p2pnet.net News:- You know when you’re watching a flic and the hero lights up, carefully - and very obviously - slipping the cigarette package into his top pocket so you can clearly see the brand?

Or when the heroine gratefully builds herself a drink from a bottle whose label is full-front closeup for a few seconds?

Or when the hero zooms off in a (name your favourite car make)?

Or when the heroine …….?

Well, now it’s all coming to a video game near you.

“[…] two online ad networks, the type of company that dreamed up banner ads for Web sites, promise to pump games full of ads for cable TV shows, soft drinks, technology products–you name it,” say Tuohey and the Medill News Service, going on:

“Massive Inc. and InGamePartners will soon be plugging dynamic real-time ads into both online games and games connected to the Internet through Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation 2, and Nintendo GameCube consoles. Online gaming is big business, of course: The Entertainment Software Association estimates that between 50 and 60 million Americans play online games.

“Massive’s network serves video game companies Vivendi Universal Games (Half-Life2, among many others), UbiSoft (the Myst series), and Legacy Interactive (Real Life Games and games based on the TV show Law and Order).”

“InGamePartners provides ads from businesses like General Electric and Spike TV to online gaming companies Phoenix Connexxion (FragFest Chicago and Imagination Cubed) and GriffinRUN, a game server hosting company.”

What!? You’re not a good little consumer and you don’t want ads in your games?

If that’s the case, “the two best bets may be console games not hooked up to the Internet and all types of fantasy games,” adds Medill News. “The networks reach only online games, leaving games played unconnected out of their grasp–although some games may still contain static ads.

“Similarly, because fantasy games like Halo and Doom don’t resemble real life, it is difficult to put unobtrusive ads in them. Their other-worldly landscapes make it harder to drop ads in. After all, where would you place an ad? On the side of the U.S.S. Enterprise shooting through the galaxy or on a dragon’s wing as it soars overhead? Given the popularity of the Lord of the Rings movies, perhaps even Frodo’s cloak could become a target in the future.”

There you go.

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See:-
you name it - Invasion of the Video Game Ads, Tuohey / Medill News Service, November 12, 2004

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