Advertising in Video Games

[Bardo]

Nothing is sacred. [NYT reg required.]

"...dvertisers are looking for new ways to reach 18- to 34-year-old males, a sought-after audience that is increasingly abandoning television (and TV commercials) and spending more time playing video games." ...

"Until now, ads have appeared occasionally and haphazardly in video games. But Mr. Davis, chief executive of Massive, a new advertising agency with headquarters in New York, hopes to bring a more aggressive marketing approach to interactive media - he wants to put up billboards and make product placements for mainstream advertisers in the cyberworlds of sports, shooting and strategy games." ...

"I don't want to pick up a sword and have it read Nike on the side," said Jeff Evertt, a video game player and programmer. But less intrusive product ads would not necessarily bother him, he said. Brian Fisher, another gamer and programmer, agreed.

"If the character drinks a Pepsi to get health points, it doesn't bug me," Mr. Fisher said.

I know it would bug me. A lot.    But I guess it was sorta' inevitable.

[Klep]

Here's how I see it.  If a game is set in the real world, where there are real advertisements, then it doesn't matter to me if there are a few reasonable billboards or subway posters here and there.  It actually would work to make the game more realistic.  Pepsi-as-healer though is a bit too far.  Basically, advertisements for the sake of realism are a-okay with me, but not advertisements for the sake of making money.

[Detroit]

I agree with Klep here. If for instance in Diablo 2 Healing Potions are replaced with Pepsi's and Equipment that you pick up has Nike, Reebok and other such logo's on it, I may have to quit playing Video games. If they just use the advertisements in a non-obtrusive, unrealistic way I don't have a problem with it.

[Machinus]

Blizzard and Valve would never insult their fans like this. They would win any lawsuit with Vivendi over it.

[OptimusDeutz]

I actually agree with the concept. The vast majority of game companies are at least making a valid attempt to make a decent product. I would highly doubt that we would see any thing like a pepsi healing potion.

Things I WOULD like to see:

The Gatorade Drenching during vistories in various sports games.

REAL Billboards for games like Grand Theft Auto etc.

Real products used as props in various games set in our time frame.

If tastefully done it will be so seamless we won't even know it is happening.

[Cross]

I actually read this article this morning and I was surprised to find it being discussed here. What you mentioned in your quotes wasn't that bad. What got to me was that they could track via the internet how many times people see logos in games. Similar to how they can track what you buy at a grocery store. I feel like this is an obtrusion into my right to privacy. More specifically they made mention of the company ubisoft which makes games like farcry and splinter cell. From what I understood in the online version of splinter they can track home many times a person sees a logo that appears on all the crates in the game.

Electronic Arts, though a monopoly on the gaming market they may be, is almost whorish in their advertising. I don't know if you played burnout three but the whole game is an advertisement for shitty pop punk.

I personally have no problem with realism in games, but when they are using it to track me as a customer I think they have stepped over the line.

[IndyTerminator]

One of the reasons why I stopped watching TV was to get away from commercials and advertisements. I use Firefox so that I don't get pop-ups. I use the Adblock plugin for Firefox to block advertisements on websites. I personally don't like advertisements at all. If I want to buy something I will google for it or look in a store. It's a shame that they are now putting advertisements in video games. I can understand it if they are trying to make a realistic game set in modern times, but I don't want to be in World of Warcraft and see someone wearing "Nike Boots" or "Gatorade". That's pushing it to far in my opinion. With the way things are going we'll next being seeing advertisements in books. So as I'm reading one of the new crappy(IMO) Dune books I'll see "i'm lovin it" . . how sad

[Jacob Orlove]

one of the new crappy(IMO) Dune books

You don't have to say "IMO" there. Those books are a literary abomination.

[Bardo]

I can understand it if they are trying to make a realistic game set in modern times, but I don't want to be in World of Warcraft and see someone wearing "Nike Boots" or "Gatorade".

I don't think in-game ads have anything to do with 'realism' per se, it's merely that that's where the attention of key consumer demographics is shifting: away from the tv into virtual environments. That's the major force behind newer advertising techniques (guerilla marketing, etc.) in general.

[IndyTerminator]

@Jacob: I know what you mean with about the Dune books. I got some of the new ones on discount. I was greatly shamed after reading them because they are very bad. Poor Frank must be rolling in his grave.

