I think Sony waited too late to release the Kevin Butler Killzone 3 commercials.  Sony didn't even release those commercials until couple of days before game release.  I'm just now seeing Killzone 3 commercials on mainstream TV (ESPN during NBA games or primetime sitcoms on ABC/CBS/NBC/FOX)  2 weeks after release.  Did that contribute to somewhat disappointing opening week sales (not matching Killzone2)?  Some of my PS3 friends (Killzone 2 friends) were unaware that Killzone 3 had already came out.

I hope Uncharted 3 is advertised on primetime television at least a month before release.

I'm not sure it makes any sense to advertise games before they're out, honestly. You run the risk of people seeing the ad, saying "that's cool!", immediately trying to find the game on Amazon, seeing that it's not out yet, and then forgetting about it.

Or maybe people just don't care for Killzone 3. 

Just a thought. 

Can I use that same line in threads relating to the marketing and sales of Wii, DS and PSP games?

OT: From what I've seen, Sony isn't that good at marketing their products. That doesn't mean they don't put heaps of money into their marketing, it's just that they lack the ability to create large and interesting ad campaigns. Kevin Butler was good, but you can't always rely on the face of one character to sell twenty different products. Killzone 3 fell into their generic ad trap and like many of their games, word of mouth and long term promotion and bundling will make it grow.

Ads were first shown during the VGAs, shown on a semi-regular basis in January, and I've seen a ton in the past couple of weeks. So my answer is no.

Isn't that the case with most PS3 exclusive games? KB adverts usually follow later on, there is usually a cinematic/gameplay advert which comes out a few days before an exclusive and then there is a KB ad which comes out on the day or a bit after the launch. I think their strategy is to attempt to have a second week matching the first or being reasonably close to it. Thing is, people complain about Sony products not being advertised enough, but here in UK I see an ad for either 360/PS3 or even a Wii at least once during a commercial break. In some cases there is a 360 ad followed by PS3 or Wii ad, once there were all 3 on right after each other ._.

Well generally the hardcore will buy the first week, then they will spread it amongst their friends and then advertising starts to come in to help word of mouth generate traction....

Mess up seems harsh.  I do think they overly focused on Move/3D aspects in a lot of advertising and previews.  Sony has always had a habit of this with IP it controls.  The result for me is that KZ3 didn't stand out in its own right as a game - it more came across as KZ2 but this time with Move, 3D and split screen coop.

KZ2 got a lot of bad press around controls and other elements which GG clearly aimed to improve with KZ3 but none of that side of the title seemed to get much of a push.

In the end I think it'll do roughly the same as KZ2 unless it gets better post launch word of mouth and therefore legs.  The franchise clearly lost some people with KZ2 controls, gained some back with the new title and the new stuff but only enough to - so far - to more or less balance the lost customers rather than actually grow the franchise.

Well, Isaw one commercial at the VGA's, then I started seeing comercial around the release. It's too late to tell how good/bad the marketing was. Let's wait for week 2's #s

Sony is trusting the word of mouth-effect that they games have...