In Game Advertising? Options

[Hekubis]

These two posts have brought up a really interesting concept and I wanted to get everyone's take on it.
Sony, Activision CEOs skeptical of in-game advertising

IGA Launches In-Game Ads

I personally don't quite know where I stand on this concept, I do know if ads start popping up in my games they better not be intrusive! When you think about it games like crackdown that have Billboards could easily and seemlessly turn that space into an advertising opportunity w/o affecting the integrity of the game itself. Now if they had a mission where I must take 10 minutes to walk my character into a McDonald's and then get a cut scene of my character eating a Quarter Pounder and slugging down a Coca-Cola.... that's a different story.

If you really think about it Video Games have served an advertising functionality already, so this isn't really a stretch. Video game to movie tie-ins are big business and serve little more purpose than a usually quickly (read: poorly) constructed game based loosely upon a movie story line to get the hype engine revving. Ever wonder why most movie tie-in games are released before the movie itself?

You may also remember those Burger King games that blatantly served as a revenue driver for their Value meals. Nobody seemed to mind them too much, maybe it's because they were only 6.99 w/purchase. Heck some of those games were even fun (I'm lookin' at you Big Bumpin').

What do you guys think? Take the poll or leave a comment... Maybe Both!

[Stratuscaster]

It doesn't bother me to see an ad in the game - like a billboard on a racetrack or highway, or a neon sign in a building window or what-have-you. I find I tune most of it out anyway. Kinda like product placement.

You are right - games built around a specific advertiser are one thing. (I need to pick those up for the old xBox - I think you can grab 'em at GS for under $4 these days...just because they are kinda goofy. The 7-year-old would probably like them.)

I would think that if it was excessive - like 15 billboards in a one-block span - that might be a bit much.

[Hekubis]

It doesn't bother me to see an ad in the game - like a billboard on a racetrack or highway, or a neon sign in a building window or what-have-you. I find I tune most of it out anyway. Kinda like product placement.

You are right - games built around a specific advertiser are one thing. (I need to pick those up for the old xBox - I think you can grab 'em at GS for under $4 these days...just because they are kinda goofy. The 7-year-old would probably like them.)

I would think that if it was excessive - like 15 billboards in a one-block span - that might be a bit much.

Yeah or who would really want to see Duke Nukem running around in a Budweiser "Wife Beater" tank top? Or a radio commercial for Gilette come on your car radio while cruzin' the mean streets in PGR3?

Actually, after giving it some more thought I am amazed at how many games already include "ads" of some sort. A big culprit is the Tony Hawk Series, Guitar Hero 3 has quite a bit (more product placement), and the amount in the NFS (Starting with underground) is simply staggering. You don't think about it... but all of those parts have a real name attached to em... and you can even go so far as to placing a Kenwood, Neuspeed, Alpine, et. al. window vinyl on your car. Now granted one could say that is for Immersion purposes and keeping things realistic. But really it's just scary.

Now if they could do it where like in GTA for example, the most common commuter car is like a dodge caliber or the pick up trucks are different versions of the Ford F-Series or something I may be okay with it. Subtlety is going to be the key if they want this to work.... it's a slippery slope though. If we as consumers of these games let them get away with too much we may see them start to inundate us. And then we'll wind up with you warrior healing himself with Johnson & Johnson Band-aid bandages in WoW.

[Hirophant0]

Advertising in video games is nothing new, it comes down to how its done, If I'm playing a game and all of a sudden it stops and plays a video to tell me about a new flavor of Doritos that is coming out, then I'll keep playing the 60 dollars. Additionally, if the advertising is background, but just ridiculous, I feel the games loses some credibility, like when a band sells out.

[brokenspirit]

Besides NFS, try popping in Rainbow Six Vegas and doing some of the missions. They actually update their advertisements in game. I was playing one day and saw some boards with Superbad on them, then a few days later i saw some adds for Balls of Fury i think instead of Superbad. That kinda stuff is ok with me, but i still think that it is kinda lame. In the long run though, Ad's will not be going away. As long as they don't actually effect the game in anyway, i am fine with them.

[Ferret]

Not that big of a deal. as long as it doesnt take me out of the experience or f with my game play. I dont wanna see a hello kitty ad in the middle of a Call of Duty game or anything. ha.

[BloodyBandage]

I think it's wrong to pay for the game, and then have ingame ads within it....if its a free game they need some type of revenue model but a paid game with ads is just poor taste.