Games and product placement~

    Lately I haven't really had time to visit mapcore on a regular basis as I've been extremely busy with other things. So... hi ~~~

    Anyway, I'm currently working on my Bachelor's Thesis on product placement and branded entertainment, and am currently trying to figure out what exactly my research problem will be. What I'm doing right now is trying to acquire as much information as possible of different forms of media, ie. films, tv, games, etc.

    I'm sure product placement is familiar to you all in movies and tv. Branded entertainment is basically an extreme form of product placement, in which the brand or the product becomes the show itself (think of America's Army as opposed to a Coke vending machine in a commercial game).

    There has been much research regarding product placement in films and tv shows, however games, on the other hand, are a rather new phenomenon. Discussions about integrating advertisements in games has been a hot topic lately. This can also be referred to as advergaming. So far, few people have researched games. No research has been conducted from a game developer's point of view.

    So, what are your views on product placement in games? Has there been an increase in product placement deals in the gaming industry?~

    Some recent articles on the subject:

    http://archive.gamespy.com/ces2004/placement/ (General look)

    http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/co ... 792815.htm (Stuff about EA)

    http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/20 ... games.html (News about THQ)

    Well, im totaly for this in games, far as i know some games such as matrix online use giant sponsored advertising boards ingame!

    If it helps the games industry without screwing up gameplay then its a plus in my books

    Didnt an EA game include pepsi product placement somewhere?

    As long as they dont force it all over the top like the did in SWAT4 then I guess its fine.

    When it totally takes you out of the feel of the game then its bad, but I think subtle advertising in games could work.

    Things like the Puma sponsored ships/themes/courses in Wipeout Pure sounded like a fairly decent idea in this vein to me - if it gets extra content funded and out the door then I don't mind the odd bit of corporate advertising. On the other hand, Puma maybe clashed with the futuristic setting of Wipeout, but as I haven't played it yet I wouldn't know for sure. It's all about making the advertising blend in with the environment really - I imagine games like "Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure" could get away with a lot of in game advertising for example, but if anything popped up in a Prince of Persia game I'd be disgusted.

    Branded entertainment in games really isn't very new, looking back to the old Quavers crisps game "Pushover", "Sleepwalker" for the charity Comic Relief, or "Zool" for Chupa Chups. In game advertising, when not in an outright branded game like the above examples however, does seem to be on the rise.

    Yes you're right. I just remembered having a Nintendo game that pretty much revolved around McDonald's, a game for kids. Kids are not, however, very good at understamding the true intention of branded entertainment and the like compared to teens and adults. Are there ethical issues that developers should take into consideration?

    good If advertisement in-game will produce cheaper and better games, then it's ok.

    bad If advertisement goes too far as in MegaMan having Nike shoes or SuperMario using a Nokia phone etc. it's not ok.

    As long as it totaly fits the environment and doesnt stand out its ok

    But frankly I only see realistic games or maybe some futuristic games apply for that rule...

    Last place on earth where I want to see a coca cola logo is in some medieval game..

    Publicity wants to stand out, because it wants your attention. While in games they need to be subtle. If you play the game your focus should be drawn to whats important in the game. Some commercial thing shouldnt grab more attention than whats its actually about, the game.

    They both want the same, its bound to go wrong in some situations.

    Quote from Hourences

    As long as it totaly fits the environment and doesnt stand out its okBut frankly I only see realistic games or maybe some futuristic games apply for that rule...

    Last place on earth where I want to see a coca cola logo is in some medieval game..

    Publicity wants to stand out, because it wants your attention. While in games they need to be subtle. If you play the game your focus should be drawn to whats important in the game. Some commercial thing shouldnt grab more attention than whats its actually about, the game.

    They both want the same, its bound to go wrong in some situations.

    Would you like to see more "branded entertainment" games like America's Army? Is it beneficial to game developers?

    I wouldnt say I would like to see more of them but as long as they are good I wouldnt mind either. I havent played AA so i dont know how they implement the stuff. As long as it doesnt scream all over the place "join the army and get a wonderful life" its fine. And an army or a car manufacturer is more able to pull that off. Playing as a soldier or driving a porsche is cool. Playing as a hamburger and running trough a Mcdonalds is not.

    So I certainly wouldnt want to see a mcdonalds game or a coca cola one.

    Commercials in general are good for the developer as long as the publisher or company that wants the commercials dont put too much pressure and rules on the dev. Using that stuff will give the dev more money but if on the other hand hes forced to place stupid ugly ads all over his wonderful level or game he wouldnt be so happy anymore. I wouldnt anyway.

    So if the dev is free enough and wise enough to use it sure its good.

    Quote from JAL

    bad If advertisement goes too far as in MegaMan having Nike shoes or SuperMario using a Nokia phone etc. it's not ok.

    If the game calls for the character using a phone and that happens to look like a certain model or has a Nokia texture, that's okay. maybe not for sonic but maybe the sims, or a game where your phone is a tool /inventory item etc.. if the character says 'Oh no, my Nokia model number xxxx is ringing!' then it's bad

    No thats over the top.

    I would never want to see that in a serious game

    And if it were a free downloadable game I wouldnt download it because as said, Im not interested in looking for hamburgers or whatever, I want to do cool things.

    That 7 up sponsored game? Cool Spot or something?

    It's getting everywhere, so no suprise to see it turn up in games. The only thing that suprises me is that it's not there more. Considering the vast revenue and captive audience I'm kinda suprised you don't get shit like 'Nike Trainers purchased + 1 appearance +1 speed" or whatever.

    I suppose "branded entertainment" was fairly popular back at the time (NES) when production costs were much lower. There wasn't really any room for product placements due to the limited graphics. I expect product placement to grow exponentially, especially when games of today are becoming so expensive to deliver without the help of sponsors.

    But I would like to get a professional game developer's view on this.

    The latest Tony Hawk game is just awful with branding. Not to mention it's fucking broken as all hell and the clipping in it is so miserable that in some maps you can fall out of the world in numerous spots, or get stuck in a ludicrous amount of areas.

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