Were on the short road to the expected release of thePlayStation 5 Pro.
Just How Deranged Were PlayStations Old Ads?
This came to mind last week when I spotted an obscene, though entirely fake, PlayStation ad.
Sony’s ‘Mental Wealth’ ad from 1999 involved a young Scottish woman with off-set eyes and a penchant for cryptic speech.Screenshot: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Occasionally, a fake PlayStation ad surfaces at the top of the feeds.
Its an image of a young woman with her tongue out, four pills sprinkled along her taste buds.
Would Sony have honestly promoted a message that says, Games are drugs, and drugs are cool?
Screenshot: Gizmodo / CD Projekt Red
Remember how out of left fieldApples 1984 ad was?
Even after Sony left behind its grunge era, the company was still known for poor taste.
Sony has previously apologized for promotingan obviously racist adfor the PSP that ran in the Netherlands in 2006.
Screenshot: Gizmodo / CD Projekt Red
Sony had to spend time and energy denouncing those two ads as foreign, unauthorized promotions.
In the PS3 era, we were greeted with less sexualized ads.
Theinfamous 2006 Baby Doll adsaid practically nothing about the console.
It didnt expressly make anyone want to go out and buy one.
That doesnt mean were in a worse place because Sonys marketing has left its rebellious phase.
Ads are, by their nature, abusive.
Im doing a new playthrough of Cyberpunk.
In that way, the ads are cathartic.
They were so ridiculous we were given the range to laugh or sneer at them.
But in that same breath, the ads were effective.
Were still talking about them, after all.
Sony has remained one of the biggest game console makers for a reason.
Sony didnt need to sell you a console in these commercials.
It didnt even sell you some counterculture identity.
It sold you on allowing its ads to occupy your attention.
But I still believe they were better than what we have now.
Back then, games felt like an up-and-comer, a new art-sharing medium.
Today, most big-budget games feel the same, sanded down so there are no more rough edges.
It makes it easier for them toclose game studios,fire thousands of developers, and cancel anticipated projects.
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Two banks say Amazon has paused negotiations on some international data centers.
Those who want a console at launch June 5 should get in line as soon as possible.
