Live Action Mixes With Game Engine In ‘Bayonetta’ TV Spots

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Sega is rolling out TV spots in Japan promoting its femme fatale hack-and-slash action game Bayonetta.   Joystiq is featuring both 15 and 30-second cuts showing how Sega blended live action with in-game scenes for the ads.

The 30-second spots feature a live model in the beginning before transitioning to her in-game model, and eventually game play clips.  The ad then returns to the live model in the finale, blending her in with hi-res CG.  The shorter spots forego game play cuts completely.

The commercials are in Japanese but deliver the English tagline, Nonstop climax action.   The 15 and 30-second cuts run concurrently.

Watch them at Joystiq.

Expletive-Laced TV Spot For Wireless Charger

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The makers of wireless battery charger Powermat are running this TV spot featuring a couple of expletive dropping young men in awe over the device.  In the spot, two men of college age and dress toy around with a Powermat and drop expletives that are not only bleeped out, but reinforced visually with black bars covering their mouths.

Extra clean-cut looking actors and a backdrop of wholesome hobbies are nice touches to help offset the presumably vulgar language (it’s bleeped out, after all).

Watch it at BrandFreak.

How Sixteen Brands Are Faring On Facebook

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Writing for Adweek, Brian Morrissey looks at how major brands are faring on Facebook for eight product categories.  He looks at number of fans on each brand’s Facebook page and what they’re doing to draw and engage them.  Morrisey then picks a winning brand and one that’s missing an opportunity for each category in consumer goods, retail, food, tech, apparel, insurance, automotive and airline.

Read more at Adweek {link no longer active}.

Word Of Mouth Spreading ‘Paranormal Activity’

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An exclusively viral campaign for horror film Paranormal Activity is paying off.  Reported throughout the media today is the story behind Paramount’s marketing of the meagerly budgeted independent film.  The studio is moving to expand the film into 46 markets after making a half-million dollars in one weekend in just 12 markets, reports Ad Age.

The $10,000-15,000 budgeted film first got attention at the 2008 Slamdance festival.  It had Steven Spielberg considering remaking a big-budget version.  Purchaser Paramount ultimately decided to market the film in the mold of Blair Witch Project and anchored their campaign to an events promotion service called Eventful.  Eventful lets people track entertainment events around the world and vote for which ones they wish would play locally.  It’s been a popular promotional tool for musicians and event venues, and it offers various tools for both tracking events and spreading the word through social media sites.  Nearly a million votes were cast for Paranormal Activity at Eventful s site and the film became a trending topic on Twitter.  At the time of this post the film has a banner on Eventful’s front page displaying a demand it button.

The film’s campaign hasn’t just been a boost to Paramount s strategy, it s also an indication of the power and potential audience size that Eventful can serve.  Ad Age talks to Paramount marketing executives and the head of Eventful, drawing four lessons from how Paranormal Activity is being marketed.

Read more at Ad Age {link no longer active}.

Rumors Point To ‘Mass Effect 2’ For PS3

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Blog site Just Push Start has got the rumor mill going about a PS3 version of Mass Effect 2, the much-anticipated sequel to Bioware’s RPG.  The site first noticed a listing for the PS3 game on Australia retailer web site GAME.  It then tracked down another listing for the game on the site for EA Russia.

Read more at Just Push Start.

Oddworld Games Getting Digital Releases On PSN And PC

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Oddworld creator Lorne Lanning says the original Oddworld games will soon get digital releases, reports Industry Gamers.  Lanning says Abe’s Oddysee and Abe’s Exoddus, the first two games in the classic franchise, are headed to Sony’s PS Network.  The full compilation of all four Oddworld titles, including Munch’s Oddysee and the shooter Stranger’s Wrath, will be released through Steam’s Valve under the brand, Oddbox.

Lanning talked to Bitmob, a game news and community site founded by former EGM editor in chief, Dan Hsu.  Talking about future projects from Oddworld Inhabitants, he tells Bitmob’s Toby Davis that he is more compelled to create products incorporating social media than motion controllers.

Read more and access the full Bitmob interview at Industry Gamers {link no longer active}.

Apple Gives Pepsi Marketing App 17+ rating

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An iPhone app for Pepsi’s Amp Energy drink has a mature rating from Apple, reports Adweek.  The drink’s promotional app Amp Up Your Score targets young men with tips and lines for identifying types and picking up women.  Along with pick-up lines, the app helps pinpoint types of women such as cougar or tree-hugger and even maps nearby locations to meet them.

Adweek points out how apps with even riskier material have lower ratings.  Some see it as a sign of varying standards with how Apple rates apps.

Read more at Adweek {link no longer active}.

Not Microsoft Nor Sony Nor Apple Worry Nintendo

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Nintendo COO Reggie Fils-Aime talked company strategy with Mike Musgrove of Washington Post.  Fils-Aime says that Nintendo would not change a thing about the way it marketed the Wii, including its introductory price and holding out on price-cuts until recently.

Fils-Aime shrugs off competition to Wii from Microsoft and Sony’s motion controller as well as the threat cheap game apps on iPhone might post to the DS.  He cites Scribblenauts as a unique experienc created for DS and its dual-screen, pointing out it couldn’t be done on iPhone.  He doesn’t see Nintendo making a move to mobile.  He also wonders about who Sony is targeting with PSP Go, saying the product doesn’t answer the question what s the benefit for him.

Wedbush Morgan Securities Michael Pachter tells Musgrove he sees Wii sales leveling off as its price advantage to 360 and PS3 erodes, but points out that even leveled off Wii sales are still beating 360 and PS3.

Read more at Washington Post.

Facebook Winning Social Media Popularity Contest

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Traffic data from research firms Hitwise and comScore show which social media sites are winning the popularity contest, reports MediaPost.  Hitwise data shows year over year growth is strongest for Facebook and Twitter, though Twitter’s astronomical surge is starting to level off.  MySpace has seen a plunge in its share of traffic.

According to Hitwise, Facebook drew more than 58 percent of total traffic to social networking sites it tracked.  The figure is a four-fold increase from last year.  The site is claiming it grew users from 250 million to 300 million in two months.  Meantime MySpace saw a social pariah level drop in its draw, plunging 55 percent to draw only about 30 percent of social media users this year.  For Twitter, data released by comScore shows the site leveled off to about 20 million users after more than quadrupling user base between February and April of this year.

MediaPost includes a chart breaking down Hitwise data for the top five social media sites.

Read more at MediaPost {link no longer active}.