Yesterday Activision released a new trailer for Black Ops 2, revealing the villain. Have a watch:
Some observations:
1) The narrator general guy you see in the beginning...I can't recall who that actor is but I recognize him so my first thought is "there is something familiar about this that I can't quite put my finger on." So I guess I'm a little intrigued by that as an opener.
2) Villain is portrayed as the leader of the 99%...so that's topical and mainstream media/consumers have a general awareness of that. Also does not sell me on the game but again it's something familiar.
3) From the co-writer of The Dark Knight Rises? Well...yeah I think many many "core" and "mainstream" and "casual" gamers have a good awareness of that movie and I think many of them can't wait to see it. Ok...so now they are trying to hit up on that in the week the actual movie comes out. That's a smart move from a marketing perspective even if vocal core online trolls will flame Activision for it. They are already flaming Activision for everything even when a good % of them will buy the next Call of Duty anyway. So, go for it Activision...tie your game to The Dark Knight Rises somehow. You've got the cash and the balls, no one is going to stop you. And if David S. Goyer actually improved the game's writing, it's hard to argue against that.
4) Music for the game by Trent Reznor? Well...he's possibly my favorite musical mind in history and pretty much everything he's done I like. In the trailer there is some piano music that very much reminds me of his musical work in NIN as well as other movie/game soundtracks he's composed for. I can't argue with this either as I have huge respect for him and I suppose it may contribute to the tone of the game. So that could be another good thing that could make the game better.
5) Notice the press quotes are from USA Today and Forbes. These are major mainstream and business print/online outlets, not pure gamer press or big gaming sites like Gamespot or IGN.
So, what does this all mean? It means Activision is going for the big numbers again (obviously) and they recognize they have to keep pushing craftier, Batmany-tie-in-anyway-anyhowy-even-if-people-will-call-it-cheapier, Trent Reznorier, mainstreamier, pre-orderier -- you get the idea. But notice this trailer is not incredibly controversial like the Hitman Trailer from E3. Whether you like Call of Duty anymore or not, the trailer has a tight narrative, shows only in-game footage, has nothing really cringe-worthy in the voiceover (not all trailers can claim that) and has an actual tone of desperation and treachery.
Finally, it's still got the BWWWAAAAAHHH only as if someone imagined how Trent Reznor might make it sound.
Some observations:
1) The narrator general guy you see in the beginning...I can't recall who that actor is but I recognize him so my first thought is "there is something familiar about this that I can't quite put my finger on." So I guess I'm a little intrigued by that as an opener.
2) Villain is portrayed as the leader of the 99%...so that's topical and mainstream media/consumers have a general awareness of that. Also does not sell me on the game but again it's something familiar.
3) From the co-writer of The Dark Knight Rises? Well...yeah I think many many "core" and "mainstream" and "casual" gamers have a good awareness of that movie and I think many of them can't wait to see it. Ok...so now they are trying to hit up on that in the week the actual movie comes out. That's a smart move from a marketing perspective even if vocal core online trolls will flame Activision for it. They are already flaming Activision for everything even when a good % of them will buy the next Call of Duty anyway. So, go for it Activision...tie your game to The Dark Knight Rises somehow. You've got the cash and the balls, no one is going to stop you. And if David S. Goyer actually improved the game's writing, it's hard to argue against that.
4) Music for the game by Trent Reznor? Well...he's possibly my favorite musical mind in history and pretty much everything he's done I like. In the trailer there is some piano music that very much reminds me of his musical work in NIN as well as other movie/game soundtracks he's composed for. I can't argue with this either as I have huge respect for him and I suppose it may contribute to the tone of the game. So that could be another good thing that could make the game better.
5) Notice the press quotes are from USA Today and Forbes. These are major mainstream and business print/online outlets, not pure gamer press or big gaming sites like Gamespot or IGN.
6) And then at the end they've got the call to action with the pre-order offer...do it now and get Nuketown map free.
Finally, it's still got the BWWWAAAAAHHH only as if someone imagined how Trent Reznor might make it sound.
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