Some of you reading this may be too young to remember truly cringey video game adverts, but they used to be the norm. They were all aimed at edgy teenage boys who thought girls were icky and their parents didn't understand them. Now, gamers have banded together to laugh at some of the worst offenders out there.
Over on ResetEra, the thread starts with an archetype of the Kinect days. Dragon Ball Z Kinect is advertised using that deep-voiced voiceover guy you recognise from summer blockbuster trailers. It's also got terrible CGI and an overly enthusiastic teen in a lavish living room jumping around in front of the Kinect. Most of us had these things crammed into bedrooms, we didn't have free use of the entire lounge. Also, "I like how in the commercial they mispronounced Saiyan for Sign On."
The next one is just fatphobic. For Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, a similar voiceover asks, "how much is too much?" as a camera crash zooms on a guy eating a lot of food at a diner. His stomach expands and his shirt buttons pop as the announcer exclaims they've put everything into the game, including a bonus level. It's at that point the man in the diner explodes, showering everyone with guts and partially eaten food.
There's also the infamous Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2 ad. The 30-second ad shows a bunch of middle-aged women, presumably mothers, reacting to a screen behind the camera. There are gasps, horrified looks, and hands raised to shield their innocent eyes. These women who have gone through the horrors of child birth think this video game is simply too much, and that's why you'll love it, because your mum hates it.
Finally, not bad because it's cringe or offensive, but just flagrant false advertising. Golden Sun's TV commercial featured an orchestra defeating a stone angel with flaming arrows shot from violin bows and a deadly cymbal toss, as well as a chandelier dragon defeated by a witch conductor. None of that is in the game. It's a cool advert though.