Creative Marketing Puts Xbox One in New Zealand Shark Tank

Game Rant

By GR Staff

Published Nov 13, 2013

If New Zealanders want to get their hands on an Xbox One before the release date, they'll have to try their luck diving into a tank full of sand tiger sharks.

If the atmosphere is feeling unseasonally warm as winter approaches, it might be because the video game industry is currently at the apex of the latest next-gen console war, with both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One set for release within the next fortnight. Until gamers can take home their very own next-gen consoles, however, there's still plenty of entertainment to be gleaned from their respective marketing campaigns.

For example, Microsoft recently constructed a giant Xbox One and installed it in downtown Vancouver, where it opened on October 31st to spill out a wave of hungry zombies. That particular spectacle was designed to promote Microsoft's new console alongside Dead Rising 3, and they did it again in Montreal last week where supercars came out of the giant console for Forza 5. It's unclear whether the latest piece of clever marketing in New Zealand is tied to any particular game. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, perhaps?

A video over at Stuff shows an Xbox One being held under guard - and underwater - at Kelly Tarlton's SEA LIFE Aquarium in Auckland. The console was placed at the bottom of a tank that is also home to 20 sand tiger sharks, who unfortunately don't have the right kind of appendages to use the console themselves.

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While it's a creative and fun publicity stunt, the Xbox One's guards might not be as efficient as they sound on paper. Not only do they not have frickin' laser beams attached to their heads, sand tiger sharks are generally quite docile creatures and it's extremely rare for them to show any kind of hostility towards humans - in fact, there are no records of any human fatalities from sand tiger shark attacks. It's their lack of aggression that actually makes them so suitable for display in aquariums.

With that in mind, we don't encourage Auckland residents to try their luck at diving for the Xbox One, since it's no doubt also guarded by a fierce school of security guards. The whole thing could turn into a highly realistic Tomb Raider LARP, but it's probably not worth getting arrested over considering the Xbox One will be released in another week or so anyway.

The Xbox One launches worldwide on November 22, 2013.

Source: Stuff