The Ubisoft guy who preceded them? Maybe joking.

He was talking about smashing people into urinals in next February's Splinter Cell: Conviction. He was getting big laughs when he set up one of the game's interactive interrogation scenes by saying, "You might have several moments in the game [when] it's like a choose your own adventure, but it's choose your own torture." Chuckling and guffawing from the crowd. He was showing Sam Fisher bashing a guy into a urinal and noting that there was a deodorant ad next to that urinal.

"You will see a deodorant ad," he said.

You will be bashing a bad guy into porcelain.

And you will wonder, he said — joking? — "Is that the new Degree deodorant I want to buy?"

More laughter. And his kicker: "It's going to be very effective."

Credit the man, Jeffrey Dickstein, head of digital advertising at Ubisoft, for getting a reaction from a crowd of ad buyers. They were gathered in midtown Manhattan at a Lincoln Center theater space usually used for jazz performances. This wasn't the most game-savvy crowd, though they were there to be coaxed into buying ads for placement in the video games supporting Massive's in-game ad network. The buyers didn't seem to get the Big Daddy joke. They chuckled when descriptive ESRB ratings warnings appeared on a big screen, as if they'd never seen them before.

This was the second "Upfront" hosted by Massive, an attempt at an annual event.

I've attended both and look forward to, I guess, the fifth or sixth one. In theory, they'll get really good if they follow the model of more established media.

Upfronts for TV networks sound like wondrous things. NBC shows off its fall line-up to advertisers and does everything it can to dazzle its audience of prospective advertisers. They bring their stars on the stage. Maybe Conan O'Brien or Jay Leno does a stand-up routine.

Video games? Not quite there with the upfront yet. We're past the awkward first one from last December, when an Activision representative stood up at this press-invited event and blabbed the existence of Modern Warfare 2 and a new hands-free Tony Hawk.

At the second one, held earlier this month, the messaging was more disciplined. Straight-laced, you could say. As in when Dave Anderson, head of business development at Activision, talked about ad placement opportunities in Guitar Hero, described how new ad-showcasing camera angles were introduced into this year's DJ Hero, and mentioned something we may not have mentioned here on Kotaku yet, that Tony Hawk Ride is primarily targeted at 10-14 year-old boys. He also said that "I've wanted to be here since I was a small boy," assumedly referring to the jazz hall at Lincoln Center we were in, which was opened five years ago. Joking?

The Take Two people were the most entertaining. They threw free t-shirts to the seated ad folks. They aired a mock ESPN segment that showcased ad placement opportunities in the virtual arenas and fields of 2K Sports' hockey, basketball and baseball franchises. Their segment ended with the BioShock joke, which went over the heads of most of the people there.

The Massive folks, affected as they may be by some department cuts this year, can still cite some strong numbers. They've served 1000 ad campaigns in the last year and a half, an executive announced at the presentation. Massive research indicates that 63% of gamers recall the ads they've seen in games, a number Massive says is on the rise. People see in-game ads, and they send text messages the numbers the ads encourage them to. They visit product websites. They buy cars.

Massive is selling packages to these ad buyers. Advertise in the biggest games that third-party publishers have allowed to be in the Massive in-game-ad network. Or just advertise in the sports ones. Or be the only advertiser in an entire genre category. Or take over the entire Massive network for a day.

The Massive people and the game publisher people mostly say things that wouldn't horrify gamers. Even at a conference like this, in-game advertising doesn't sound like the mood-killer gamers have been wry that it could become.

The THQ exec talks about putting ads on the mat of a virtual UFC ring. The Blizzard person talks about keeping ads out of that company's games, relegating them to surrounding websites, log-in pages and the like.

Our Ubisoft man explains how the Splinter Cell team has generated heat maps to determine where players look in a level, and ensured that ad-placement locations are situated in those lines of sight — which might sound potentially irritating, but he's the one talking about making advertising in games as innovative as gameplay. And he's the one talking about selling deodorant to players as they make a bad guy tumble into a urinal.

Or was that part a joke?

With advertising down across the board thanks to the economic slowdown - and with the opportunities presented by in-game advertising perhaps not as great as was once believed - the cuts are hardly a surprise.

