Activision has omitted PlayStation's logo from a new print run of Call Of Duty: Black Ops ads in the UK.
In yet more evidence of a blossoming partnership between Activision and Xbox, Microsoft's branding proudly accompanies that of Treyarch and Activision - but there's no room for Sony.
CVG first spotted the 'missing' PlayStation logo yesterday, in UK rock magazine Kerrang!.
An ad for the multiformat Black Ops in the inside of the publication's cover only contains the Xbox Live logo and famous 360 'Jump In' branding, with no mention of PC or PS3.
A fluke? Not on your nelly. Today, UK games industry bible MCV came through the post and - once again - there was no mention of Sony on a Black Ops ad.
This time, an ad cover on the weekly magazine - prominently showing off the game's 9/11/10 release date - only contained Xbox Live, 360, Treyarch and Activision branding.
The Kerrang! ad promotes the 'network première' of the Black Ops trailer on ITV this Friday.
It will air during half-time of the England vs. Bulgaria international football match. What's the betting it's been part-funded by Microsoft?
Platform exclusive ads aren't a new thing, of course - with EA notably teaming up with PS3 for FIFA 11 and Need For Speed campaigns last year.
But the Black Ops campaign seems to offer more evidence of a burgeoning relationship between Microsoft and Activision - following an announcement of timed 360-exclusive DLC at E3 in June.
I swear i have seen ads for mw2 which just had the xbox logo. It's common practice for multiplatform game ads on tv, It happens with fifa too. It doesn't mean the game is exclusive at all unless they stipulate the words "only on...."
If its true M$ paid Acti to not show the PS3 logo thats pretty sad even for microsoft's standards but hey its not like COD is even a great series to begin with.
Sony dosnt need to be seen on the add. Any gamer with a brain knows its on the all platform. Plus mw2 was only show for xbox and Assasin creed 2 was only show with SONY.
Prefer EA anyway, if Xbox owners are proud of their company pouring cash into exclusive logo rights then they shouldnt be complaining that their subscription prices are going up...
One scary day it will be Activision-Microsoft-Blizzard. and well considering bungie just went to activion and MS are bumbing them there must be a connection
The game's out on all consoles apart from the Wii, so what's the problem? They pay money just to have their 5 second MS logo at the end of the advert, and get some DLC for 2 or 3 months earlier than PC and PS3, big deal. The DLC is usually broken upon release anyway, like what happened with MW2. *Yawn*
No PC-DVD logo either. Not sure why MS bother paying (assuming they have) for CoD exclusives, it's the main non-MS franchise associated with the console. They would get better value splashing their cash trying to promote other genres on the console. Just look at the good promoting Heavy Rain did the PS3, imagine if MS had promoted Alan Wake the same way.
Ok, I wasnt going to buy this in the first place but now Im definately not. If they abandon playstation then fine, no purchase from me. I hate activision they are money grabbing f****ts
Jesus some people really need to take a chill pill, its just an advertising deal. They've been happening for years, how many adverts have you seen for multiplatform games nowadays that only show one format, most of them from Fallout 3 to Fifa. Infact the only ad i've even seen recently that makes it clear its available on other formats has been the Toy Story 3 game(and even that one highlights the point that the PS3 version has exclusive content). MS and Sony have been doing this for years, CVG seem to have highlighted this one for some strange reason as if its some sort of secret cabal between MS and Activision to take over the world. And as usual some people have started foaming at the mouth. Job done!
This is such a retarded watse of money, how is this going to affect the sales? Infact if anything, it will ower them because PS3 users might invest their money on Medal of honor instead tricked into thinking CRAP OPS is a 360 exclusive. I really hate M$
yeah it doesn seem a bit of a waste of money by both sides to get the competitions logo dropped from adds. It rarely seems to work. I mean all the 360 FFXIII ads didn't stop it selling more on the PS3 likewise all the assassin creed 2 adds for the ps3 doing the opposite.
It would make more sense if they saved up thier cash and got a decent amount of timed exclusivity as permenant 3rd party exclusivity doesn't really exist anymore.
I'm sure if MS got Black ops exclusive for six months it would push sales a lot more than dlc would.
Just been watching the match, I know who's investing their money better on advertising. Microsoft have a small section of a ad whereas Sony have a large section of screen time everytime the ads come on with sponsorship of the England match. You've got too laugh as I know which ads and logo looks classier and will stick in the memory. The other just looks like a cheap tag on to a games advert.
this is beginning of the end for the PS3. hardware has never been its problem, price and lack of first party software to stand up to the likes of Mario kart and Halo 3, which are games that have sold well over 10 million... while Sony doesn't even have a first party game thats sold half of that amount. its no good people saying the best selling games on the PS3 are GTA4 and Call of Duty. because you can pick those games up on the Xbox 360. so it kinda makes buying a PS3 pointless, if you can get those games, plus Halo and Gears of War on Xbox Live. not to mention the pick of RPGs and JRPGs are all on the 360!. Sony's software is subpar, and so are its sales numbers. thats the problem, the PS3 was never launched as a games console, this is what happens when you sell a movie player.
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Oh,look cvg wants to find out how much money MS paid Activision for this, but not about the EA and Sony deal!!!! 
NOT
None of these adverts have any effect on what I choose to buy(*)..... 
