In-Game Ads Get the Rich Media Treatment (Thank You, Microsoft)
Microsoft and EA have just joined forces to create a dynamic ad platform for sports games on the Xbox 360 console and PCs. This means that next time you strap up to play Madden, the sponsorship banners and other ads you see will change.
In a way, this is kind of an improvement on reality. Can you imagine playing your favorite sport -- in the middle of Times Square? It's a dream for the overstimulated, possibly LSD-addled mind that hoped to become Joe Montana but never got past JV.
Madden 08, NASCAR 08, NHL 08, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08, and Skate will feature the dynamic ads at outset. Non-Xbox and non-PC variations will go on wearing the static versions.
Ars Technica is bummed because this new stream of income doesn't mean a less expensive purchase for gamers. Yeah, sometimes it sucks to be on the receiving end.
Comments
PS3 still owns 360 :P
Hold on a sec- I missed the part where PBS is broadcasting NFL games this season. Sponsor-free professional sports don't exist in real life, and it hurts the realism of a game to have a generic "Soda" billboard in a stadium. If the video game versions of the real-life sports have half as many logos, I will be shocked. There is a huge difference between putting a Coke machine in Warcraft and extending existing sponsors into the game. Though I think the little logos won't be on the virtual photographer's vests.
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