NYT: A New Reality in Video Games: Advertisements

[DeepModem Mom]

A New Reality in Video Games: Advertisements
By MATT RICHTEL

Published: April 11, 2005


In video game vernacular, which of these commands seems out of place: throw punch, slay dragon or view Sprite billboard?

It's a trick question; they all belong.

At least they do to Mitchell Davis, who says he believes that advertisements and product placements will soon become as integral to video games as story lines and action.

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.

For now, the Massive ads will appear only in games played on personal computers connected to the Internet. But eventually Massive's technology will work in games played on consoles like the Sony PlayStation 2 and the Xbox, if they have an Internet connection. The Internet link allows Massive's software to modify the ads as players progress through a game....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/11/technology/11game.html

[geomon666]

1. Old news

They already do this. Pick up Need For Speed: Underground 2. You'll see ads all along the streets.

[DS1]

2. We're blazing that trail right to Ridleyville

:-)

[Voltaire99]

3. Now you can do your patriotic duty two ways!

While you're committing mass murder in your video game, you can also make plans to go shopping!

Multitasking: live the dream, baby.

[malmapus]

4. Yeah Anarchy Online started it as well

Have had it on their test server, I think its gone to production servers by now. Would be like Alienware ads all over the place in towns and such lol