That old saying comes to mind when I watch the World of Warcraft Toyota commercial: All press is good press. If you haven’t seen the new Toyota truck commercial then simply look one blog entry below this one and you will find a very brief yet effective advertisement using WoW to connect Toyota to mainstream pop culture. My reference to pop culture, instead of gaming, was because WoW has moved beyond the simple label of a ‘game’ and has progressed or ascended to the next level. Duh, right? From what I have gathered in comments and some light research WoW has made an appearance of several Stargate episodes (both SG-1 and Atlantis), The Big Bang Theory, Moonlight, and a plethora of other shows including the infamous South Park WoW episode. Is this good for the gaming industry in general or just World of Warcraft?
My initial impression of the WoW Toyota commercial was repulsion. I find it very odd and uncomfortable to see a MMORPG being used as a tool to sell Toyota trucks. Bildo made a good point in a passing comment to yesterday’s blog entry. “I say, let the mainstream roll. I want these games to make it from WoW being the only frame of reference to the term MMORPG being as household as Nintendo or Playstation. The only way for that to happen is for them to continue get mainstream exposure.” I’ve thought about this and many other comments saying that WoW is merely a stepping stone for all our games and pass-time to make it into common and acceptable mainstream culture. Honestly, I don’t care. MMORPGs are big enough now without the need for them to become household terminology. WoW has shown that it’s possible for games to achieve ‘god’ status if they choose. WoW had no help or stepping stone to get where it was. Sure there were other MMORPGs before that paved the way for those who already enjoyed gaming. Blizzard’s name itself as a popular game developing company helped as well. WoW had no WoW to piggyback on.
What is there to gain from trying to get Lord of the Rings, Warhammer, Everquest 2, or any other game hyped into pop culture? In my mind it’s degrades a game when it becomes more of a lifestyle. Listening to the stereotypical voices on the voice com during the commercial was enough for me to say thank god I no longer play WoW. Who wants to be associated with that? Let us also consider the consequences to get there. Who really wants another WoW clone or for the game you play to become more like WoW? We are already being forced to adapt our play styles or preferences to accept the pop culture crap that WoW has brought into MMORPGs. We’re being fed the same recycled code over and over and it’s becoming stale. I’m not interested.
I’m ready for something new. Nothing new will be like WoW until WoW is no longer used as a frame of reference. It’s just that simple people. If wanting something new means that MMORPGs remain the way they are (unnoticed as a majority by mainstream culture) then that’s cool with me. World of Warcraft can have the spotlight and all the consequences both good and bad that come with it. It’s just not worth the struggle.
First of all, that commercial was Leroy Jenkins revisited- the voices, the braggadocio, all of it. Secondly, I tend to agree with you about wanting to stay as far away from pop culture as possible. I can remember, back when gaming was far more niche, standing in front of a massive rack of PC games that represented all sorts of settings and genres, and thinking that I could never afford them all or have time to play them in a million years. Now that gaming is mainstream, here’s where we are.
There’s a snobbishness in that mindset that I find hard to understand. Pop culture isn’t an entity, it’s not taking over. It’s just other people finding something and enjoying it on a mass scale. Other people enjoying what you enjoy doesn’t … or shouldn’t… change your enjoyment.
If WoW became mainstream, you would be much MORE likely to get your something new as people dared to try new directions. MMORPGS being hidden away or low level (in terms of computer game sales) doesn’t encourage innovation, it inhibits it.
Seriously, this is geeks over-reacting. For years we want our hobby to be seen as viable as any other, and now that it’s getting there, you don’t like how it’s being shown? Give me a break.
Yes, all press is good press, even if it doesn’t strike your fancy. This is the beginning, we are at the dawn of, a time when MMORPGs will be held next to all types of videogames, indeed maybe even as THE types of games, and while it might mean we lose some of our “hipness”, it’s far far FAR better for the industry as a whole. The genre cannot survive on us geeks alone, and the more it reaches out to the masses the better.
Keep the elitism out of it. Besides, we can all say, “Oh yeah? Well I was there WAY before that Toyota Tacoma commercial, so there.”
It’s interesting that you refer to my dislike for World of Warcraft’s game mechanics, gameplay, and the direction the game has taken as ‘elitism’ and ‘snobbishness’.
There are always two sides to every argument and opinion out there. I’m tired of World of Warcraft and the World of Warcraft wanna-be’s. World of Warcraft is so overly hyped and so ridiculously praised as revolutionary. To declare that everyone should accept it, lay down and take it, and not have anything to say about it is elitist, not the other way around.
