Found an article on in-game advertising over on 411mania.com.
It's a short, plain article that defines in-game advertising, tells the reader about static and dynamic ads then moves on on "why we need it" and "why we don't need it". In the end, it defines advergames. All in all, a decent article for one who wants to find out what's this in-game advertising thing and such.
Quotes:
On why we need it
"The more the companies have to spend, the more we have to spend. Games are already starting to go for $60, but they can almost go up to $100 if the games were to cost so much to make. So who is going to provide the money for these expensive expenditures? Advertisers. According to Massive Incorporated, their service can provide an extra $1-$2 profit per unit shipped for their titles, adding to the $5-$6 profit per unit they already make. Times that by about a million and publishers would be getting nearly $2 million in extra revenue. An extra million just by placing some movie posters and soda machines around? Sounds like a good deal to me."
On why we don't
"All this dynamic advertising could lead to gamers thinking that it's nothing more then spyware. Battlefield 2142 had dynamic advertising by IGA Worldwide where the billboards supposedly changed based on a gamer's internet habits, which led to the spyware accusations. EA insisted that the game does not capture your personal data and only records what ads you look at and for how long. The Australian version of the game has no dynamic advertising because it's believed to be illegal under the Australian Spyware Act."
"Besides the serious threat of spyware, there are times when the advertisements can get down right stupid. Seeing ads in a boxing ring is normal. Seeing ads on billboards is normal. But what about ads that appear on a North Korean missle battery? Believe or not, apparently that is were some ads were found for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory thanks to Massive Incorporated. When you start putting ads in places where they would never be in real life, then it becomes stupid and seems as if you really are trying to force the ads down our throat."
Sure, no ads on my bloody missile battery but the next phrase, I have to disagree with.
"When you start putting ads in places where they would never be in real life, then it becomes stupid and seems as if you really are trying to force the ads down our throat."
Fair enough, as far as games set in the present day, with a heavy emphasis on realism are concerned. What about a futuristic game though? What if our real future will look like that? Can we know for sure where people will put ads? Don't think it's a matter of putting ads where they don't belong, it's more about doing so in a bothersome manner. It's just like in real life actually. For every ad cleverly placed on something new, you have a swarm of ads placed on stuff where it just doesn't belong. And yes, I suppose you can't be brilliant all the time and you end up slapping an ad or two on a missile battery. Well, the gamers will react, rest assured.
To close on a fierce note, sod malware!
Quotes:
On why we need it
"The more the companies have to spend, the more we have to spend. Games are already starting to go for $60, but they can almost go up to $100 if the games were to cost so much to make. So who is going to provide the money for these expensive expenditures? Advertisers. According to Massive Incorporated, their service can provide an extra $1-$2 profit per unit shipped for their titles, adding to the $5-$6 profit per unit they already make. Times that by about a million and publishers would be getting nearly $2 million in extra revenue. An extra million just by placing some movie posters and soda machines around? Sounds like a good deal to me."
On why we don't
"All this dynamic advertising could lead to gamers thinking that it's nothing more then spyware. Battlefield 2142 had dynamic advertising by IGA Worldwide where the billboards supposedly changed based on a gamer's internet habits, which led to the spyware accusations. EA insisted that the game does not capture your personal data and only records what ads you look at and for how long. The Australian version of the game has no dynamic advertising because it's believed to be illegal under the Australian Spyware Act."
"Besides the serious threat of spyware, there are times when the advertisements can get down right stupid. Seeing ads in a boxing ring is normal. Seeing ads on billboards is normal. But what about ads that appear on a North Korean missle battery? Believe or not, apparently that is were some ads were found for Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory thanks to Massive Incorporated. When you start putting ads in places where they would never be in real life, then it becomes stupid and seems as if you really are trying to force the ads down our throat."
Sure, no ads on my bloody missile battery but the next phrase, I have to disagree with.
"When you start putting ads in places where they would never be in real life, then it becomes stupid and seems as if you really are trying to force the ads down our throat."
Fair enough, as far as games set in the present day, with a heavy emphasis on realism are concerned. What about a futuristic game though? What if our real future will look like that? Can we know for sure where people will put ads? Don't think it's a matter of putting ads where they don't belong, it's more about doing so in a bothersome manner. It's just like in real life actually. For every ad cleverly placed on something new, you have a swarm of ads placed on stuff where it just doesn't belong. And yes, I suppose you can't be brilliant all the time and you end up slapping an ad or two on a missile battery. Well, the gamers will react, rest assured.
To close on a fierce note, sod malware!
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