Way before you were a gamer and video game consoles became the multi-billion dollar industry it is today, we relied on television ads to see which games looked fun enough to warrant investing our hard-earned money in. Sometimes the games were as awesome as the commercials told you they were, and sometimes the games were absolutely awful. Whatever memory you have of the game though, you still remember the commercial that convinced you to part with your birthday money from Grandma.

This epiphany got us thinking, what are the five best video game commercials of all time? Deciding which game advertisements to include on the list was incredibly difficult, because each has its own nostalgia factor to certain groups of gamers. We did leave out commercials from the Atari era (mainly because commercials that old suck anyway), but SEGA Genesis and onwards is represented quite accurately.

So, which five commercials made our list for the best video game commercials ever created? Check out the infamous video game commercials that captured our interest, got us talking, made us laugh, and even a couple that made a select few of us tear up. Without further ado, I present the Top 5 Video Game Commercials of All Time.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Infomercial"

Back in the days when SEGA and Nintendo had an intense blood feud, the SEGA Genesis really started to heat up with the help of Sonic the Hedgehog. While the blue blur's original game set new standards in the platforming genre, the second one was home to several big improvements. The gameplay was enjoyable and helped envision Sonic the Hedgehog as a household name, but a commercial that was released a little while after Sonic the Hedgehog 2's release is easily one of the funniest commercials ever to air on television.

Mocking the traditional informercial format, SEGA listed all of the things that Sonic the Hedgehog did aside from just being a game. It didn't really do any of the things it mentioned, but it got me thinking that someone really should patent a video game cartridge that is capable of chopping up food and tidying up those tough to clean messes.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-XOw0IT-vU

Nintendo characters get violent...

Super Smash Bros. 64 "Happy Together"

The Nintendo 64 is debatably one of the most important consoles ever released. Nintendo pioneered the 3D platforming genre with Super Mario 64, and revolutionized the standard video game controller by adding a joystick. Surely this console had a game with a commercial worthy of being mentioned on this list, and it certainly does — but it's not for any of the previously mentioned reasons.

Super Smash Bros. 64 made its North America debut back in 1999, and while it went on to be tremendously successful and spawn a new fan-favorite series for the Big N, the commercial was one of the things that we fondly remember about the game.

That being said, it's hard to forget watching Nintendo's mascots Pikachu, Mario, Yoshi and Donkey Kong skip through a field to the likes of the Turtle's "Happy Together" before beating one another into a bloody stain on the once serene flowerbed.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg

Are you a believer?...

Halo 3 "Believe"

If there was one game that we could "believe" wouldn't suck, it was Halo 3. the game had a lot of hype built up before it made its long awaited debut on the Xbox 360, and it would have done well regardless of how cool its advertisements were. That didn't stop Microsoft and Bungie from pouring their hearts and souls into one of the best advertisements we've ever laid out eyes on.

This particular Halo 3 commercial shows off an gargantuan diorama depicting UNSC troops fighting with the Covenant. The imaginary bloodshed really hits a point home when you see the humanity captured in the eyes of the humans fighting against this genocidal group of aliens, and it's certainly an ad that few fans of the franchise will forget anytime soon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rridXskgWg

Hi Michael...

PlayStation 3 "Michael"

Oh hey, who put this on here? Weird...

Alright, so this commercial was literally just revealed as part of Sony's brand new Long Live Play ad campaign, and even though it may not have settled in as one of the best game commercials of all time just yet, there is no denying that some gamers will classify it as such. The commercial in question features some of the most well-known video game characters to ever grace us with their presence on the PlayStation 3, and Sony went all out to please gamers by including all of the original voice actors for each character present in the actual commercial.

Nolan North as Nathan Drake? Check. David Hayter as Solid Snake? You bet. Ghost, Ezio, Kratos, Sackboy, and more all appear in the commercial, and it's easily one of the best nostalgic trips down memory lane I've ever seen. Best part of all, they're saluting you!... Well, technically they are praising some goofy looking guy named Michael, but you know what I mean.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWkKKSckNk

It's a Mad World...

Gears of War "Mad World"

Surprise!!! Oh... you're not all. Not even a little? Well alright. Nobody should be honestly.

If there's one struggle that developers nowadays have, it's gaining the attention of the masses, and making new Triple-A franchises. Epic Games did just that in 2006 with the help of three things: a gun with a chainsaw on it, solid gameplay, and an amazing ad that blew everyone away.

Gears of War went on to become one of the most successful and recognizable video game franchises of all time, and the series has only just given birth to its third installment. It would be foolish to say that this commercial made Cliff Bleszinski's franchise the juggernaut it is today, but it certainly went a long way in getting the original game's name out there.

The ad itself features Gears of War protagonist Marcus Fenix running through devastated Locust-infested streets to the infamous tune of "Mad World." This commercial is seen by many to be one of the best video game commercials of all time, and the accurate representation of the hopelessness felt by the actual game's characters helps cement this it as the best video game commercial ever crafted by man.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxB9L8tYMwI

That ends our feature on the Top 5 Video Game Commercials of all time. Some of you are probably wondering "OMG!!1! Where the heck is Dead Island, N00bsauce?!", to which I reply, "That Dead Island reveal footage was a trailer... not a commercial."

All of these advertisements are awesome, and there are certainly many more worth mentioning. We love the Ratchet and Clank live-action videos and the Kevin Butler ads for Sony deserve a shout-out but really, KB could have his own feature though, so maybe we'll do that at another time. For now, we decided to focus on commercials outside of his charismatic antics.

You may not agree with the list so tell us your favorite video game commercials - There are plenty of noteworthy ones out there!

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