Why are the PS4/XBO launch ads indistinguishable?

[DANGEROUS-3]

I mean did neither company get wind of what the other team was doing?

Both TV ads are live action with the player traveling through the 'real world' as gaming worlds from launch titles come to life around them.

[wakka]

They are very similar. It's not a new idea either, I can recall at least a couple of ads from recent times which employed the same concept.

The best bit of next gen advertising I've seen is Sony's redecoration of the OXO Tower with glowing PlayStation symbols. Looked absolutely sick - it's gone now though.

Microsoft still have the Waterloo IMAX wrapped up, with different games all around it. The Ryse area has the slogan 'If it was any more real, it would be real', which I find hugely irritating. Well, if it's real, it's real. That's unequivocal. The only way that slogan would make sense in English is if it said 'If it was any more realistic, it would be real', but then that would make for a useless piece of copy.

[teddymeow]

It''s not just about advertising the consoles anymore though.

I've seen numerous ads for CoD and BF which both tag Xbox One at the end as well as AC4 and Skylanders ads which are Sony tagged.

[speedlolita]

Because the machines aren't so indistinguishable? Other than the Xbox One being really ugly

[wakka]

It''s not just about advertising the consoles anymore though.

I've seen numerous ads for CoD and BF which both tag Xbox One at the end as well as AC4 and Skylanders ads which are Sony tagged.

This has been pretty standard practise for a while now. Sort of like how a lot of game adverts will tag Amazon or Tesco onto the end of it as a 'preferred retailer'.

The Sony advertising has been really disappointing to me this time around. Out of the two very similar adverts that cast ordinary people into fantasy game worlds, I thought Microsoft's was way better, chiefly because the main guy in the ad didn't have such a smug and slappable face.

They've not been a patch on the awesome Third Place ads, or the creepy one for the PS1 with that oddly bug eyed girl chatting nonsense in black and white. I also enjoyed the PS3's This Is Living ads, especially the lead one where that grenade went off in that sun-soaked courtyard. And at the end the guy says 'THIS is living'. That was sick!

Because the machines aren't so indistinguishable? Other than the Xbox One being really ugly

There are a million ways to market a product though . It's a shame they both went for the same slightly tired idea.

[charlesr]

Because the machines aren't so indistinguishable? Other than the Xbox One being really ugly

My white Wii is sitting on top of the black Xbox One on my black hifi rack. Sometimes it looks like the Wii is just floating - I can barely see the xbox...

[DANGEROUS-3]

They've not been a patch on the awesome Third Place ads, or the creepy one for the PS1 with that oddly bug eyed girl chatting nonsense in black and white. I also enjoyed the PS3's This Is Living ads, especially the lead one where that grenade went off in that sun-soaked courtyard. And at the end the guy says 'THIS is living'. That was sick!

This is still the best console launch ad-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ot6TPqRU1Q

[QualityChimp]

No, THIS is the best hardware launch advert:

[Party boy]

The Sony advertising has been really disappointing to me this time around. Out of the two very similar adverts that cast ordinary people into fantasy game worlds, I thought Microsoft's was way better, chiefly because the main guy in the ad didn't have such a smug and slappable face.

I hate the guy shouting "this is playstation 4" at the end, it's obnoxious and like an extremely poor 300, shouting "This is Sparta".

I liked the CD32 advert "Colours - so many colours", that was amusingly silly.