Just as video games are becoming more complex and involved, so are the commercials for video games. It seems that like the games themselves, a lot of production goes into the commercials. Selecting a song to play while showing off the game’s visuals is crucial, because the song should convey a general tone or feeling intended to be associated with the game, or, at the least, an aspect of the game. Take a look at six examples of great uses of songs in video game commercials.
Lost Odyssey – White Rabbit, Jefferson Airplane
White Rabbit has been used in many movies (The Game comes to mind) and it’s perfect for this Lost Odyssey commercial. A good role-playing game should feature massive amounts of exploration, so the Alice in Wonderland motif works quite well.
Gears of War – Mad World, Gary Jules
Jules’ Mad World is slower and far more somber than the original by Tears for Fears, and this version gives the warzone in Gears of War a melancholy gravity.
Gears of War 2 – Last Day, Devotchka
Last Day – aside from being a pretty cool song – helps hammer home the impression that many soldiers aren’t going to make it home from war. I downloaded this song about two minutes after I first saw this commercial.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – I Ran, Flock of Seagulls
Obviously, a quintessential 80s song that matches up perfectly with the cheesy hot pink and aqua 80s visuals.
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas – Welcome to the Jungle, Guns N’ Roses
Also used in Dirty Harry and The Dead Pool and just about every NFL game ever, Welcome to the Jungle is appropriate for CJ’s adventures in the urban jungle.
Halo 3 – Raindrop, Chopin
Like the Gears of War songs, the use of Chopin gives paints war with a tragic brush instead of glorifying it with some hard rock.
Are there any video game commercials that come to mind because of their use of music? Let me know.
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