I'm assuming this rule doesn't apply to a bunch of things. Like movies. Or TV shows. Or a bunch of videogames that are advertised weeks and even sometimes months ahead of time. Right?

It applies to packaged goods. I'm sure there might be some exception depending on the product, but that is the rule. 

Before release its a waste of money. Doesnt mean everyone does the right thing. Especially in the games market theres alot of wasting of money.

The only instance where that might make sense in the videogames market is if the point is to boost pre-order numbers. I'm not convinced that is worth it, as the average consumer does not usually pre-order games. For the hardcore gamer, you use PR actions, like the ones that showed us footage with impressions on different publications. Alot cheaper and efficient.

A TV spot is considered the atomic bomb of advertising. You fire an expensive bullet in hopes of getting as many of your target as you can, but its not efficient at all, as it will be expensive and will target alot of consumers that arent your target and dont care about games. TV spots are incredibly costly and inneficient. If on top of that your target cant buy your product, its a massive waste of money.

I hope you are just talking about TV advertising.

I hope you arent wasting my time. Read the OP.

Right after the direct, I went on to gamestop, and the top 4 best sellers were Mario Kart 8, Mario Kart 8 bundle, Wii U mario luigi bundle, and amazing spider man 2. 

I wouldn't count the bundle as part of the direct, because the deal is attractive regardless of how or when it's presented. The good deal/value of the bundle of has nothing to do with any sort of advertising, direct or otherwise, and I don't see how the video trumps the 34 million people who bought MK Wii.

I'm not saying the Direct was bad or anything, this game was going to do very well and be popular. Why are people acting surprised.

Your points were correct, think of it as a much added effect. The direct was the source hence why people are stating the direct. Your correct in saying the direct wasnt necessarily needed as any other media could hve done the trick and besides MK is already popular to begin with.

All we are saying is as soon as the direct aired, the hype did a good multiply to the hype if that makes sense :o

I take your meaning, especially in regards to how with games it's supposed to up pre-orders (not really a Mario Kart problem), but I can't stop thinking about movies in particular, which get bombarded with TV spots at least a month before the premiere. The bigger issue though is the statement that commercials are going to "target a lot of consumers that aren't your target and dont care about games." They may be failing spectacularly this particular generation, but it was only a few years ago where Nintendo showed that the potential audience for gaming is broader than the current audience (not to mention that they're earlier statement that gaming's future is incredibly bleak if they don't start expanding their reach ASAP).

I don't find it concidental that most of the biggest games of the prior generation saw extensive marketing campaigns, including large TV bombardments. Mario Kart Wii and DS saw the biggest TV campaigns I can remember for the series, for example, and did better than the entries before and since. Word of mouth may be the most effective marketing tool, but you first have to get the word into as many mouths as possible, no?

Thats why im asking you. A lot of people write a load of crap without even reading the OP.

It depends on your target audience and the objective of the communication plan that is beeing drawn. The word of mouth is typically done through social networks. This can be done efficiently with the PR actions they have been doing with the press. These get linked into facebook, twitter, etc.

If your campaign objective is to get word of mouth going i can understand trying that kind of tactic, but in truth word of mouth is something very difficult to gauge. Number of tweets and number or facebook likes? What numbers do you assume would be acceptable numbers to justify the money you will be spending on the production and broadcast of a TV spot?

Of course, the case of movies its different. Maybe for them word of mouth is indeed a big indicator for how well a movie will do. In truth, they are different kinds of products in wich a game is a purchase that is more expensive and racional on the consumer than a movie, wich is significantly cheaper and more prone to impulse buys. The target audience is also larger for movies and the efficiency of a TV spot will probably be higher for them. The TV and cinema audiences overlap quite a bit aswell.

What makes a good Marketeer is to be able to hit the target as efficiently as possible. If you make lots of TV commercials, you will be fireing lots of "big shots" at the audience. Yeah you will reach them, but will it be worth it? How much is that advertisment campaign is gonna cost? How many more millions will the game have to sell because of it? You know, that is one of the problems the industry faces now. When incompetent Marketeers shoot alot of these "big-shots" and then the game needs to sell 3 million + to become profitable.