Back on topic,
Of course they have nothing to do with realism. It's all about the money.

[Nefarias]

Well, I would much rather see a billboard or poster now and again than start paying $70+ for games. You have to realize that if these companies aren't getting money from Nike or Pepsi, they'll get it from us instead. Good games aren't nearly as cheap to make as they used to be.

I highly highly highly doubt you will ever see anything that will comprise the authenticity or gameplay of a game. For example, I doubt you'll see pop-ups in any game or any sort of ads in a Final Fantasy/Diablo/Mario sort of game, but rather in (most notably) sports games, and also modern setting games such as GTA/Metal Gear/The Sims. (not necessarily those titles per se, but games of that ilk.)

[Limbo]

Well, I would much rather see a billboard or poster now and again than start paying $70+ for games. You have to realize that if these companies aren't getting money from Nike or Pepsi, they'll get it from us instead. Good games aren't nearly as cheap to make as they used to be.

Here in dutchieland, when a game is introduced on one of the 3 popular consoles (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube), a lot of games start in the $60-70+ range already. PC games usually start at like $45-60. If adding advertisements in a decent, realistic way would decrease those prices, that would be nice.

Although I don't mind in-game advertisements in for example racing games (like crashing into a gatorade-screen instead of a fictional brand-screen) I would hate it if it is done in a way that destroys the "experience" of the game (like Nike-swords or whatever).

What already is very annoying is the movies at the start of a game from the makers/ co-makers of the game. Everybody just keeps pressing escape to skip these anyway, and games nowadays force you to press escape like 4 times

[Kasuras]

Although I don't mind in-game advertisements in for example racing games (like crashing into a gatorade-screen instead of a fictional brand-screen) I would hate it if it is done in a way that destroys the "experience" of the game (like Nike-swords or whatever).

The funny part about that is that the gaming branche in the past actually had trouble to get real life companies in their game. Why? Well, I'd agree with Porsche that they wouldn't like to see their cars getting wrecked, even in a game. (note that this was only in games where cars actually show damage and can get broken.)

What already is very annoying is the movies at the start of a game from the makers/ co-makers of the game. Everybody just keeps pressing escape to skip these anyway, and games nowadays force you to press escape like 4 times

You can download programs to make sure you don't have to escape at all and programs that make sure you don't have to see the EA logo passing by. (you can't escape it usually)


Myself? I think it's a good idea to make sure the prices of games are not going to increase and that the game industry will live on at all: illegal copies really hurt them.

Now, of course, you can take the example of World of Warcraft which is not only extremely awesome but is also a very good step from blizzard: you can only play it online (aka, you MUST have a key) and they also get money from the monthly money you'll have to pay. Mix it with a fantastic franchise such as the Warcraft universe and you just have a "gg". (1,5 million players anyone?) But not everyone can do that, and we don't want Blizzard to stand out as the king of the hill in 10 years just because they make good games.

Of course, they shouldn't overdo it: don't make commercials where they shouldn't belong. I'm certain that such a thing as Nike swords (unless they're a testament to the civilications of old) won't be seen. And.. let's be honest: do you see such obvious commercials in movies? I don't think so, and both movies and commercials have existed for quite some time.

[Klep]

What already is very annoying is the movies at the start of a game from the makers/ co-makers of the game. Everybody just keeps pressing escape to skip these anyway, and games nowadays force you to press escape like 4 times

I honestly don't care if the makers of the fine game I'm about to play wish to toot their own horn a bit.  It's perfectly fair of them to want to make sure you know who's responsible for your entertainment.  I hit escape past them every time too, but that doesn't mean I think they shouldn't be there.

[Limbo]

What already is very annoying is the movies at the start of a game from the makers/ co-makers of the game. Everybody just keeps pressing escape to skip these anyway, and games nowadays force you to press escape like 4 times

I honestly don't care if the makers of the fine game I'm about to play wish to toot their own horn a bit.  It's perfectly fair of them to want to make sure you know who's responsible for your entertainment.  I hit escape past them every time too, but that doesn't mean I think they shouldn't be there.

If I remember correctly, warcraft 3 had the perfect advertisement. When starting the game the first time, you would see the movie from blizzard without the ability to skip it. After that it just didn't show it automatically. You just see their sign in the menu where you end up anyway.

And I personally hate it that you need to get "cracks" for every game to skip those movies.