Split-Screen :: The Game-Geek’s Daily Read

In preparation for their one-minute-after-midnight launch of Infinity Ward and Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on November 10th, American-based department store chain Walmart has created some rather…interesting commercials, including the already famous “Fastest Way to Play” commercial.

The commercials star Steve “a regional manager for a nuts and bolts company” and Nick, who “has none of the responsibilities I do and all the time in the world, and I still dominate him in every game we’ve ever played”. Nick, an IT specialist at the same fictional company, “actually had to teach Steve how to turn on his XBox 360″. These fictional profiles obviously do their best to reinforce the trash-talking aspects of the ad campaign. And while the hamminess of their characters can’t be denied, neither can the humour of their exchanges (“Hey this is called ‘Modern Warfare’, not ‘Civil Warfare’ so don’t even head for the musket”). One of the commercials also features Steve alternating between describing a cold, Black Ops mission and talking to his little daughter about her “tummy ache”. So the weird quotient is in good supply, too.

So far, 10 such commercials have been released, while 3 more (including one to be uploaded tonight) are on the way. All videos, present and future, can be viewed here.