Business & Games: The Blog

Much to my shame, I didn't know who this person was so, being the good little internet user I am, I googled it. And what I found was..surprising, at least. While some links actually pointed to the new vice president, a good number were about one Sir Richard (de) Willoughby, a 14th century English lawyer. This amused me to no ends. The image of a zombie lawyer rising from his grave after 600 years and finding a job at an advertising company is highly metaphorical, if somewhat dubious. The possibility of a bad Hollywood movie aside, what's his story? What's his motivation? And most important, did Double Fusion cut him the better offer? I mean, both DF and IGA Worldwide have London offices..

Cue to scene II. When I tell people about this blog, the reactions of those who play video games regularly are pretty much uniform. Most people are skeptical about in-game advertising. Very skeptical. For me, this is a good thing in the sense that I get to build my defences. I have to think new arguments in favor of gamevertising to be able to parry and retort in this verbal spar with the non-believers.  Their case is built around the swarm of pop-ups they have to avoid and founded on the large amount of dislikable advertising in any medium. And while TV ads may only attract a jeer, a pop-up window as big as half your screen is likely to produce a grunt. Remember that games are about immersion. And most of the people I've talked to told me the same thing: the ads might break my immersion. This applies first of all to role-playing games, with other genres coming after them. And while some people acknowledge that the presence of ads helps create more coherent and believable game worlds, in some cases a poorly crafted campaign can ruin everything.

It's not that ads wouldn't work. I believe that, with a witty project and a clever implementation, you can advertise pretty much anything anywhere. A poor project though would be unacceptable in the least. As an exercise, take your favorite fantasy-themed role-playing game and a product of your choice. The more incompatible the product with the notion of 'fantasy', the harder the exercise, of course. Now think - where is the last place you want to see/hear/etc the ad for the product in-game? Do you need its mascot charging up the hill as you battle those orcs? Sure, that might bring some comic relief but at what cost? Where's the last place you'd put your project? And why? Then, move on to the next part. Try to figure out where you could place it so it's noticeable but not bothersome. Would you translate the slogan into Latin and place it on something, easter egg-style? Would you simply allude to it in a character's speech? Do you place it in an area that the character(s) only pass through once or twice or go for the town the heroes return after each adventure to resupply?

The questions here are endless. After you're done, keep in mind that each game world is different from the next and what works in one game might not work in another. Another thing that seems to worry people is dynamic ads. We're not discussing the people claiming them to be bad for children but those worried about the game experience. With static ads, it's a one-time challenge. Dynamic ones however should keep you on your toes. And remember that for every method you find of serving ads, a few intelligent people out there will reveal methods of avoiding them.

To wrap this, I'll return to the distasteful zombie joke I started with. Nobody likes a brainless ghoul, rolling with the latest trend. Note that I'm not referring to Mr. Willoughby here, also I'm poor, please don't sue! Either way, I'll take ads in my games, sure, but only with a dressing of good taste. For this relationship to work, it has to have reciprocal benefits. I will look at your content (provided it isn't intrusive or violates my privacy, but that's a story for another time), but only if it helps me immerse further or at least doesn't kill my joy, if only temporarily (the killing, that is). "Ads in video games" is just a generic title. Putting ads that don't make people hiss inside an RPG is a much more difficult task to tackle than simply putting the content on the side panels of a sports game involving some kind of stadium. One might even say it's a different job altogether.

This is all.
Cheers

PS: It could have been worse. I could have used vampires!