No not that Speed Pack for Project Gotham Racing 3, which offers up a dozen hot, fast cars, by the Cadillac V-Series Collection.

I was speaking with some marketing folks (not Microsoft, think more advertising folks) about the pack yesterday. They see it, as do I, as the perfect example of advertising in gaming. They're willing to give something to gamers for no cost, or so I'm told, in exchange for the very obvious product placement. So gamers get to tool around in some new cars, and Cadillac gets to have potential car buyers do virtual test drives adnauseum.

Now, I haven't actually seen the Caddy Pack yet, oooh I like that name, so if it turns out that the thing looks like crap or forces you to watch commercials everytime you get in, I will no longer be a fan. But from what I've been told this is just a straight forward car pack.

This is what in-game advertising should be: Free and optional.

What do you think? Do you consider this upcoming Xbox 360 download a good example of in-game advertising or do you think such a thing simply doesn't exist?

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