Call of Duty: Ghosts Eminem video the epitome of mainstream acceptance

The once perceived bedroom pastime for  the socially inept has really cemented itself into popular culture over the last decade as this latest Call of Duty: Ghosts Eminem video video proves. Now, the most mainstream of popular music artists  are endorsing  the video game presence within our culture, often freely admitting to being video game fans themselves – oh how times have changed! Simply put, the  games industry has expanded greatly since its humble beginnings, and with it, so has the stigma attached to being a video game fan which ultimately is a good thing. Gaming itself has evolved, and with the natural evolution  the technology has allowed developers to spend more money on making realistic looking representations in the digital realm, and therefore, has made game footage more suitable for featuring alongside other popular mediums – like in music videos. Whilst perhaps in the past it was considered a bit “geeky” and off the beaten track to include any sort of game footage in music videos, the quality and production values behind contemporary video games now makes them fine fodder to include in the coolest of music videos from the most mainstream of artists. The games industry is no stranger to seeing specially mixed gaming videos which feature footage alongside popular music tracks, aimed at making the products  more appealing to the mainstream audience as part of the massive marketing push gaming requires nowadays. It’s interesting to see a reversal of sorts where the music artist is now making tracks for the video game where the music is almost an advertisment for the video game

 

During the history of videogames, there have been a number of crossovers with some well known music artists making cameos in games or even having entire projects based around them, and yet with Eminem’s latest video for his track “Survival” which features footage from the forthcoming Call of Duty Ghosts and is in fact an advert for the game, it’s a sign of our times of how video games, and more specifically Call of Duty is a part of the mainstream market. This current collaboration between popular artist Eminem and Activision/Infinity Ward is perhaps the epitome of how mainstream it gets; leaving an overshadowing  question of what negative effects being mainstream has on the core video game market?

If we look at the last year or so, there have been several key titles in established game series which have fallen short of projected turnover, where previously, games within those series have garnered mass followings and proven to be fruitful. The high cost of production now means that games which don’t reach a specific number of healthy sales won’t cover the huge cost mainstream gaming commands. One look at some of Capcom and Square’s offerings over the last 18 months are a clear indication of how some games can be deemed failures despite seemingly good sales.

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Mainstream gaming has given rise to an inherent need for publishers to bolster their budgets for marketing, with the aim of reaching out to a mainstream audience who seem only too keen to lap up specific franchises year after year. In some ways, the more mainstream gaming has become, has meant less popular games and genres even, aren’t making the desired waves, where the support of  core audiences is no longer enough. This is one negative aspect of mainstream gaming, and as the video shows, it’s the latest big budget Call of Duty game being showcased, not some lesser known game.

In the longer term as lesser franchises potentially peter out and we’re only left with either very small indie developed games to coexist with the big budget titles, perhaps mainstream gaming will eventually eat itself. In the mean time, we can all enjoy artists from various genres put their seal of approval on X game.

Written by: Rob Cram

Rob Cram has hundreds of video game reviews, thousands of articles under his belt with years of experience in gaming and tech. He aims to remain fair and free from publisher/developer influence. With his extensive knowledge, feels his gaming opinions are valid and worth sharing. Agreement with his views are entirely optional. He might have a bias towards cyberpunk.