The video game industry has a long and rich history. Sometimes, revisiting the past can be enlightening, entertaining, and even frustrating. Other times, these trips down memory lane only remind you how much things can change. If you think the sexuality in game advertising today is over-the-top (like Kate Upton promoting Game of War), check out how it looked 10 years ago.
Of course, using sex to sell things is about as old as advertising itself. However, you may be surprised how far game ads in the mid-2000s went. They were neither clever nor subtle. Don’t take our word for it – just look at the examples.
All of these scanned ads appeared in issues of Game Informer from ’04 to ’06 (well, all except one, but we’ll get to that). Read on, and get ready to cringe.
(click the ads to enlarge)
Bloodrayne 2
No one really expected anything sophisticated out of Bloodrayne 2, but presenting the character’s breasts as the primary “new features worth noting” tells you a lot about how confident the publisher (the beleaguered Majesco) was in the game.
Bloodrayne 2 (Again)
Yeah, this is basically the same thing as before, but it’s her butt this time. Is the game any fun to play? Who cares?! She’s sexy, guys!
The Guy Game
Apparently, any “red-blooded American guy” loves awkward pornography doled out as a reward for answering trivia questions. At least the ad isn’t misleading, though. As promised, The Guy Game is exactly what you think it is: garbage.
Rumble Roses
Because the important thing isn’t whether you are playing a good game, it’s whether you get to see scantily clad women wrestle in all of their PS2-era graphical splendor.
Leisure Suit Larry
In case you have no idea what Leisure Suit Larry is, this really drives the point home: It has boobs in it. If you think the ad is bad, be thankful you didn’t play the game.
Next: Impractical armor and more.