I'd find advertising in games acceptable if I didn't have to pay for them, like a subscription-less MMORPG or something. I would expect a higher level of quality from such a game than from a completely free game, though.

Somewhere in EA the next bioshock is fueled by monster.

its alright for me if its free, but there is one reason it will never really work the way its supposed to.
ads are designed to be recognizable and eye catching. When we see one in a game, we will naturally look at it more than say a generic brand, the same way you would recognize a jingle in the middle of a song.

In-game ads, apart from driving games, will never work the way they've been trying them.

An ad is supposed to grab the viewer's attention and make them think about the product, which is exactly what the gamer does NOT want. We want the ad to blend into the environment so that it doesn't pull us out of the experience, and if it did that, then the advertiser will have wasted time and money because the gamer won't notice it.

If they do it how the gamer wants, the advertiser loses. If they do it the way the advertiser wants...well, they still probably lose. Because once the ad is noticeable by the player, the player's reaction will probably be negative. If anything, it'll just decrease the chance that they would then buy that product.

Obviously there must be something to it, but I don't think advertisements have ever really had any effect on me. If the product is good, and I hadn't heard of it before, then I would be pretty pleased about hearing about it.

But who the hell needs to be told about Coke every ten minutes? The ratio of videogame amnesiacs to real life ones is about 10000:1

You can plaster as many adverts on my games as you like, if it fits in the context of the game. Devs get more money, and then pass that on to us through better games facilitated by the extra cash. That's the ideal situation, but I think it's attainable.

Anyone else remember Bioshock's fake ads?

Yeah...those were great...

In game ads and product placement don't bother me at all. I have never been swayed by an ad to buy something. But keep it in context.

Wipeout was one of the first games to have such advertisments, but they were so well placed in placards around the tracks, they become part of the tracks. It was both suttle and very well made, and in fact, WipeOut 2097 (XL in the US) was the first time I ever even heard of Red Bull (and I never tasted it up to this day... didn't work, then!).

Then EA bought out Criterion and Burnout 3 was loaded with billboads of other EA games and I felt sad...

Will have to wait and see what will come off this new advertisement fueled games. Its one of the VG industries evolution that I don't fell easy to comment on, until we star seeing some more examples.

Depending on placement I'm alright with. Coming across a Coke, Pepsi (or a variety of their other products) soda vending machine in Rainbow Six Vegas is fine with me. Billboards in Paradise City are alright with myself also, however I'd very much like to see better ads displayed there. Another option for a game like Burnout is to have the cars using branded tires like Firestone and Dunlop, for example. However in other games like Team Fortress 2 or Metal Gear Solid 4 the addition would be damaging to the environment and annoying to myself.

Much like DLC and the micro-transaction, publishers need to seriously consider how to approach ads both in a tasteful and acceptable manner. Otherwise they'll likely just annoy the user. Especially when the cost of a game had already risen $10 this generation. That said I'm not a fan of having ads shoved in my face after spending $60, but if the money is needed to help offset development costs I'm alright with it. A better job needs to be done though when the decision to implement ads is made.

I remember that name, Ian Bogost, from somewhere...

Wasn't he an IGN editor at one point or something?

I liked how it was done in Crackdown

Heres what I want to know - when is someone going to design a version of adblock for games? Without it, I find the internet virtually unsurfable. Ofc access to webpages is free, I definitely object more to paying £60 to be subject to advertisements all over the place.

I don't mind in game ads, they can add to the experience. It was cool seeing energy drink ads in Crackdown.

@Makoto: He was a guest editor here at Kotaku a few months ago

On the topic - I think Anarchy Online had one of the best (and probably one of the first) in-game ads, at least in MMOs. I mean, when I first saw Alienware billboards in the cities on Rubi-Ka (the planet where the game takes place) I didn't even know what the hell it was, and it didn't look out of place in an alien world =) Also, I think they had adverts of some gunmaker, but not sure about that. And taht was before they signed a contract with Massive, the online ads company.

@MaxS: City of Heroes recently announced optional in-game advertising along the same lines. I suppose it makes the real-world city setting seem more realistic, but it then also involves real-world corporations advertising in a cruel totalitarian dictatorship infested with dangerous mercenaries...

