Advertisements in video games

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Advertisements in video games

Postby Thoul » Tue Jul 17, '07, 1:14 am

What do you think of advertisements for real life products and services appearing in video games? Is it a good or bad thing? Would it influence you to purchase the product being advertised?

This isn't a very widespread phenomenon, as far as I know, but it is happening. The first time I heard of it being considered was in the early days of Phantasy Star Online. In one interview, one of the developers said they were considering putting billboards in the online game. I think they may have actually done it in a few quests, but I don't recall for certain.

I've been thinking about it again after renting the new Transformers movie game recently. I couldn't help but notice that almost every billboard in the game's cities was an advertisement for Helio cellphones. I don't care about the product, but the advertising was in so many places that there was no way to miss seeing it many times. Fortunately all the billboards could be thrown or destroyed, so I had some fun with that. :lol:
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Re: Advertisements in video games

Postby Neithird » Thu Jul 19, '07, 2:22 am

I don't mind as long as it is not intrusive. Something that's supposed to be set in a real city, like that Transformers game, could have advertisements to add an extra level of realism to it. Seeing an advertisement for a modern day product in futuristic setting like PSO is another matter. If it breaks the fourth wall, I don't like it.

Spider-Man on the PlayStation handled it well. It had advertisements related to the in-game world. There were also a few for another game, one of the Tony Hawk games. Those were kind of neat too, because Spider-Man was in one of the Tony Hawk games and he comments about that when he's crawling on the ads. :lol:
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Re: Advertisements in video games

Postby Silver_Surfer1 » Thu Jul 19, '07, 11:14 pm

I'm not very fond of the advertising, however, I don't think it will ever completely go away. After all, everyone wants a slice of the pie, or action, or game, or profits, or whatever. :yaknow:
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Re: Advertisements in video games

Postby The $ Avenger » Fri Jul 20, '07, 2:55 am

I don't mind it. An ad in a game isn't going to influence me to like a product or dislike it. I require facts to like a product. I'm not likely to pay any attention to a flashy sign.
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Re: Advertisements in video games

Postby Flames of Yagami » Mon Oct 10, '11, 7:44 am

I remember Sega did this with Sonic Adventure 2. At some point, Sega made a deal with Soap, a company that made shoes specifically for grinding on rails; and what has Sonic been doing since SA2? Anyway, they replaced Sonic's shoes, and several Soap billboards appeared in a few stages. I guess this didn't help Soap that much, because I've never seen their shoes anywhere.

Anyway, I don't mind having ads in video games as long as they don't try to throw it in your face every chance they get.
Last edited by Flames of Yagami on Mon Oct 10, '11, 7:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Advertisements in video games

Postby MrKite » Thu Oct 27, '11, 4:34 am

There's a Michelin endorsement in Manx TT Super Bike. That's just one I know off the top of my head.
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