How does advertising for real products break a gamer's suspension of belief? Nothing pulls me out of a game quicker than a bogus product modeled off a real life product.Dodge's integration with Rainbow Six, FastBreak and Toyota's use in NBA 2k are all examples of games that are made more immersive by real ads.

DTM_Returns

I don't see how advertisements have to adversely effect suspension of belief in the right circumstances. A billboard advertising a real-world product in a racing sim doesn't take anything away from it, does it? Wouldn't it make the world more realistic, if anything?

Ads in games just need to be there for the benefit of the consumer. The ad revenues need to transfer directly to our savings, and it'll be fine. Do we benefit from ads right now? I'm not so sure, to be honest, just like it's hard to believe we benefit from seeing movie trailers at the theater with ticket prices as high as they are, but hopefully, we will see something good come out of it.

thatguyjr

I don't know about you guys, but I smell so good when I use my Axe body spray and my Nivea For Men shave gel....Mmmmm, refreshness.

Lazlo

If you are really angry about in-game ADs, play some Mercs2, you can go around destroying all Billboards that have Pacino/Deniro's new movie on them. You even get $$$ & unlockables for doing it!

I couldn't do that in Rainbow Six Vegas 2, no matter how many clips I put into Stiller's face he was still looking at me.

Teamwork Takedown

@lumpi: Wasn't the original movie's climactic scene in front of the Silvercup sign? :)

Eville1 says SKUse me a sec.

Don't we have the equivalent of in-game ads for a long time now? In sports games they're yesterday's news - like in real-world sports broadcasts.

In games - just like movies - it's "product placement". Much-discussed, much-opposed, but ultimately harmless compared to most other forms of advertising. Just like in movies: A character drinking a Pepsi - who cares. A sword fight in front of a huge JVC sign ( [www.filmcritic.com] ) - embarrassing.

Ultimately, the discussion is boring since the outcome is so predictable, when you look at Hollywood productions.

lumpi

The real beauty of it is the fact that it is not readily quantifiable. You might be able to track views but there is no way to track effectiveness of in-game ads without speculation. I work in advertising and the largest part of a site build is the tracking associated with it. We track everything you do when oyu go to a minisite and it is immediately measurable when clickThroughs lead to conversions.

penetraitor

@kagebutsu:
instead of posting on interweb chatrooms.
While Kotaku is less obtrusive about the ads, they are still there.

penetraitor

@SarcasmOD: Oh I love the Che stuff. Nevermind the fact that he'd kill you for it if he were alive. I'm sure he's rolling over in his grave knowing people are doing exactly what he fought against WITH HIS OWN IMAGE.

..On a second note..I really did think that Mercs 2 had in game advertising and it didn't bother me. (Technically it does. The billboards are for righteous kill.) But you blow them up Heh. I don't mind that. As long as it's not something out of place that jars my perception of the game. For that matter if it wasn't something you got paid to do in Mercs 2 they could just update the game every time you log in. Mercs creates it's own server so people can jump in and out of games if you let them. The add revenue from changing billboards in Mercs 2 wouldn't be that bad of an idea.

Eville1 says SKUse me a sec.

If I wanted to be advertised to every 5 minutes I would watch tv.

kagebutsu

It will work for any size game as long as results can be tracked. Tracking proves exposure to the advertiser. The same CPM model can be used as on the web. Perhaps right now advertisers are paying too much for what they get, but time and basic economics will fix that.

Obviously ads alone cannot pay for a triple A game title. They don't pay for movies yet either, but no one is busting their nuts over this.

skrame ☆

@Cogito: Nonsense! If I just wear my Che Guevara shirt from The Gap, everyone will see my individualist protest against the corrupt corporate machine and it will change the world!

SarcasmOD

Even if it doesn't work too well, it's basic economics that they will continue to do it until it becomes a losing effort for them (ie, they spend more to advertise than they make back), and even then they may stick with it for a while in the hopes that things will turn around.

