Call of Duty Black Ops 2 - Live Action Launch Trailer

I laughed, I cried, I COD'ed. That sounds dirty.

Oh hey look, Halo and Call of Duty employed the same marketing tactics. Again. Okay, well not exactly the same, but they did release live action trailers directed by pretty famous people (Guy Ritchie in this case). Here's the difference: while Halo catered to the Halo fan, COD catered to, well, everyone that knows what a video game is. And much to my surprise, it totally works.

Everyone who has ever played COD knows that the online multiplayer is a total sh*t fest. You run around, shoot everything in sight, get killed from an unknown direction, respawn, rinse wash repeat. It's organized chaos, but damn do people have fun playing it. So why not try and market towards as many gamers as possible by making a trailer with big booms, big guns, and Robert Downey Jr.? It didn't take itself too seriously, and that will get people to line up for its release.

Oh, and FPS Russia FOR THE WIN. Good to see this guy getting some camera time outside of the youtubes.

Also, zombies.

Assassin's Creed III - Launch Trailer

Finally, the time is at hand

All of the waiting, all of the anticipating, it is finally coming to an end. Assassin's Creed III drops today and I for one could not be more exciting. Combine this with the best trailer the franchise has ever released, and I'm contemplating a trip to my nearest GameStop at 9 am.

I've never seen such fluidity of action in an Assassin's Creed trailer (let alone the game itself), which means that we're hopefully going to see the best looking and smoothest AC yet. But just to put the tomahawk in the proverbial red coat:

"What is your name?"

"Why do you ask?"

"...So I can find you."

Enough said.

Bioshock Infinite - "Beasts of America" Trailer

From floating building to shining floating building

CGI/Live action trailers are awesome. They are gorgeous representations of what a game would look like if it ever graced the theaters. But in terms of really selling a game to the public, nothing beats a badass trailer made completely out of in-game footage. With a wonderful combination of rocking music, beautiful graphics, and tons of slick action, Bioshock Infinite just blew me away with its Beasts of America. As someone who does not typically reach for the Bioshock franchise when looking for a game to play, these two minutes has me interested. Irrational definitely hit the mark with this one. 

Halo 4 - "Scanned" Launch Trailer

There is WAY too much ancient evil in the universe

I don't think people realize how big of a deal it is that David Fincher and Tim Miller were involved in the production of this trailer. The director of Fight Club and The Social Network doesn't team up with a visual effects lead of X-Men and Where the Wild Things Are for anything. This goes to show that video games are really starting to break into the Hollywood workforce as a medium that is beneficial to work in. It's no surprise; with video games being one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the world, it's surprising that we haven't seen more big names in the credits for trailers or the games themselves.

This CGI/live action short shows us that Halo is a big deal. Big enough that some serious players in the industry are willing to attach their names to it. Or that they'll do anything for the right price. I'm going with the first option.

Far Cry 3 - "The Tribe: Citra and Dennis" Trailer

I'll try not to use "Far Cry" in a sentence

I had the pleasure of trying Far Cry 3 at E3 this year, and man was it a blast. No... literally everything exploded. But it was a fun twist to the four-player co-op model; each person could be their own unique class with special load-outs (I went with the sniper package). There was even a section where my teammates and I stood on a bridge with .50 cal rifles and had a contest closely resembling "how many body parts can you shoot off in three minutes?" It may not have been the most innovative thing in the world, but it sure was fun.

Cut to this gameplay reveal trailer, where we meet our main allies (and maybe a bad guy too?) Citra and Dennis. Their native island has a serious lack of outside human contact vibe, which makes it no wonder these pirates have made short work of taking over most of it. It's hard to fight guns with spears. Anyway, Citra, the leader of the tribe, promises to give you the power of an ancient warrior if you rescue some of her people. Dennis is there to speak with a cool accent. You proceed to kill a bunch of people in ridiculous, action movie ways. We might not have learned a whole lot, but at the very least Far Cry 3 will swing for the fences with action and big booms.

NBA 2K13 - Launch Trailer

Did I mention Jay-Z is the EP?

First off, let's get something straight. Much like the film industry, when the box says that NBA 2K13 is "executive produced by Jay-Z" it actually means "Jay-Z gave us a lot of money so we had to put his name on the title". I'm sure that he had a hand in the production (see: the soundtrack) but for all intensive purposes, that's pretty much his entire role.

Anyhow, to the game. the 2K franchise has struck gold with their NBA effort ever since '11 hit the shelves, and the gameplay looks smoother and more realistic as the years go on. I was loving the signature moves being shown, Larry Bird and The Truth specifically if I'm going to have any kind of bias. And who doesn't love to see a Houston-clad Jeremy Lin getting crossed up? I'm curious to when 2K will go after a physics overhaul ala Madden, but as of right now if it ain't broke then let Jay-Z pay for it.

Okay, that was the last jab. If you like sports games and the NBA, 2K13 is going to be tops.

Assassin's Creed 3 - "Boston Tea Party" Trailer

Goin' up to Bahston

When a trailer gives you goosebumps and makes you forget how to breathe for almost two minutes, it's a damn fine trailer. While slow at first, this short actually sets the story quite well for people who maybe have never seen anything about the new AC game. But for those of us who haven't been living under a rock, we already knew most of the components to the story.

What excites me most about Assassin's Creed III is that we will be doing things in a "behind the scenes" sort of level for the American Revolution. Almost like the original special ops in an organized war. If that doesn't get you giddy to take up Desmond's Animus chair again, I'm not sure what will.