While this won't be as gut-wrenching to you as the loss of, say, a development studio, it still sucks when people wake up to find themselves out of a job.

We've contacted Massive to confirm this, and will update when/if we hear back from them.

UPDATE - We've heard back from Microsoft, who tell us that while there indeed layoffs at Massive, "only" 28% of the company's workforce has been let go, not 75%.

Blizzard COO Paul Sams put the fire out before it started, stating in the press release, “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.” That's the way you do it — I mean, no one wants to be distracted by American Apparel ads while trying to fend off a Zerg swarm.

The full press release, announcing the contractual marriage between the World of Warcraft developer and Massive, is after this.

Massive Inc. and Blizzard Entertainment Form Multi-Year Advertising Relationship

Massive teams with Blizzard Entertainment for ads on its Web sites and Battle.net online game service.

NEW YORK — Dec. 3, 2008 — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Blizzard Entertainment Inc., a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software, announced today a multi-year deal that names Massive as the exclusive advertising service provider for Blizzard Entertainment®’s Web sites and Battle.net® online game service in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea and Australia.

In addition, Massive has teamed with Intergi Inc., the world’s largest Web-based video game and interactive entertainment network and advertising representation company, to manage Web-based advertising to reach Blizzard’s audience of core gamers and gaming enthusiasts. Intergi is powered by the Microsoft Atlas AdManager platform to deliver client advertising across its network of more than 700 sites.

Through this relationship, Massive will serve advertising to a highly engaged audience that visits Blizzard Entertainment’s collection of heavily trafficked Web sites and plays using Battle.net, the company’s online game service with millions of active users. On Battle.net, players can meet online to play with one another in Blizzard Entertainment’s “StarCraft®,” “Warcraft®” and “Diablo®” series of games, including the upcoming “StarCraft II” and “Diablo III.” Blizzard Entertainment’s Web sites include the home page for the enormously popular “World of Warcraft®,” a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) with over 11 million subscribers throughout the world.

“Our partnership with Blizzard Entertainment aligns Massive with the creative powerhouse behind some of the most renowned real-time strategy games of all time, as well as the world’s most popular MMORPG,” said JJ Richards, general manager of platform services for the Advertiser and Publisher Solutions Group at Microsoft. “This deal builds on Massive’s top-tier network of console games by giving us immediate credibility on the PC. And with Intergi, we are working with a highly targeted partner that knows the gaming audience to take a brand’s campaign from the Web site into the Battle.net game network.”

“Our decision to partner with Massive was based on several important factors, including their technical expertise, global sales presence, and willingness to work with us to ensure advertisements appear only in contexts and environments that make sense,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard Entertainment. “This partnership does not include in-game advertising, as Massive understands and respects our stance against advertising that might detract from gameplay or offend our players.”

“We are thrilled to work with two industry pioneers; both Massive and Blizzard are two of today’s leading names in the world of gaming, and their confidence in our network and advertising representation services is a true testament to what Intergi offers when it comes to reaching today’s gaming enthusiast,” said Jayson Dubin, CEO of Intergi.

About Blizzard Entertainment Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

About Intergi
Recently ranked as the largest digital network targeting the online gaming and entertainment sector, Intergi is both a leading online gaming and entertainment advertising network, and representation company offering a hybrid of online opportunities that connect today’s advertisers and media buyers with consumers comprising the $25 billion gaming industry. Offering reach capabilities of over 9 billion page views and 160 million unique visitors on average, each month, Intergi offers targeted advertising placements — site specific, channel-wide and run-of-network — through more than 700 specialized gaming and entertainment categories including massively multiplayer online (MMO) and first person shooter (FPS) genres. Intergi’s global market allows advertisers and publishers to connect from different parts of the world and access a more robust and viable gaming enthusiast. Based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, the company was launched in May 2007 by a team of seasoned gaming industry veterans. For more information, visit www.intergi.com.

About Massive Inc.
Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp., is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. The Massive Network offers advertisers the ability to engage an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 300 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive Network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive Network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to fully realize the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com.

