all the vagueness and release some down and dirty commercials with just gameplay and features and no hollywood over the top BS like that R2 commercial.
Hey, what about an online MUSIC store… And we really need GAMES on PSN and not more ADD-ONS…. And USA needs beta keys for KILLZONE 2… Some of the things Playstaion needs to work on……… :D
The ads are amazing, very well produced. I still laugh every time I see Sony advertising what is still essentially vaporware though, and by that I mean Home.
It’s not done, it’s not out, it’s not a feature of the PS3 yet, so just stop already.
@ ortohinco the ps3 will not sell more then the 360 core or the wii or the ds because these system cost less . look it like this the ps3 is a porsche boxster and the 360 core and wii is a kia, yes your going to see more kia then porsche but that dont mean kia are better then porsche the only thing it mean is kia are cheap to buy. plus worldwide sell show the ps3 sell are higher then the 360 and wii , but the 360 have a small lead in sell in the U S and Japan . i just dont understand why so many people dont understand that sony is not droping there price on a fully loaded ps3 because the 360 core not the pro is selling more. sony will not drop the price because of this and am gald , if you want a ps3 then your going to have to do like me and work at it because its not a cheap system .
@161 vandam….
I second that Sony needs the music store.
I’d be purchasing from it if they did get one up.
Maybe something that will be coming into Home…or at least let’s hope it will be.
Like a type of jukebox where you can listen to demos (short bits) and then purchase the whole song, or album if you wanted.
i dont know when you have time to check ads but sony have ads runing on LBP, R2, MS2 and the ps3 . i see them all the time on TBS,ESPN,CNN,FOX, USA , DSC and ye G4 they run all the time so the ads are there.
The longer I own my PS3, the more I feel lied to by Sony,
you can run all the TV spots you want but it’s the word of mouth that is going to sell units,
right now the word of mouth on Sony is you guys are LATE, and ignore problems like the one in LBP.
I no longer care if you fix the bug, I fixed it myself.
this is how…
I took the LBP back to the store and got a full refund for it. now I’m thinking of selling my P3, this thing is usless if you ignore your loyal customers and don’t offer any support at all to victims of your programming holes.
@ 148
More people would buy that game if it had Trophy support. At this point I don’t buy any games that doesn’t have Trophies.
@ ghostm i agree with you if the game dev doesnt have trophy support in there games then dont buy it .
YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!! So you don’t buy Valkyria Chronicles, while its one of the BEST PS3 games out there only because it doesn’t have any trophies??? You’re crazy! I’m glad it doesn’t have trophies. I don’t care about trophies as much as I do care about games and before you’re forgetting something.. for the past 14 years since PlayStation exist, you had to do without trophies. I’m sorry but if you find those silly trophies to be more worth than to enjoy the game without them, you’re not a real gamer IMO.
If you’re not a trophy whore, get VALKYRIA! Period!
I want a “T-shirt Monitor”
Awesome stuff!
:P
Anyone talking about selling their PS3 on here probably should. Get the F off this blog with your complaining. Bye!
that’s just plain “Awesome!”
to idiots like #8…why do you even come here? how big of a loser do you have to be to obviously not own a PS3 but still take the time to create an account just so you can post nonsense and random fanboy comments like a little b***h? :lol: you get the loser of 2008 award.
anyway…dope ad campaigns. can’t wait for the holidays. it’s been a wonderful year.
These new ads are really good and they have this nice christmas feeling to them.
But unfortunately ads alone won’t do it, this holyday season PS3 will be severely damaged by its high price.
The product is badly positioned, it should cost no more than 299$ (PS2 launch price) at this point in the lifecycle and relatively to the competition. People interested in a gaming console realize there is a 200$ cheaper alternative, they realize the games are the same if not better and they rightly leave PS3 on the schelves.
As a fan I hope Sony is in the financial condition to cut PS3 price to 299$ no later than spring 2009 and to make a slim model as soon as possible to fire sales especially in Japan, otherwise it is really destined for third place this generation which is really tragic considering where Sony was just a few years ago.
At least it will be a huge lesson for future consoles, the winning product is always the one which gives people what they want at the cheapest price, not the one trying to force things at consumer’s expense.
@161
“Keeps everyone that may not have a PS3 guessing and maybe, just maybe, they’ll research it out to find out it is one great console.”
No, they won’t. They will go and buy one of the other consoles because there is no “mystery”, they know what they are getting. Your post just demonstrates why the ads will fail.
Nice ads. I really like them. Like others have said, they really need to get out there more. More specific game focus and PSN is free too.
Anyway, I have a couple of ad ideas that I think would be cool, but they would require tie-ins to other IPS.
