Initially it was just the simpsons game but now I just saw the assasins creed commercial which only featured the PS3 version.  Is pretty nice since they get to adversite the cheaper PS3 starting at $399.  I think the publishers have so much money invested on the PS3 they had it do this and like SONY are pulling all the stops.  Hopefully it pays off. 

Maybe not the companies, but Sony is actually putting out good advertisements as opposed to the weird ones. They actually make sense for a change and push the PS3 and it's new price.

I don't know if it's on TV, but I believe it was gametrailers that had a PS3 commercial that was good and showed game, online, blu-ray, ect.

I think it will pay off too, but you've got the motives wrong here. There's zero chance that these companies are pushing the PS3 SKUs because they want the PS3 to succeed so much; it's because Sony paid them. It's precisely what Microsoft did with Guitar Hero II and III; you pay the advertising fees for the companies (in that case Activision) and then they advertise your SKU more heavily. Madden is another example -- the TV ads all had the Xbox360 logo at the end, as if the 360 version were the only SKU, when obviously it wasn't. 

So, uh, yeah. If you think these companies are doing this out of the goodness of their hearts -- or even just to help sell the PS3 -- you're simply wrong. Whatever money they'd get from such a maneuver would be lost by the fact that less people are aware this game even exists on the Wii and Xbox360, which it most certainly does. I think this absolutely will pay off for Sony, I'm just pointing out how it came about. 

I watched a Ad for Cars on Blu Ray, and it had "Playable on Blu-Ray players and PlayStation 3". So it is getting it's name out on both fronts.

I don't know how effective these ads are. It sure didn't seem to help HS a whole lot despite the fact is was one of the most heavily advertised games this season.

That's not the point though, Fishy. What you're doing here is basically questioning the significance of advertisements altogether. The Heavenly Sword commercials are totally stereotypical -- they are advertisements completely funded by Sony for a game completely funded by Sony on a console developed by Sony. That's your typical advertisement; the producer of a product advertising said product. 

The Simpsons Game is another matter entirely. It's a multi-platform game that's advertised with the PS3/PS2/PSP versions exclusively shown. The advertisements don't make it clear that the Wii and 360 versions even exist -- it's very much akin to the Guitar Hero and Madden commercials, which only showed the 360 versions.

And if you look at how those two titles are working now, it really looks like Madden is now dominated by Xbox360 and Guitar Hero is at least recognized as a multiplatform title now, instead of a Playstation exclusive, based on sales. Within a couple weeks, I think we may find that more people buy that game on Microsoft's consoles than on Sony's, which really is quite an achievement.

Of course, I don't think all of those sales or sales trends can be attributed to the advertisements in question, but I do think you could make a compelling argument that Microsoft's advertising deals with Activision and EA have paid off swimmingly for all involved, and that Sony may reap similar benefits with The Simpsons Game (I especially like that Cars Blu-Ray ad, actually, which emphasizes that the PS3 is a Blu Ray player).

it may work for the simpsons game and madden but I don't see this helping the ps3 version for assassins creed all that much.

i just saw the commercial and i have to say i'm not a fan of these commercials that don't show gameplay at all, kinda reminds me of the HS commercials.

 To be fair, action games have never sold all that well compared to the big titles in other genres. God of War didn't really become a financial success until it hit Greatest Hits status - that's certainly when that game took off in sales. This was also before the $400 PS3 and sales of the PS3 at $500 and $600 have been... sluggish.

I dunno, I still think that Heavenly Sword can at least be somewhat successful over time, especially once it hits a budget price. I'd really like to see a sequel.

 Though yeah... roughly a quarter million in sales is kinda rough considering the extent of their advertising campaign. The PS3 needs to get that kind of air time though if it wants to make a comeback.

my local target is sold out of 40gb PS3, 360 Arcade, and as always, the Wii.
I honestly think the casual gamer crowd, would prefer the items to be in stock when they want to buy it. This out of stock situation helps Xbox 360 the most...they have configurations in stock, that aren't too far off the model that people were really looking for...the cheaper Arcade version. It's not like you'll buy a Wii instead...you still only get a Wii on stock day.

I can only speculate, but I'm sure Wii, while still in the leadership position, has probably given away several hundred thousand customers to XBox, because people got tired of trying to find one, and wanted a system to play.

Looks like Sony is bringing people into the stores finally...but looks like they will also give some (not huge, but at least some casual gamer) sales to Xbox 360, since you cannot find the model you came in to buy.