XX_revolution
09-26-2002, 11:43 PM
Recently Electronic Arts announced product placement deals with McDonalds and Intel for the upcoming The Sims Online PC game. While product placement has long been a part of the entertainment industry, it is relatively new to gaming. Hollywood studios have been using product placement deals to enhance revenue in feature films since 1982, when E.T. followed a trail of Reece's Pieces. If you've ever watched Austin Powers and had the sudden urge to drink a Heineken, or pulled your eyes away from Charlie's Angels long enough to see that they all used ultra-cool Nokia phones, you have been subject to product placement advertising.
Electronic Arts is taking this one step further and allowing gamers to interact with the companies that are advertising in their games. In The Sims Online, a player can purchase an Intel Pentium 4 computer, which is a major upgrade from the basic computer also offered. The P4 will also give you bonus fun credits, adding further reward for making your fake family loyal to Intel. If you need to make some "Simoleons" you can open a McDonald's kiosk and earn money, fun and hunger credits. Having a McDonald’s in The Sims can also go a long way towards making a more realistic simulation; if you’re in America, you need a large percentage of the population to be fat. What better way than a Big Mac and fries?
Electronic Arts is banking on the fact that the #1 selling video game of all time will bring in more advertisers before it launches. The financial rewards for EA number in the millions of dollars.
What does this have to do with the X-Box? Well, not the X-Box, but X-Box Live! Microsoft is already using X-Box Live! to tap into gamer’s ability to instantly make upgrades via a download. At this time, the main purpose of these downloads is to upgrade your gaming experience. In the X-Box Live! game ReVolt you can download three different vehicles. This is an obvious test to see how interactive a gamer would like their online experience to be and what enhancements are desirable enough to warrant a download.
Microsoft is laying the groundwork to eventually charge for upgrades. When X-Box Live! officially launches, Microsoft will be collecting personal information when you register, including requiring a credit card number. The ability to make purchases instantly while gaming opens a world of revenue possibilities for Microsoft and their affiliated advertisers and software developers.
EA Sports has an agreement in place with NFL Apparel in the recently released Madden 2003. Potentially, if this game ever makes it onto X-Box Live, a player would have the means to instantly purchase hats, shirts, jerseys, etc. via their game console. A company like Microsoft has the hardware and software in place to track what you do when you go onto X-Box Live! If you are the Rams every time you play, Microsoft could make note of this and target advertising to you, displaying only St. Louis Rams merchandise.
This brings us to the following dilemma: Is this type of advertising invasive or revolutionary? Does the benefit (instant purchasing, targeted material) outweigh the negative (Big Brother is watching)? This also raises several ethical questions for the companies that are advertising. Many gamers are under 18 years old. What are the moral implications of attempting to shape a minors view of your or your competitions products? And what are the responsibilities of the advertiser and Microsoft if Johnny racks up a $600 bill on the credit card that his parents entered for X-Box Live!
Advertisers have historically proven that brand recognition is the most important factor in selling a product to the American public. Subliminal advertising was outlawed many years ago, although it still shows up in adult movies in the form of single frame inserted into the feature (I mean, that's what my friend told me, yeah, let's go with that). But what if little Johnny can only defeat Grand Theft Auto by driving his Hummer® through the final battle that invariably takes place at Caesar's Palace in the heart of Las Vegas? Why Las Vegas? Well, Johnny's dad plays the console as well, and his favorite games all involve some sort of gambling, because Johnny's dad has a huge gambling problem. Microsoft and the software developer could work in tandem to record this information, and viola, instant product placement for the Las Vegas Tourism Bureau…
The point I'm trying to make is that advertising has the potential to start shaping the gaming experience. Creativity can be stifled if you have to somehow work in a reference to Dr. Pepper for at least 3 minutes of game play. What happens when advertisers have the ability to review content and make changes? What if Dr. Pepper could shape certain characters because they don’t fit the company’s image?
