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The Rise Of Adverts In Videogames

Posted by simoniker on from the burgling-mcdonald-land dept.

Thanks to Evil Avatar for pointing to a brief Fortune article discussing the rise of advertising placement in videogames. A particular example discussed - Intel have struck a deal with EA so that "..when characters on The Sims Online use their PCs, players see the Intel logo and hear the company's signature musical bong." How insidious is too insidious? Mind you, advertisers would have to push to find licensing as plain bizarre as Skittles' product placement in Darkened Skye.

13 of 45 comments (clear)

  1. Enter the Matrix by Yrd · · Score: 3, Informative

    Intel also got their paws on Enter the Matrix, there are various points in the game with big Pentium 4 advert posters in (such as the airport). Thankfully they left out that irritating tune.

    --
    Miri it is whil Linux ilast...
    1. Re:Enter the Matrix by Donimo · · Score: 2, Informative

      I also saw an nVidia advert on a wall beside the Intel logo...

  2. Mc Donalds by riotous · · Score: 2, Informative

    Somewhere between 1993-1995 (it ain't gonna get much clearer than that I'm afraid). The lovely people at McD released a game on the amiga (and possibly the atari st as well) based on Ronnie and themselves. Yes you help Ronnie clear up the environment by collecting golden arches.

    ==
    Do you want to change your name to Homer Junior? The kids can call you Ho-Ju!
    ==

    1. Re:Mc Donalds by Wuukie · · Score: 5, Funny

      Hmmm, help clean up the environment by collecting golden arches? You mean cleaning environment by removing McDonald restaurant? Sounds like feasible solution.

  3. Flashback by IceFreak2000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Back in 1992, Ocean Software released a game on the Amiga and PC in conjunction with Smiths Crisps in the UK to promote Quavers, that tied in with their current Lenny Henry voiced mascot Colin Curly. The game wasn't a half bad puzzler either.

    --
    Life is like a sewer; what you get out of it depends on what you put into it...
  4. An intel musical bong? by ColaMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Far out man, pass the intel musical bong.

    I knew those guys were on something.

    --

    You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
    There is a lot of hype here.
  5. Re:long time... by lightspawn · · Score: 4, Informative
    Here's some "prior art" for you (EGA / CGA / 8-bit micros)

    Domino's Pizza - Avoid the noid

    Ford - Ford Simulator

    Dunlop - Dunlop 911 TS

    KP skips - Action Biker

    The last link is to a review. A few choice words:
    Action Biker signifies a depressing trend to link grotty software with expensive advertising campaigns. Let's kill this off instantly by refusing to buy such garbage.

    Software like this gives junk food a bad name.
  6. Re:Coolspot by zudo · · Score: 2, Informative

    The most bizarre thing was that they removed all the sponsership for cool spot in europe because 7-up isn't/wasn't advertised by cool spot over here and they didn't want to confuse the market.

    We ended up with a pretty cool platformer with an unexplainable (to those that didn't know about American 7-up advertising) bonus section where you are suddenly transported to the inside of what appears to be a large green bottle of fizzy drink. I assume there where 7-up logos on that bottle in the American version?

    As an aside 7-up was advertised by a guy called Fido Dido over here who spawned his own unrelated game...

  7. ET anyone? by mezo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    whoa whoa whoa... i cant believe no one has mentioned the unholy ET and M&M atari game. not only was it blatant advertising, but the damned game was imposssible to play

    1. Re:ET anyone? by mechugena · · Score: 2, Informative

      It was Reese's Pieces. M&M didn't want to have their candy used in the movie.

    2. Re:ET anyone? by lightspawn · · Score: 2, Informative

      i cant believe no one has mentioned the unholy ET and M&M atari game. not only was it blatant advertising, but the damned game was imposssible to play

      E.T. was impossible to play because the only developer had to complete the thing in 6 weeks to cash in on the movie premiere. Now, licensed games are completely different than in-game ads, please don't confuse the issues.

      And if you're willing to go back as far as the Atari 2600, you'll find stuff like Kool aid man, Ralston-Purina's Chase the chuckwagon, and one of the worst marketing ideas of all time, Coke wins.

  8. A required patch by wowbagger · · Score: 5, Funny
    OK, so now somebody needs to make a booster pack for the Sims that:
    1. Puts a little Windows icon on the poor sim's computer.
    2. Shortly thereafter, replaces it with blue.
    3. Then the Sim curses, jumps up and down, and hits the computer. The Sim's happiness goes down.
    4. Some Sims get a little fruit, or flightless waterfowl, or demonic icon. They don't have these problems.


    (/me waits for MicroAstroTurfers to respond....)
    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
  9. Two observations. by NetDanzr · · Score: 2, Interesting
    1. Unlike the TV, which is virtually free, people pay for PC games. The advertisers' argument against TiVo or skipping commercials in general is that watching commercials is a way to pay for the free programing. With advertisments in games, will we get the games for free or at least cheaper?

    2. What will prevent rogue advertisers to advertise in on-line games? For example, a spammer in The Sims Online can create a character and simply walk around, telling users about the product he advertises. Or, if you can create your own house in the game (don't know whether that's possible; never played it), what prevents you to build a non-sanctioned Burger King right next to a McDonald's, which paid for product placement?