I couldn’t care less if MMORPG gaming makes it to the mainstream culture or not. I care about the TYPE of MMORPG that makes it and thus will influence HEAVILY the type of games made in the future. I’ve enjoyed MMORPGs when there were barely enough players to populate The Realm. I’ll continue to enjoy them in the future. Watching a commercial of my game on during Monday Night Football isn’t going to make them any more enjoyable. What it could do to the games when certain MMOs make it appear that all games should be one way to be popular or accepted, could ruin my fun.
When some of you finally get tired of WoW or when the game has become so old that returning to it for the 10th time in a row becomes boring to you then maybe, just maybe, you’ll see both sides of this. Then again, maybe not. You’re entitled to how you see it just like I’m entitled to how I see it. I see all the press surrounding one type of game (a game that I dislike) to be a negative. I’ve seen first hand how the development of a game can be influenced by what is currently “hip” to the majority. WoW has the majority. To me, that’s scary.
Keen, it has nothing to do with WoW bud. I’m talking about the fact that because you don’t like WoW that this is bad. I’ve had my ins and outs with all games on the market, and I absolutely abhor Vanguard, yet if there was a commercial about it, and it was THE game to play, I still wouldn’t like it… but I’d be glad that it was getting exposure, as all gamers should be when out hobby starts to be taken seriously by other forms of media. It won’t be this way forever with WoW, it’s just a “hot topic” at the moment, and a smart guy like you should see that.
So chill out, wasn’t calling you elitist, just the idea of this whole thing being “bad”.
Don’t get on the defensive, I just tend to speak (type) bluntly.
Oh and one last point you may be able to agree with me on, Keen.
With or without the Toyota commercial, there are going to be 101 WoW knockoffs thanks to the lure of 9 million subscribers making investors think they can get that too.
But for every 5 failed knockoffs, you’re going likely going to get a gem or two of a game, due to the sudden upswing of interest in the genre.
I’m an optimist, and just as you’ve seen the bad side of this type of publicity, I’ve seen the good side. After all, we wouldn’t be having this discussion at all if Mario hadn’t spawned a million and one imitators and fueled the growth of a dying industry over 20 years ago.
Basically, do like Monty Python’s Brian and always look on the bright side. 🙂
Triple-post time!
http://bildos.blogspot.com/2007/10/statistical-fact-90-of-any-media-form.html
This topic is a good one, and I apologize again over at my place for making it seem I was dogging you. ‘Twas not my intention.
There’s a bright side, but it’s never interesting to talk about that. 😉 The bright side of gaming becoming popular, hip, and in the mainstream of every day culture would be more developers, investors, companies, and people willing to jump in and develop a game. The more games developed the better the odds are that a good game will eventually come out.
There could be 20 ‘bad games’ for every good game. From my perspective I guess that’s okay as long as I find this game before it goes unnoticed and as long as the rate at which games are developed is frequent enough so that by the time I finish enjoying that one game another comes out.
(>>>MY OPINION<<<) WoW represents a very dark spot in the development of gaming from a GAMEPLAY perspective. There is some merit to the argument that a great many of the players brought over to MMO's due to WoW are less than ideal - but disregarding that it's still a gameplay issue for me. Since WoW there has been almost zero "new" thinking out there and so much has been a copycat. Heck, the same can be said for EQ - Vanguard's development was labeled specifically "An EQ experience". For those that hated EQ I would expect them to be upset that Vanguard played out the same way. Imagine if it was Vanguard on the commercials during the Super Bowl and thousands of people who know nothing about gaming suddenly think that Vanguard represents what gamers want. Developers will create games like Vanguard because that is where the interest is now. Suddenly you have a ridiculous number of Vanguard-clones out there. That would be MMO Hell! It would be great if instead of just WoW getting the publicity it could be a bunch of games. Maybe clips from every game out there that's popular. If the commercial had featured a Toyota Truck as a Mount in WoW, something from EQ2, something from LOTRO, something from Eve, or represented the interests of more than just one game and it's fans - that would be much better. This is of course one of those 'ideal' scenarios that would never happen yet is still something you can sit back and say "hey, that would be cool". Overall press for gaming is great. I just don't think that ALL press is good press, for my interests as a gamer. And since it's my blog I can speak to my interests. 😉