About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

And while new entries in the Call of Duty series is a given, as is further exploitation of the Bond license — this time, by Bizarre Creations — the fact that you're "not going to be playing Tony Hawk [with] a controller in your hands" will probably come as a surprise to some gamers who haven't been keeping up. Let's just hope whoever is at the helm improves upon what Skate It did.

Newsweek blogger/griot N'Gai Croal is twittering like a man possessed at the Massive summit, reporting that the next Call of Duty, back in Infinity Ward's hands again, will hit Fall of 2009.

Activision-published siblings Bizarre Creations are said to be "working on 3rd person Bond game for 2009" that's "racing and driving focused" as well as a second racing game described as "Mario Kart meets Forza." The former project jibes with a rumor from last December, so we'd expect this one has been in development for a significant period.

Little of that will probably come as a surprise to anyone following the Activision development hamster wheel, but it's good to know that the wholly owned Bizarre isn't just sitting on its hands. We'll be keeping an eye on N'Gai's Blackberry fingering for those sweet nuggets of info.

N'Gai Croal's Twitter

Under the terms of the contract, Massive will provide ads with existing franchises like the Saint's Row series as well as as-yet-unannounced titles.

"With an open-world, mission-based game such as “Saints Row 2”," said Massive's Eric Bassman, "we can work creatively with advertisers to place their brands in new, edgy environments.”

Great!

Massive and THQ Sign Multiyear Deal to Enable Dynamic In-Game Advertising Within THQ Titles [WebWire]

Hopefully, that means World in Conflict: Soviet Assault, the PC expansion pack and PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 console port, will see the light of day. We presume it will ultimately ship, just under its new name: Tom Clancy's World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. You know, for brand synergy and whatnot.

UBISOFT® ACQUIRES THE ASSETS OF MASSIVE ENTERTAINMENT®

Paris, France – November 10, 2008 – Today Ubisoft announced that it has acquired from Activision Blizzard the assets and all of the personnel of esteemed Malmö, Sweden- based studio Massive Entertainment®, as well as the real time strategy brand World In Conflict®.

Created in 1997, Massive employs over 120 developers and was ranked as one of the top 50 best game studios in the world by Game Developers Research in 2008. The studio is world-renowned for its expertise in the RTS genre and for the quality of its innovative proprietary technologies. World in Conflict® was acclaimed by critics, receiving the Best Strategy Game of E3 2007 award, as well as being named Best Online Multiplayer Game of 2007 by IGN, and Most Innovative Game of 2007 by Gamespot, among many other awards.

"We are delighted to welcome the talented team of creators at Massive into the Ubisoft family," said Christine Burgess-Quemard, executive director of worldwide production studios at Ubisoft. "Ubisoft is growing at an intense pace and our strategy is to ensure the strength of our global creative teams. Massive has put together a group of some of the most confirmed and recognized creators in the industry and I know that their talent and innovation will allow them to seamlessly integrate into our worldwide network of production studios."

“Massive’s development team places great importance on its freedom to innovate and create games of the highest quality,” stated Martin Walfisz, president and founder of Massive Entertainment®. “We are fortunate to have found in Ubisoft a publisher who shares the same values and understands our mindset. I have no doubt that our future together will offer significant mutual benefit and synergy.”

Media research firm Interpret looked into four of Massive's advertisers: an unnamed fast-food restaurant, candy company and entertainment studio, plus Adidas footwear and apparel, and found the ads are having an effect, showing significant percentage increases in brand recognition when compared to those who didn't see the in-game ads.

With the Adidas promotion, for example, gamers who saw the ads in 2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K7 said things like "Adidas is the only brand for me" and "Adidas is an inspirational brand" 70 percent more often than those not exposed to the ads.

And Massive's study seems to show gamers don't mind being influenced: 70 percent of gamers said the ads enhanced realism, fit the games they appeared in (universally sports games, except for the ads in Rainbow Six: Vegas) and that the ads "looked cool."

In-Game Advertising Research Proves Effectiveness for Brands Across Categories and Game Titles

adidas, other leading brands from quick-service restaurant, candy and entertainment categories drive key marketing metrics for brands and products advertised throughout Massive Network.

