‘Gamevertising' has to be the most irritating word to enter the English lexicon since ‘kidult'. Only market research dweebs could even dream up such dire abuses of our language. News that Microsoft is preparing to buy an in-game advertising company, Massive, means that the whole furore over the sanctity of our gaming space being invaded (if you'll excuse the pun) is top of the forum agenda again.
Massive opened a whole can of worms a few years ago when it started-up as a company specialising in providing dynamic and ever-changing adverts that fit seamlessly into games. With news of ‘gamevertising' the gaming community was sent into a dark spiral of 1984 style paranoia, another reasonable response would be to eliminate the letter G from all dictionaries. Of course the reality is that nothing much has changed and I personally haven't even noticed that many, if any adverts intruding on my gaming experiences.
The argument used by the ‘gamevertisers,' for want of a more nauseating term, was that in-game ads would bring gamers a more realistic and immersive experience. The forums burst into a flaming hellfire of fury, predicting cutscenes acting as full scale commercial breaks and other such disasters. And even now with news of Microsoft's takeover bid, the stories speak of banner ads imposing themselves upon us. Of course the fact that we've had to ‘skip advert' to even access the forums on which to complain about in-game adverts is by the by.
But seriously, I'm as concerned as the next gamer about the thought of my gaming experience being interspersed with adverts. I mean you're talking to someone (well, listening to because I'm talking, but I digress) who mutes the TV during ad breaks. And don't get me started on the demise of the Bond movies being directly correlated to the increase in ludicrously heavy-handed product placement. And the rise of Converse must surely be in-spite of the multitude of unnecessary close-ups of Will Smith's shoes in I, Robot.
One could say that in-game advertising is just a natural extension of the world we live in and therefore delivers a more realistic gaming environment. And yes, it's true that we are constantly bombarded by advertising in our everyday lives. There are no blank spaces in the urban landscape. If it doesn't move, then it's got advertising on it and even if it does move, then all the better for advertising and reaching that all-elusive mass audience.
So the real question is do we want this world transferred into our gaming world? The point of gaming is escapism and escapism, by its very nature means leaving one world and entering another. Yes, some games are more realistic than others, but they are still an alternative reality, inhabiting another time and space. But if you're getting an ad for the special edition DVD release of Friends: The Later Years it's going to ruin the illusion and remind you how much you don't miss that Central Perk pun.
Some games have been using in-game ads for years and it's become par for the course. Sports sims and driving games wouldn't be the same without the rampant commercialism of their real life counterparts recreated for gamers. Likewise, branded vending machines and billboard ads in the likes of Splinter Cell can add to the realism of the environment, but both are very subtle. However, we live in a world where even the back of a bus ticket has advertising on it, so how long before the boundaries of subtlety are stretched to their limits.
American television has to be the best example of advertising gone crazy. Adverts between the credits and the show make everything a test of endurance and as a result of importing so many US shows, British advertising slots are increasing in frequency too.
Life is becoming a constant battle to avoid advertising. Timing getting to the movies before the trailers but after the 20 minutes of ads, finding a five minute chore to stop you from throwing the TV through the window during the adverts.
Do we really need all life's little irritations to enter the solace of our gaming worlds? I think not, but with escalating development costs you can't blame publishers for chasing the big bucks gamevertising has to offer. We just have to put faith in the fact that the gaming powers that be will use in-game advertising sensitively, with context as key. But the day an i-pod becomes a quest item in EverQuest II is the day we rise up dear play chums"
Most played: Tomb Raider Legend
Most wanted: Broken Sword: The Angel of Death