Advertisers have rarely been that smart. They have no idea how to deal with video games- all they know is that's where all the money is going.

is it know if game company or product company's sell/buy spoof ad's that are so obvious you know the product so it feels like their not jaming it down your through. If you know the product even a little bit it'll work the same way if they said Kook-a-Kola instead Coke-a-Cola. It got me thinking after seeing so many ad's in GTA4 that would Sprite actually pay for a spoof of their product in the game or R* was just choosing something popular as always

Splinter Cell had some in-game Ads.

I think Pikmin 2 used in-game advertising in a clever way. The game was based around finding "treasures" and it was an added bonus to discover that some of these items were real like a Duracell battery.

I think there are various aspects to consider and some important advances needed.

Where ads aid accessibility I have no problem with their inclusion in games. What I'd love to see evolve though is digital distribution allowing for various SKUs.

Start with Ad supported and free. No longer would developers need to make demos. Everyone can pick up the game and play with the cost offset by advertising.

Then offer a one off payment to remove the Ads for people who like the game but want it sans Ads.

Finally, offer at perhaps a publisher level a subcription service that removes the ads on their games.

Moving on from there is the real ability for ads to support a game for an extended period of time. We've all seen that companies withdraw servers of older games. Well if those games have ads then it's in the interest of those companies to keep profitable games running as long as enough people are playing. For me that's a win for both sides.

Finally I think advertisers need to get a bit more involved in the culture and ethos of the actual games. Ads should fit within the game world, use characters and humor to push their product. This way the ads become part of the experience (much like the fake humorous ones in some games) and are less jarring to the gamer.

@Velops: [www.vgcats.com]

That is all.

seeing an empty pizzahut box on the floor of a game like GTA might make you hungry for pizzahut. Food advertisement works best for us gamers in my opinion.

You know, I'm not completely against in-game advertising. In fact, I think that if it's used appropriately it can add a lot of realism to games. A game like GTA IV would be a bad example of how to use it because a lot of the humor relies on poking fun at real companies, but a sandbox game like Driver or The Getaway would benefit from proper in-game ads.

Of course, if you're counting on software devs to turn down bags of money to avoid gratuitous in-game advertising, you're daft.

Film industry has this figured out, what's so hard about it for games? Would be hard to squeeze in Coke advertising to fantasy games, but using real life products in games based on this reality should be no issue at all.

I don't mind ads in games...as long as it's clear the gamer is getting something out of the deal. Television offers free content because it is financed by advertising. The internet offers free content because it is financed by advertising. If games are financed by advertising, there has to be some benefit to the consumer.

I'm fine with MORE intrusive advertising, if I'm promised content. Load screen? Pop a Pizza Hut ad up. What do I care? Letterboxed game? Go ahead and run a banner for Duracell on the bottom.

But if the product is inside the game content, it better not be jarring. Coke machines in Vegas, I can dig it. Posters for upcoming movies in a movie theater? Swanky. IBM branded kill-bots? I'm on board. I just don't want my troll picking up a bar of Irish Spring or Old Spice (label carefully visible, of course).

With the sky-rocketing price for game development, something has to be done to off set the cost.

In-game ads need to be done similarly to how they were done in Minority Report. Brands should create specific products for the games' (or movies') worlds. I could live with that. I can't, however, live with coke cans giving me more health in a game like World of Warcraft.

So basically what Bogost is saying is that Pizza Hut's advertising in TMNT was the best and still hasn't been beat.

Pizza - It gives you health to kick Shredder's ass! Don't tell me that didn't make you want some pizza after playing.

Ads don't bother me so long as they are contextual. I can't remember what game there was a shot for, but an in-game Coke ad was an ad from the 40s or something like that and I thought that it was pretty cool (and doesn't afraid of anything).

Still, if I'm going to play an advergame, it ought to be free. Billboards or whatever don't bother me, but I find them mostly useless. I think the best billboard is the Coke sign used in Blade Runner (the movie... I can't remember if it made the game) 'cause it was atmospheric rather than "Hey, guys, how about a cold tasty Coke in your mouth?"

I think that the problem with in-game ads is that they're rooted in real-world concepts like billboards. Plus, they end up ALL over the place rather than selectively subtle stuff (alliteration, woohoo). It'd be much cooler to see props or other things that represent the company than just a big ad in the middle of nowhere.

For example, in a sci-fi setting, you can have cool concept devices like space razors from Gilette or that neat folding phone by Motorola (I think it's Motorola). Other settings will require a bit more creativity, but that's the point - new medium, new ideas.