NEW YORK — June 3, 2008 — Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. and a leading network for video game advertising, and Interpret LLC, a leading new media research firm, today released research results that provide further insight into the significant brand impact of dynamic in-game advertising. The study demonstrates that the gaming audience has a consistently positive opinion of the ads and how the ads affect their game experience.

Interpret conducted detailed research on behalf of Massive and four of its advertisers: adidas utilizing brand advertising for footwear and apparel, a quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand promoting a tie-in to gaming and a specific menu option, a candy company marketing new creative for its candy bar brand, and an entertainment studio advertising the DVD release for a hit film. The study measures a broad range of brand metrics across game environments and suggests best practices to guide advertisers and their agencies within this rapidly maturing medium.

adidas tested ads it ran through the Massive Network in “Major League Baseball® 2K7,” published by 2K Sports, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Among those exposed to the adidas ads (the test group), 40 percent recall the company’s tagline of “Impossible Is Nothing” — an increase of 90 percent over those not exposed to the ads (the control group). The number of gamers exposed to the ads who agreed with the statements “adidas is the only brand for me” and “adidas is an inspirational brand” rose 70 percent over those not exposed to the ads. In addition, 73 percent of gamers recalling the ads agreed with the statement that “the ads enhanced the realism of the game.”

“The influence of gaming on our target for adidas can’t be denied,” said Brian Mathena, group media director for Carat. “The scalability and effectiveness that Massive’s dynamic in-game solution provides is evident in the results of our efforts. Massive has consistently been a true partner in consulting on the best gaming solutions for adidas and the rest of our clients.”

Drawing on its unparalleled experience in video game advertising research, Massive has conducted studies for more than 30 clients across North America and Europe assessing the impact of in-game ads across numerous key brand metrics, including purchase interest, brand recommendation and brand attributes. Results such as these released today help the advertising community understand how and why in-game advertising works, and guides the development of best practices for this important component of media plans.

Across all game genres and advertisers studied, the research revealed that an average of 70 percent of gamers agreed with statements that the dynamic in-game ads “contributed to realism,” “fit the games” in which they were served and looked “cool.”

A leading QSR brand executed custom ad creative for select titles with strong results. Among those gamers exposed to the QSR ads in “Need for Speed Carbon,” a racing title published by Electronic Arts Inc., the number saying that they would recommend the QSR brand to others rose by 39 percent compared with the control group, and those assigning the QSR brand the highest possible brand rating rose by 17 percent from the control group to the test group. Fifty-six percent of exposed gamers agreed with the statement that the ads made the gaming environment feel more interactive.

A global candy bar company executed a branding campaign in “NASCAR® 08,” published by Electronic Arts. Seventy-five percent of gamers recalled the candy bar in-game advertising with 56 percent recalling the specific ad creative. Within the test group, 72 percent agreed with the statement that the candy bar is “a great snack to eat while playing video games,” an increase of 29 percent from the control group; the proportion agreeing that the candy bar “gives you energy” and “is cool” rose 24 percent and 21 percent from control group to test group, respectively.

An entertainment studio ran a campaign advertising the DVD release of a hit film in “Rainbow Six: Vegas,” an action title published by Ubisoft Entertainment. Unaided awareness of the DVD increased 16 percent among gamers exposed to the ads as compared with the control group, with 66 percent of those recalling the campaign having a more positive opinion of the DVD following in-game exposure. Purchase intent for the DVD rose 23 percent from control group to test group, with 80 percent of exposed gamers responding in the survey that “they would probably or definitely purchase the DVD.”

“The depth of this research reflects Massive’s commitment to offering advertisers an understanding of how in-game advertising can impact brands across game genres and advertising categories,” said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive. “As the in-game medium matures and establishes its position on the media plan, advertisers and agencies are eager for insight into creative nuances and best practices for maximizing its impact. We view this type of guidance as an essential part of our role as an industry leader and innovator.”

