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Gaming commercials that'll make you say WTF!?

We pilfer the archives and dig up some disturbing, surreal and utterly confusing adverts

Words: GamesRadar UK

Some gaming TV commercials like to play it sober, delivering a no-nonsense, easy-to-understand message to potential customers. And good for them. However, we tend to prefer televisual adverts that stumble wildly about on our screens like intoxicated hedgebeasts, crashing recklessly into our brains and making us dribble on the remote. Adverts that challenge and bewilder in equal measure. Adverts that provoke a confused "What the f...!?" mutterance. Yes, they're the ads for us.

To celebrate this special breed of dizzying advertisingment, we've ransacked the archives (ie YouTube) and smashed together a scrambled selection of baffling, madbrained and patently rubbish snippets of nonsense related to selling gaming stuffs on TV. Moderate entertainment guaranteed or your money back...

Centipede
WTF!? Giant Atari anthropod attacks the 80s and tricks woman into bed for steamy insect love.



MS DOS 5
WTF!? "MS DOS 5 Upgrade, take that image further - it's like selling fries with every burger!" Brilliant public service promo from the stoopid dope posse at Microsoft.



Dreamcast
WTF!? When adverts weren't afraid of exploiting cultural stereotypes.



Dr. Mario 
WTF!? Japanese ladies dressed in primary-coloured bunny suits all splashing about in a swimming pool.



 
39 Comments
Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First
codzprc  - 1 year 1 day ago 
Stacked zombie mother feeding child. Then feeds on child.
jar-head  - 1 year 1 day ago 
haha
scbyfn4evr  - 1 year 23 hours ago 
The NES commercial seemed oddly threatening.
NEzraF  - 1 year 22 hours ago 
Wow, They don't make them that good anymore. I blame the diminishing popularity of LSD.
adrenaguy  - 1 year 15 hours ago 
i loved that online dreamcast advert! that was AWESOME
Nintendophile  - 1 year 13 hours ago 
BAM! Right in the FACE! lol.
rabbitsrmine  - 1 year 10 hours ago 
Clean is better than dirty, and dirty's meaner than clean!!!!!!
jimmcc  - 1 year 5 hours ago 
Simply calling a commercial 'gay' does not a witty feature make. It puts you on level with an 11 year-old Youtube commenter. Now I'm all for embracing immaturity but it's got to actually be funny and not just tired and homophobic. You're better than that, Gamesradar.
Wartooth909  - 1 year 4 hours ago 
but dude... That ad was really gay. Did you watch it? If so, how would u describe it?
Black_X_1111  - 1 year 4 hours ago 
yes you are. Shame, shame upon you all Games Radar. Loved the article though, too bad a lot of the movies have been removed.
jimmcc  - 1 year 2 hours ago 
@Wartooth909
The ad is clearly outrageous and I believe the writer is capable of writing something far more amusing and clever than just calling it 'gay.' The feature can be funny without singling out and insulting a minority group. It's 2008 and when someone calls a thing that's stupid, bad or ridiculous 'gay' they instantly sound like they're in junior high.
Sorry to be pedantic but, you know, don't be a bigot.
Wartooth909  - 11 months 29 days ago 
But being a bigot is so much easer then accepting people for who the really are. People who arnt just like me scare me to death.
GodlikeApe  - 11 months 29 days ago 
If you look in a recent dictionary, you'll actually see that gay is also defined as a negative adjective.
Who knows the writer could be from 1940 and thought the advert was very 'happy'.
jimmcc  - 11 months 28 days ago 
@GodlikeApe: Which dictionary would that be, urbandictionary.com? OED and Webster's don't.
@Wartooth909: Cunning satire, congrats you're a troll.
sharifsta  - 11 months 25 days ago 
okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk that mario thing was realy big wtf resident evil one was good





all i got to say left is wawawewa very nice
lordloss009  - 11 months 6 days ago 
i saw that xbox ad on Stupidvideos.com a while back and i thought it was...well....you know....kinda freakin' weird. And that MS DOS 5 one? Ugh.
lordloss009  - 11 months 6 days ago 
and the The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past one was on (stupidvideos.com) too
crazyhand  - 10 months 1 day ago 
o.o
ELpork  - 9 months 17 days ago 
awww, some of the video's are gone.
jackf-11  - 9 months 17 days ago 
@jimmcc

You call him a troll, look at what you are doing, you are the troll.

And brilliant article GR.
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