Comcast Commercial Promotes Fast WiFi To Gamers... To Play Game With No Online Connection

from the because-comcast-thinks-you're-an-idiot dept

Comcast continues its efforts to present itself as one of the most out of touch and ridiculous companies out there, with a new commercial directed at videogamers, highlighting how fast Comcast's in-game WiFi is. Note how it's addressed to "real gamers." Just one problem, as "Mr. Comcast" goes on about how there's "no buffering" and how much better the video gaming experience is with Comcast's Xfinity WiFi, people pointed out that the game in question has no online play. The game is Ubisoft's Trials Fusion, which means that there's no reason there would be any buffering at all in the first place.

Mr. Comcast gets the gamers playing Trials Fusion. The game is indeed a shiny new title, released on PC and for the major gaming consoles (Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4) just a few weeks ago. The motorcycle tricks-and-racing game launched to generally positive reviews that lauded its mechanics and features. But reviewers also mentioned one notable feature that the game does not have: an online multiplayer mode.

No online mode, no net connection. No network connection, no network lag.

“Do you notice any buffering?” Mr. Comcast then asks.

The gamers happily reply that they do not! And of course they don’t: the game ships on a disc or as a one-time digital download. It’s not on a streaming or cloud service like a Netflix or YouTube video; there’s nothing to buffer. That would be akin to asking if you see Microsoft Word buffering when you type a report on your work computer. Your software might be running slowly, but “buffering” is definitely not the issue.

As Re/code points out, this doesn't exactly help Comcast's reputation. And, if you want some amusement, this Reddit comment thread can't be beat: It really takes a special kind of cluelessness to target "real gamers" with an ad so ridiculously misleading, and which those very same "real gamers" will almost immediately call out as bogus.

Filed Under: broadband, multiplayer, trials fusion, video games, xfinity
Companies: comcast, ubisoft