Methodology

Interpret implemented a test/control methodology for each game in which Massive dynamically served ads, totaling over 1,000 gamers across the United States. Both control and test group respondents played the same game title that was studied for each ad client. The control group consisted of those who had played the game but were not exposed to ads delivered from Massive. The test group had played the game on a connected Xbox 360 system or PC during the time the ad campaigns were live, and had the opportunity to be exposed to the ads delivered by Massive. Both groups were asked the same set of questions about the brands and ads included in the study, and the respondent differences were evaluated to identify significant shifts in each brand metric measured.

About Interpret LLC

Interpret is a next-generation media and market research firm with a focus on evaluating and measuring the intersections of content, advertising, technology and consumer behavior. Interpret’s management team has unique experience pioneering new custom research methodologies and analytics to help companies Plan, Test and Measure™ their new media strategies. In addition to campaign ad effectiveness testing, Interpret’s suite of products and services include GaMeasure and GamerLog, two syndicated services developed to deliver planning and measurement intelligence to the burgeoning field of in and around-game advertising. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, with offices in New York and London. More information can be found online at: http://www.interpretllc.com.

About Massive Inc.

Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, is the creator of a leading network for dynamic video game advertising. The Massive Network offers advertisers the ability to reach an aggregated gaming audience in real time across multiple platforms. Over 200 blue-chip advertisers have run campaigns across the Massive Network throughout North America and Europe. Publishers in the Massive Network generate revenue through dynamic in-game advertising, enabling them to fully realize the value of their content while preserving and enhancing the game experience. Massive’s technology allows for all forms of downloadable media and advertising content to be contextually integrated into the game environment, including image, audio, video and game object formats. More information can be found online at http://www.massiveincorporated.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

The deal will extend the contract between the two for two years, but more importantly expand the number of games that Electronic Arts will allow Massive to place ads in.

With the latest agreement, EA will further expand the opportunities available to advertisers by extending the participation of current titles in the Massive network as well as incorporating additional, highly anticipated games over the course of the deal. The wide range of EA content that will be available in the Massive network includes the next two iterations of popular EA SPORTS(TM) franchises including Madden NFL* football, NBA LIVE basketball, NASCAR* (R) racing and NHL(R) hockey.

While the press release spends lots of time explaining how wonderful this is for advertisers and how profitable it will be for Electronic Arts, it fails to mention the impact it has on gamers. I don't mind some in-game advertising, but reading a release like this makes me feel like these games are little more than glorified vehicles for advertising... and we're still paying top dollar to get them. How crazy is that?

Agreement Enables Integration of In-Game Advertising and Premium Video Game Content into Long-Term Campaign Planning and Media Buying Processes

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & NEW YORK—(BUSINESS WIRE)—March 18, 2008—Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Massive Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) and a leading network for video game advertising, today announced an expansion and two-year extension of their agreement to offer dynamic in-game advertising for EA video games. The new global agreement provides unprecedented opportunities for advertisers to engage with EA's highly coveted audience — especially males ages 18 to 34 — through its roster of blockbuster games on the Xbox 360(TM) platform and exclusive rights to a majority of EA's premium PC products.

With over three years of experience in dynamically serving advertisements in video games, Massive is the definitive in-game advertising solution for advertisers around the world, including Ford Motor Co. in the U.S., Rogers in Canada, and Puma in Europe. Massive's long-standing relationship with EA, publisher of many of the world's most popular games, provides advertisers with extensive reach through EA's portfolio of premium content video games. This agreement represents a critical point of differentiation for Massive as the in-game advertising medium continues its momentum as a more attractive and effective medium compared with traditional forms of established advertising.

With the latest agreement, EA will further expand the opportunities available to advertisers by extending the participation of current titles in the Massive network as well as incorporating additional, highly anticipated games over the course of the deal. The wide range of EA content that will be available in the Massive network includes the next two iterations of popular EA SPORTS(TM) franchises including Madden NFL* football, NBA LIVE basketball, NASCAR* (R) racing and NHL(R) hockey.

Massive will continue to be the exclusive in-game ad network for PC and Xbox 360 platforms of the world's largest racing franchise, EA's Need For Speed(TM), including current live titles Need for Speed Carbon and Need for Speed ProStreet. Massive is also working with marketers to incorporate dynamic advertising into another popular EA racing title, Burnout(TM) Paradise.

