Much like Hollywood films are reviewed by critics before their release, games are reviewed the same way. This can be done in the style of a hands-on article, or in a more numeric fashion for example a Metascores. Like movie reviews this can be a way to spread awareness through word of mouth about how great a game is to increase its sales before the game is even released. In the case of Battlefield 3 it has been reported that EA may have withheld copies of the game in order to boost the games score resulting in a greater number of “Day One” sales. If an allegation like this is true than it is a blatant attempt of the gaming industry manipulating their consumer without their knowledge.
In today’s market in-game ads seem to be the next big thing. This is where a game can inflict on the player an ad that occurs in the game world, for example a billboard that reads McDonalds or a truck with Coca-Cola logo painted on the side. The current budget for in-game ads in the gaming industry is $3.1 billion. And by the year 2016 analysts have determined it’s going to be closer to $7.2 billion.
However, other reports from Microsoft say they’re abandoning in-game ads. Even if this process is abandoned the synergy between products is currently in games. There have even been studies to show that in-game advertising is more effective than television commercials.
Something unique about gaming culture is that gamers will actually pay to be exposed to advertising. What I’m referring to are gaming convention like the Tokyo Game show or Gamercon. I’ve even had the “pleasure” of both working and attending a convention in Seattle called the Penny Arcade Expo (or PAX Prime). This massive gathering in nerdom contains tabletop gaming, panels from members of the industry and wall-to-wall advertising.
Battlefield 3 was there with their game demo, a military decorated Humvee and a $20,000 tournament where players could play levels from the game before it was released. Of course as it turns out no one got to walk away with twenty grand but I witnessed a young women walking away with what looked like a brand-new PC under her arm. The gaming convention is further proof that people across the world are willingly exposing themselves to advertising even at $35 a day.
But besides the game franchises as well-known as Battlefield there were more games being promoted at the event than you would have time to experience in a single day. Some of these games were complete unknowns but so prominently displayed that you would have expected they were announcing the Second Coming. The most prominent was a game called Fire Fall, a free-to-play online game.
Fire Fall had banners and demos just like all the others but as you entered the main expo hall you were greeted by an enormous screen that seemed to take up the entire room while blasting the game’s trailer on repeat. This relates back to advertising since these “free-to-play” games gain income from advertising to turn a profit. Furthermore pointing out that even with the title of free the consumer is still being exploited by exposing them to advertising.
Most likely the reason gamers want to expose themselves to this kind of mass advertising is so they can gain a sense of being part of the industry as a whole.They can't all be developers or play-testers but they get to experience it before most of the world does.
And all of this exposure to in-game ads could mean further manipulation of consumers. Imagine playing a video game filled with ads. In this game you die and have to repeat the same level over and over, basically forcing yourself to spend hours staring at let's say a McDonald’s ad. No matter how much willpower someone has after that much time staring at an ad they might just get up and get a burger. These ads can be seen to use gamers as a audience commodity. In which gamers are being sold to advertisers.
Most likely the reason gamers want to expose themselves to this kind of mass advertising is so they can gain a sense of being part of the industry as a whole.They can't all be developers or play-testers but they get to experience it before most of the world does.
And all of this exposure to in-game ads could mean further manipulation of consumers. Imagine playing a video game filled with ads. In this game you die and have to repeat the same level over and over, basically forcing yourself to spend hours staring at let's say a McDonald’s ad. No matter how much willpower someone has after that much time staring at an ad they might just get up and get a burger. These ads can be seen to use gamers as a audience commodity. In which gamers are being sold to advertisers.
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