Help me find this Pacific war videogame TV commercial

January 23, 2006 9:12 AM

Help me find this Pacific war videogame TV commercial I saw a while ago (mi)

I think I saw it in late 2003, but I could be wrong. It's a commercial for a WWII videogame. It starts underwater with soft hawaian music, IIRC, you can see swimmers passing by. Then the camera rises up and breaks the surface, and you realize it's Pearl Harbor, the noise and violence are nightmarish, and the swimmers were actually sailors cast overboard.

I remember being really shaken by this, for various reasons, not important here.

Can anyone remember this commercial and , most importantly, where online could i find it? Not knowing the name of the game advertised, I don't know where to start.

Thank you, AskMeFi hivemind !!

NB: I'm looking for the commercial, not the game.

posted by Oneirokritikos to media & arts (7 comments total)

Pretty sure you're talking about Medal of Honor:Rising Sun. I'm not going to search for the video for you, but the name should help.
posted by poppo at 9:22 AM on January 23, 2006

the keyword you want is "trailer" for Medal oh Honor Rising Sun

This may be what you're looking for
If that doesn't work, try this
Warning, file sizes are big
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:28 AM on January 23, 2006

It is indeed Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. This looks like the ad you seek.
posted by Durhey at 9:29 AM on January 23, 2006

Looks like Durhey got it for you. You're right, pretty unnerving ad...
posted by danb at 10:05 AM on January 23, 2006

Thank you guys, that was quick !
Glad to see I'm not the only one upset by this... I have no idea why so many people pay to find themselves thrust into a realistic simulation of a nightmare real people had to endure. But then I was never one to play videogames in the first place...Well, except the occasional Flash novelty on MeFi :)
posted by Oneirokritikos at 2:41 PM on January 23, 2006

The same reason they pay for books about war and other unplesant experiences. Video games tell a story, often more vividly than any other medium can. Just because the story isn't all happiness and light doesn't mean it's a waste of time and money.
posted by cosmicbandito at 4:22 PM on January 23, 2006

Glad I could help.

In answer to your other question: WW2 is made into games over and over, probably because it's recalled as the most morally unambiguous war, i.e. kill the Nazis 'cause they're totally bad, and America was so totally good. The Medal of Honor series casts itself as historically valid, which is just nonsense.

While playing the Pearl Harbor scenario in MoH: Pacific Assault, I personally shot down about 50-odd Japanese dive bombers, sometimes with a sidearm. WW2 games can be fun, but to twist a historical event like that seemed very wrong. It would have been far better to have the player character unable to do anything to counter the attack, and feel frustrated and helpless. I guess the developers weren't thinking that far out of the box, though. Gotta keep those T-rated war games coming.

/derail
posted by Durhey at 4:56 PM on January 23, 2006