The more popular video games become, the more prevalent ads will become too. Sad....but true. :(

Cogito

I'd prefer fake ads that fit with the game environment. If the game environment is a contemporary cityscape, I'd still prefer something fake made by the level designers. I don't care that a Ford ad, for example, would be thematically appropriate. I'd rather a fake car company that the developers came up with at the same time they came up with everything else so that that they have the same flavour or something like that. When I see a real ad, I know it. I sigh a bit. It's a minus to the game. At best, a small minus, but always a step in the wrong direction.

SeedyXX

@CockroachMan: EA is ripping us off

Mactheridon

Since the videogame industry has become more powerful than the movies industry, and there are some little ads on the movies, it would be obvious to think that ads on games would be as good or better. choosing which game to adertise on is actually the sociodemographic targeting.

JUST DONT OVER DO IT ADVERTISERS, OR ULL RUIN A GAME WITH ADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you.

Mactheridon

In some games, games that are situated in our time specially, in game ads make it more real. Of course, a Pepsi outdoor in Warcraft would be ridiculous :P

My only problem with them is that some games are using in-game ads.. but they are still charging the same price for the game! Shouldn't them be cheaper?

In some cases, the advertising is huge and really helps selling the product, I can see someone buying a car cause it's faster in Need for Speed, or buying a table at IKEA cause that table matched his living room in The Sims.. that's a big advertise, Either EA is ripping us off, or not charging enough from advertisers..

CockroachMan

@DTM_Returns:

Yeah, a Coke ad would fit right in in Oblivion, not problem with suspension of disbelief there, nosiree.

sqlrob

I'm playing through Fight Night Round 3 for the first time, and I just earned the Burger King™ Achievement (I Won The BK® Invitational Fight!).

And I didn't care that it said BK, because I had a good time punching people in the face.

/Sure I'm behind the times, but it only cost a few dollars.

skrame ☆

@DTM_Returns: Exactly. To be honest I don't care either way. Will I throw a bitch-fit when I see an ad on a game? No. Well unless it forces me to click on it or see it or whatever but if it's just on the background and doing nothing or a billboard or whatever then it's ok.

At the end of the day it's all about preference. While I'm ok with it, it doesn't that everyone is. Videogame publishers should just put it in a non-obtrusive way as not to tick of anyone.

excaliburps

Depends on the genre and placing of the ad. A Levi's ad in the middle of bug cave as you are exterminating hordes of bugs with a space marine would be bad.

But a billboard on a building set in a real city is no problem at all in my mind.

Meohfumado

@skrame ☆: See that really irritated me, I couldn't believe the nerve. And the fact you can have 'The King' as a trainer...it just took the gleam off of an excellent game.

TearsandScreams

@sqlrob:

Oblivion doesn't have massive billboards for fake products though, does it? I think that was the point he was making.

emcake

The only time in-game ads were
a problem for me was when that
Codemasters game 'Dirt' didn't
work the first couple of weeks
after release until they issued
a patch. The reason? The game
occasionally connected to the
internet to download new ads for
the in-game billboards, but because
I didn't have internet at home
at the time, it kept butting
its head up against my lack of
internet, and so mine and
thousands of others of Dirt-
purchasers' games wouldn't save
any progress at all.

Sullyville

@emcake:
Oblivion does have ads for in game stores in various handbills, and characters talk about in game stores.

sqlrob

I like the ads in Mercs 2. Billboards you get cash for blowing up.

Tyrannical

Hmm...kinda puts the kibosh on Chris Morris' recent article at Forbes.

fatfoogoo

City of Heroes actually has in-game advertising now. It's relatively minor, some of the fake billboards and flyers around the city now advertise real products. The adverising can be opted out of in the game's config menu, so it's totally optional (but defaults to on). So far we've had ads for Jeter Clutch Nikes, Babylon AD, and currently a Tony Hawk edition of a phone. They hand approve everything. Since the game is supposed to be a contemporary thing it doesn't bother me, in fact, it's kind of nice to not see some of those goofy old faux billboards now.

Alessar