"We continue to utilize the breadth and depth of Massive's content to market a range of our clients' key brands," said Brian Bos, senior vice president, Convergence Director, Mindshare - Team Detroit. "With this expanded partnership, we will be able to plan dynamic in-game campaigns several years out, which is critical in making Massive's content platform a more integral part of our video game marketing strategy."

"EA strongly believes that dynamic in-game advertising is an important growth area for our business, and is one of many opportunities we are pursuing in growing the advertising market," said Kathy Vrabeck, president of the Casual Entertainment Label at EA. "We selected Massive because they are the industry leader in this space with a global sales footprint, solid brand recognition and in-depth experience in video game advertising."

By providing certainty around Massive's ad inventory for years into the future, the multiyear agreement enables advertisers to plan in-game advertising on a calendar year basis as part of a holistic campaign development process alongside other mediums such as TV, online and print media.

Rouwen Bastian, Coordinator European Media Strategies at Opel, said: "In-game advertising plays an essential role for us in reaching today's young adult consumers. The multi-year agreement between Massive and EA makes it possible for us to make greater strategic use of in-game advertising by incorporating it into the same long-term planning as other media forms."

Richard Dance, Group Account Director at MindShare Interaction UK, said: "The growing channel of in-game advertising provides an exciting and creative medium in which to work. Although we are only scratching the surface with regards to the opportunities it provides, more and more of our clients are keen to include in-game advertising as a part of their multichannel strategy."

"Our latest agreement with EA expands advertisers' unprecedented access to EA's world-class franchises to reach young male gamers around the world," said Cory Van Arsdale, CEO of Massive. "This multiyear partnership reflects both the maturity of the dynamic in-game advertising medium and the benefits that our network continues to deliver for both publishers and advertisers."

In-game billboards will download new content via broadband connection and brainwash you accordingly, with pricing determined by the amount of time the ad is on screen. And while I have no issues with ads for realism, it's our bandwidth that is paying...ahh, never mind. It's useless to fight these corporate giants. Until Lara Croft's jigglies are replaced with 2-liters of Coca Cola, I'm not complaining. And even then, things won't be that different.

As for Sony not being involved with this advertisement...we may see those effects on spreadsheets down the road.

Game Ads in Realtime [underdark]

Good news everyone, developer-guns-for-hire Brash Entertainment told Variety today that they have managed to raise $400 million in funds to start pumping out games based on movies, television and, yes, even music.

Boy, I can't wait to play the PS3 version of My Humps.

Variety is reporting that the company already has projects in the work based on movies from five studios and is already working on a dozen movie-based titles including one on Saw and another on 300. Yes, 300 has already been done, poorly, but perhaps Brash can knock it down a few more notches.

What I love most about this company is how completely upfront they are about what they're doing. They are not in the business to be original or make smash hits, they told Variety, they just want to make money. OK, that's not how they put it, but it was pretty damn close to that.

I guess it's been a long-time in coming, the video game industry is finally getting its C movie developers, expect loads of tripe. Brian Crecente

Brash game for Hollywood [Variety]

Microsoft Considering Massive Purchase [1up]

Acclaim Games Signs In-Game Advertising Deal with Massive Inc.

Massively multiplayer online post-apocalypse car combat game Auto Assault is going to feature ads.

NCsoft recently penned a deal with Massive Incorporated to pump in-game advertisements in the game.

"We ve been interested in the concept of in-game advertising for a long time, but only wanted to do it when it made sense for the product and enhanced the game world for our players, said Dorothy Ferguson, vice president of sales and marketing for NCsoft North America. This is a great fit for Auto Assault. Massive understands games and has the most seamless and sophisticated process for integrating ads that fit within the game environment. We share a deep commitment to the highest quality game experience for our customers.

Just how exactly does adding an advertisement for McDonald's or Axe make a game about the never-ending war between mutants, robots and humans more realistic? Perhaps they're warring over the Super Sized Fries?

I just hope this invasive advertising comes with a heft price drop for the players who are going to have to put up with the billboards.