Slashdot Mirror
A Place For Product Placement In Games?
Thanks to GameSpy for its CES 2004 report, which includes coverage of a roundtable regarding product advertising in videogames. The writer points out: "The Super Monkey Ball simians gobble Dole bananas. Jet Moto features a giant Mountain Dew billboard. The alien-fighters in RLH drank Bawls", and goes on to cite research that "30% of in-game ads are recalled in the short-term, which is impressive. Even more amazing is the fact that 15% are recalled after five months - unheard of in advertising." But, of course, "if a placement ticks off the gamer, there's not much a company can do to negate that negative." What are the most appropriate and least appropriate advertising placements you've seen in games?
I don't let pixels on a screen determine my emotional state. Unless it's porn.
I have been pwned because my
This really only applies to the uk, but I am fairly sure other countries have similar laws.
If an ad is wrong/offensive they can be forced to stop distributing it, this could be really expensive if you have already printed a million cd's.
I'd also like to know if they ads in games evan fall under regulatory controls.
I also don't like the idea of playing a differnt game to eevryone else, cause I assume any paid advertising will probably be localised to specific countries.
Well, there's that annoying Honda Element in SSX3. That's gratuitous if you ask me. But, hey, I remember it so I guess it's effective. Not as if I'd ever buy one of those dork boxes.
Oh! And let's not forget all the Duff beer ads in Simpsons Hit & Run. Mmmmm... Duff beeeeer.
Best advertising campaign in a video game: Pogo the Monkey in GTA.
Ever since I heard those radio ads, I've been looking for the game everywhere. I want to swing from blue dot to blue dot with my red square monkey!!!!
If they intended to sell more cars, it didn't work for me. I swear I didn't buy any car since I ran GTA. However, I just drive the fanciest Jaguars, Mercedes and Ferraris.
-
Roses are #FF0000, Violets are #0000FF, find / -name '*base*' |xargs chown -R us && mv zig greatjustice
I have the latest version of Microsoft Fury. It's called Microsoft Windows XP. It comes with MSN product placement in one if it's bigger levels called "the shell." wierd...
Heil Sig! -Rob
The first product placement I remember in a game was F1GP on the Amiga. They had ads for Duckhams and a few other car related companies in it, and this was back in 1991 or thereabouts.
Hardly a new idea.
I agree. I much prefer for the generic Cola cans in my ultra realistic game.
And the cars should just be squares with wheels, I wouldn't want to recognize a car modle, it would really piss me off.
Also, no real cities should be used, I don't want to play an advertisement for tourism.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
Way back in like the early 90s there was some 10 year old kid who asked in a magazine article about advertisement (if memory serves me correct it was electronic gaming monthly).
He said something like why don't video game companies like EA use real advertisement in the sport stadium banners and such. Not too long later I remember getting NBA live basketball with real advertisement inside. To this day I really wonder if the industry owe this kid something.
If I remember correctly Monkey Ball sold for the same price as every other game when it came out. Movies cost the same amount to go see whether it's just one gigantic advertisement for Preperation H or an actual movie with plot.
Perhaps if the games cost less then I'd be okay with a few little things hidden in the game but as it is they are just annoying and don't do me any good.
"Armed forces abroad are of little value unless there is prudent counsel at home" - Cicero
Tie Fighter (old game): Had an ad for the Dodge Neon in it. Yeesh.
Pre-Alpha Half-Life: Has Coke and Fruitopia machines in it.
Chocobo Racing: Advertises Chocobo's Dungeon 2 in the game script.
Tron 2.0, UT2003: Advertises nVidia.
Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield: Advertises ATI ingame, advertises Alienware in the box.
Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
I still believe the best one was the "Nine Inch Nails" ammo for the Nailgun in the first Quake (boxes of nails with the NIN logo on them).
There was one good game, though, that springs to my mind and had just awful product placement: Beach Spikers (Sega volleyball game for Gamecube). Now, there was product placement all through the game (each event had a sponsor) and most of it was fine. However, one of the events was sponsored by Pringles, where there were huge Pringles cans that just about made me retch. The area surrounding the court was so over-the-top gaudy that it really worked on my nerves.
I think it's kind of fun when there's a real product put into a game here and there, and even a little product interaction is acceptable. I just hope game developers and marketing people try to keep it as tasteful as they possibly can. I don't have any specific guidelines as to what keeps the placement in the tasteful range, but, like obscenity, I know offensive, annoying and intrusive advertising when I see it.
On that note, I'll give a shout-out to Acclaim!
However, this effect can only decline - once in-game advertising becomes standard, people will probably train themselves to bypass it; the same thing happened with Web advertisments: I remember thinking the first banners I saw were kind of weird, but now they're pervasive, I hardly notice them. Studies have even shown that users have trained themselves to bypass ads of common dimension and placement (like a banner at the top of a page). I doubt you could even tell me (without looking) what the current advertisment on your Slashdot page is for.
