… In case you missed it on Toronto Thumbs.
Picture this: You pop Metal Gear Solid 4 into your PS3. The cinematic introducing the game begins with a close up shot of Solid Snake’s boots, then the camera pans up his dark jeans to the waist where you see the Levi’s logo. The shot begins to pull back and you see Snake pull a cigarette from his pack of Marlboros. He puts the pack away and takes a big swig of his Budweiser before using a Bic lighter to spark his smoke.
That may well be the future of gaming, and that horizon was brought closer by Sony’s recent announcement that the company will be introducing “dynamic in-game advertising.”
Mind you, such ads likely (hopefully) won’t be quite as obvious as the above scenario. In fact, Sony Computer Entertainment’s senior vice-president, Phil Rosenberg, went so far as to say in the company’s news release that the ads will benefit gamers.
“Ads that are organic to the environment not only benefit developers and advertisers, but also create a richer experience for gamers,” he says.
I may be in the minority when I say that I actually like the idea, if it’s done intelligently; that means no “This game brought to you by” messages, no interruption to the game play for embedded ads and no Coke ads in alien universes. The ads need to lend realism and credibility to the gaming experience, real products in likely places that don’t have big look-at-me signs above them.
It’s not a new concept. Movie makers have been doing product placements for decades. And they do it well, without taking anything away from the film. I’d imagine game developers should be able to incorporate the idea with flair.
So what do gamers get in return? I’m sad to say we probably won’t see cheaper games. But we may well see more game developers hop into the fray as a new source of revenue opens up the playing field a bit. We’ll see tougher competition as game developers fight for your attention. That will mean better games in the long run, hopefully.
* Image courtesy of Toronto Thumbs