Much of this seems very far fetched right now, but who would have thought that Candlestick Park would be called 3Com, or whatever it is now. It is a phenomenon of the internet to be able to track a user’s behavior. What Microsoft will have in place when X-Box Live is officially launched is a captive audience, much like at the beginning of movies. There you have to endure 15 minutes of Coke commercials and trailers for six movies you don’t give a crap about just to enjoy the product you purchased, which is the viewing of a movie, where you have to deal with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones sliding on their sweet-ass Ray Ban’s while they make sure the label is showing.
Electronic Arts is taking this one step further and allowing gamers to interact with the companies that are advertising in their games. In The Sims Online, a player can purchase an Intel Pentium 4 computer, which is a major upgrade from the basic computer also offered. The P4 will also give you bonus fun credits, adding further reward for making your fake family loyal to Intel. If you need to make some "Simoleons" you can open a McDonald's kiosk and earn money, fun and hunger credits. Having a McDonald’s in The Sims can also go a long way towards making a more realistic simulation; if you’re in America, you need a large percentage of the population to be fat. What better way than a Big Mac and fries?
Electronic Arts is banking on the fact that the #1 selling video game of all time will bring in more advertisers before it launches. The financial rewards for EA number in the millions of dollars.
What does this have to do with the X-Box? Well, not the X-Box, but X-Box Live! Microsoft is already using X-Box Live! to tap into gamer’s ability to instantly make upgrades via a download. At this time, the main purpose of these downloads is to upgrade your gaming experience. In the X-Box Live! game ReVolt you can download three different vehicles. This is an obvious test to see how interactive a gamer would like their online experience to be and what enhancements are desirable enough to warrant a download.
Microsoft is laying the groundwork to eventually charge for upgrades. When X-Box Live! officially launches, Microsoft will be collecting personal information when you register, including requiring a credit card number. The ability to make purchases instantly while gaming opens a world of revenue possibilities for Microsoft and their affiliated advertisers and software developers.
EA Sports has an agreement in place with NFL Apparel in the recently released Madden 2003. Potentially, if this game ever makes it onto X-Box Live, a player would have the means to instantly purchase hats, shirts, jerseys, etc. via their game console. A company like Microsoft has the hardware and software in place to track what you do when you go onto X-Box Live! If you are the Rams every time you play, Microsoft could make note of this and target advertising to you, displaying only St. Louis Rams merchandise.
This brings us to the following dilemma: Is this type of advertising invasive or revolutionary? Does the benefit (instant purchasing, targeted material) outweigh the negative (Big Brother is watching)? This also raises several ethical questions for the companies that are advertising. Many gamers are under 18 years old. What are the moral implications of attempting to shape a minors view of your or your competitions products? And what are the responsibilities of the advertiser and Microsoft if Johnny racks up a $600 bill on the credit card that his parents entered for X-Box Live!
Advertisers have historically proven that brand recognition is the most important factor in selling a product to the American public. Subliminal advertising was outlawed many years ago, although it still shows up in adult movies in the form of single frame inserted into the feature (I mean, that's what my friend told me, yeah, let's go with that). But what if little Johnny can only defeat Grand Theft Auto by driving his Hummer® through the final battle that invariably takes place at Caesar's Palace in the heart of Las Vegas? Why Las Vegas? Well, Johnny's dad plays the console as well, and his favorite games all involve some sort of gambling, because Johnny's dad has a huge gambling problem. Microsoft and the software developer could work in tandem to record this information, and viola, instant product placement for the Las Vegas Tourism Bureau…
The point I'm trying to make is that advertising has the potential to start shaping the gaming experience. Creativity can be stifled if you have to somehow work in a reference to Dr. Pepper for at least 3 minutes of game play. What happens when advertisers have the ability to review content and make changes? What if Dr. Pepper could shape certain characters because they don’t fit the company’s image?
Much of this seems very far fetched right now, but who would have thought that Candlestick Park would be called 3Com, or whatever it is now. It is a phenomenon of the internet to be able to track a user’s behavior. What Microsoft will have in place when X-Box Live is officially launched is a captive audience, much like at the beginning of movies. There you have to endure 15 minutes of Coke commercials and trailers for six movies you don’t give a crap about just to enjoy the product you purchased, which is the viewing of a movie, where you have to deal with Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones sliding on their sweet-ass Ray Ban’s while they make sure the label is showing.