While product placement in games can be appropriate and add to the "realism factor," like having stadium ads in a sports game, the actual effect of these ads will diminish as they're added to more and more games.
That's it. I'm no longer part of Team Sanity.
The most appropriate would have to be the Pizza Hut posters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II. The media marriage between the Turtles and Pizza Hut was sheer genius. Everyone ate so much damn pizza during that era.
The absolute worst would be Darkened Skye, where you use Skittles to create spells. In fact, the whole game is based around Skittles. I'm not just talking a web game, this game was released for PC and Gamecube.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
UT2003 is probably the worst, with a quick nVidia "The way it's meant to be played" splash screen before the game loads. Not even in-game, this is blatant advertising.
:)
An interesting quirk of this is that the splash screen is actually a UT map file, so with a little creative editing, you can change the nVidia logo to anything you wish. Least to say, my machine now proudly displays that ATI is the way it's meant to be played
Rainbow Six 3 has the best product placement. Ever since I played that game I can't stop visiting Interracialporno.
Best. Advertisement. Ever.
It was available for the SNES, Genesis and GB. A couple of screens available here. It even had sequels.
Every computer terminal in Postal 2 shows Old Man Murray. Genius.
.cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
I believe that's something they added with WOXL. Though: Red Bull has been around since 1987 (in Austria) I don't know where Psygnosis is based, but given their Amiga origins, northern europe wouldn't surprise me.
Trees can't go dancing
So do them a big favor
Pretend dancing stinks!
Clearly your blindingly witty placement of a dollar sign for the "S" in Microsoft highlights your superior mental ability. Likewise, your logic is flawless: Microsoft puts a THEIR OWN LOGO in THEIR OWN GAME (according to you it's not even an ad, but just their logo) and you refuse to purchase any more Microsoft games. It's not as if they sold huge ad-space in the game but, gosh darnit, if their logo is visible for a single second the game has to go! One of the things I always hated about Age of Empires was the Microsoft product placement that plagued the game.
Oh wait...it didn't.
And I take it you still use other Microsoft products? You said you only haven't purchased _games_ from Microsoft. Or maybe you take the moral high road by downloading them from Kazaa? Surely you can justify THAT position!
If you were attempting to be funny, you failed. If you're honestly serious, then you're a prime example of why people who dislike Microsoft are called extremist zealot idiots.
-Trillian
I remember back in 1984, cramming the tasty breakfast cereal "Weetabix" down my throat in large amounts so i could cash the tokens in for the "Weetabix Vs The Titchies" Game.
Basically a crummy space invaders clone using animated versions of the cereal to shoot down "titchies" (i think they were lesser cereals)
Quite a disappointing game really, but lo and behold... I still have it, sat in the box with my 48k rubbber keyed Sinclair ZX
bah!*@%!
Blimey squire, you'll not be a comics reader then.
DC have ads every third page, which in a visual medium rather detracts from the content.
But product placement isn't like this - you're not interrupting the game for an advert, it's just something there in the background.
Better, I'd say - limited subliminal effect (unless you're very easily influenced), and far less intrusive. Course, if it's been paid for by advertisers I'd like to see the benefit in the game quality or in the price I pay being subsidised...
The problem is not that they are branded. As you say, it might be better in a realistic game to have SOME brands about that are inescapable. Say, Pepsi or Coke cans.... not a day goes by that I don't see one of those.
The problem is when the product placement has put me in some strange otherworld where every can of pop is a Mountain Dew. It's distracting. And it usually is these fine products which are less ubiquitous that do the insane product placement trick.
I wouldn't mind, though, if the Pepsi company paid to have its entire range stocked... I'm used to stepping between the Coke universe and the Pepsi universe as I browse the stalls in the food court.
Product placement in a realistic game should be realistic.
In Gran Turismo, the ads complement the game. The billboards are for automotive and racing products, just like you would see at any racetrack. It adds to the realism, which is why as a simulator, Gran Turismo is the best there is.
...we are from the government - we are here to help...
I get that reverse association too.
Every time I see Chupa Chups lollipops I think of the old Amiga game "Zool"
Same with 7-UP - it just reminds me of "Cool Spot"
With all the references to take passengers to various places like KFC, Pizza Hut, Tower Records, the Levi's Store... And does anyone remember the uproar that SEGA ran into when they placed Marlboro ads in some of their early track-based racing games to make the game appear more realistic?
I'm suprised no one has mentioned the new Tony Hawk Underground game. This game has the most advertising I've ever seen, anywhere. All the skate companies are represented, element, Adio, and Billabong to name a few. Nokia billboards are relatively pervasive on the Tampa course as are complete McDonalds restaruants in Manhattan. The great thing though is that the skate companies are used as potential sponsors for your character so their impact is part of the depth of the game. The Nokia and McDonalds are a little less relevant but while I'm doing a darkslide down a concrete barrier in Manhattan it adds to the idea that I'm in the real world when I can pass by the Mickey D's and knock some poor shlub's super size sugar water out of his hands.