The first would be a Batman tie-in. Batman meets Gordon and comments that crime has been extremely down. Gordon shows him Arkham and every prisoner is playing a PS3 game. Spend a few seconds on each one showing gameplay. Then as Batman is leaving he says he needs to get a PS3.
The other idea would be a Watchmen tie-in. Show Ozymandias watching his wall of screens. Focus on each to show some they have PS3 games and then have Ozymandias turn around and look at Babistas and say something about how the world is fine or how he wants to get a PS3.
You could probably also do something where people are gathered around an electronics store display window that has multiple TVs showing gameplay footage
They just seemed like ideas that could play on your current trend of showing multiple things in one ad, but having them a little more clear than these new ads show.
Oh, and I hope that your new PSP ad campaign will feature the GPS attachment for the US.
sorry but too much bs not enough game footage. it looks more like a target ad than a ps3 ad.
So much negativity from some of you. Video games aren’t life or death people. Stop taking this stuff so seriously.
Alright, where the hell are the last two commercials playing at? I’ve only seen the first and its pretty weak in comparison to the others. Anyway, lookin’ good, and the last one reminded me of the Justice video.
@182
Read the blog post it clearly says that this weekend is when the other two ads will launch.
@181
I don’t think it’s negativity, it’s just that many people are disappointed by how things went for Sony this generation.
They made too many mistakes on the hardware side with absurd pricing, annoucing and then cutting features because price/costs went through the roof, they’re plagued with delays on the software side, they have lost all the third parties exclusive support because they don’t have anymore the market share to substain a big exclusive, a company like Square Enix is supporting Microsoft much more than Sony nowadays while they used to back Sony exclusively just a few years ago and now they’re unable to cut the price even if they need it, forced to accept a third holyday season in a row as a loser because they have a bad financial situation and the worse thing is that they’ll end up losing money for the third consecutive year even without a price cut.
Of course it’s not about life or death, it’s just about being able to handle a business and PS3 can be successful even in third place but looking at how things went it’s really sad and frustrating especially when they come up with ads which won’t do anything to change their situation.
@178
Well to each their own I guess.
I did my research before I bought and was thinking about the 360…but after hearing, reading and seeing many people with dead Xboxs…my decision was made.
If you want a console stripped to bare minimum and always in the shop…go ahead and purchase other than the PS3.
The Wi in my opinion isn’t worth my time either.
How close is “around the corner” when it comes to HOME?
@184
Everything you just posted was negative lol. Things aren’t as bad as you make it seem, and what good is complaining about it going to do. It just seems like a complete waist of time to me. Unless you can see into the future, how could you possibly know that there new ads wont help the PS3.
@178
Why do you even waste your time posting here? You should go and play your other console, while having a cussing competiotion with 12 year olds.
Great marketing strategy. More of this needs to be seen. PS3 commercials defenetly need to focus on showing ppl that it has some great games.
I’m so getting tired of those 360 fans, they’re “everywhere”. Its like a plague you can’t exterminate. No matter how hard you try they always seem to be around to bug.
Those ads are awesome!
BUT when will we see some commercial here? I’m living in Quebec and i have yet to see any of sony products, only ads here are from Microsoft or Nintendo
what about the the long awaited PLAY-TV upgrade for PS3 . anyone with news on that?
loves it!
I like SCEI (along with its subsidiary divisions) for this huge marketing power it has. The power that helps SCEI winning in every generation of console wars.
All You need to Unleash now is the HOME service!
The TV commercials are great but they’re made for US TV channels, i think. But how about Europe and Russia for example? To boost the global sales you need the global advertisement campaign.
So LBP and Resistance 2 in (US) stores already, TV commercials will hit the airwaves soon, and the Home service is just around the corner… What does it mean? The best Holiday season for PS3 among the competitors!
2008 IS the year of PS3, definitely! And thanks to the revolutionary Home service, 2008 goes down in History of Video Game Industry!
Just saw the commercial with the dark knight in it on channel 11 NY!!! Awesome! Keep up the good work Sony!
All I can say is “wowza”!
Hrm can’t decide between 2nd and 3rd commercial. 1 is out of the question.
Oh boy I´m in home! Thank you for the invite my sweet American Sony friends :-D In Europe they messed up the mail invites *lol*.
US = Onna76, EU = Onna76_NL
that shirt one is the most creative. I think something like that will happen some day
Excellent spots.
mmm….. the commercials are kind of ok xP, but i remember back in the old days a commercial that was the best to my liking…. “the playstation nine”!!! that was a really good one, it really got my attention……. anyway i really belevie you should show gameplay of the greatest games in PS3 =)