Comment by tsimionescu
1 month ago
I will grant you that this type of advertisement is indeed benign (though if I were really really really nitpicky, I could claim that the pace of gameplay shown in the trailer is probably not indicative of how you'd play the actual game, and I'm not sure if the music is part of the game soundtrack).
Still, I think this is such a tiny minority of real advertisment that it's barely worth mentioning. For example, here is a trailer for the original The Binding of Isaac, which (while being an interesting piece of art in itself, which many ads are) is stil clearly not just meant to inform consumers about the game, but instead is meant to sell a certain image of the game that it may or may not invoke in you:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iDFnMfJnI7s
I'd also note that advertisments for artistic products such as games are some of the most ambiguous about the line between informative and persuasive, as the "feel" (atmosphere, tone, persuasive storytelling etc) of the final product is an intrinsic part of its value in a way that is not relevant for, say, produce, or consumer goods. It could be argued, for example, that the Story trailer for Elden Ring captures a real and important part of the appeal of that game, despite it including 0 details about the gameplay, and despite it being entirely original footage and dialog that is not in any way part of the game itself. The same ambiguity doesn't exist about an ad showing the glamorous lifestyle of someone who gets a mobile phone plan from company X, in contrast.
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