Here is some real BS!!!

[stinger608]

by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com

Microsoft has beaten a rival bid from Internet search giant Google to
provide advertisements inside upcoming Electronic Arts (EA) video
games that run via the LIVE network on the Xbox 360 game console and
Windows-based PCs. EA is the largest maker of games on the planet and
is responsible for such game franchises as Madden Football, Tiger
Woods Golf, NHL Hockey, and NASCAR Racing.

The Microsoft deal is big for two reasons. First, the company was able
to outperform market leader Google, and second, this deal encompasses
the entire line of EA titles, which include many best-selling games
that are updated every year. "It's a network play," says Cory Van
Arsdale, chief executive of Massive, the in-game advertising company
Microsoft purchased in 2006. Google purchased a similar company,
Adscape, in March.

Although in-game advertising has yet to generate significant revenues,
that's expected to change in the coming years as game makers and
advertisers find innovative new ways to put advertisements and other
product placements inside games. Worth more than $30 billion annually,
the game industry is more lucrative even then the movie industry, and
top-tier games now cost an average of $20 million each to create.

EA says that the deal with Microsoft covers only LIVE-enabled games
because Microsoft's online game service is so pervasive and
sophisticated. Console makers Nintendo and Sony offer much more
rudimentary services, and EA says that those companies exert more
control over the services, making a similar deal with them more
difficult. Last week, Microsoft Video Game Chief Peter Moore left
Microsoft to take charge of EA's sports games franchises. This deal is
apparently coincidental to Moore's hiring.

[One4yu2c]

Right on, Stinger, grab the pitchforks and torches! But uh, what, why, or whom exactly, am I supposed to be Hulk angry at?

[Dread]

As long as it isn't pop-in-your-face ads I could care less.
Ads on billboards off in the distance?
Ads 'spray-painted' on the side of a building that is about to be attacked?
Ads 'laying' on an office table?

I'm o.k. with that.

They start making the ads interfere with the game, or in-your-face crap, I
start buying from someone else ;)

[Dr. V]

Originally Posted by Dread

As long as it isn't pop-in-your-face ads I could care less.
Ads on billboards off in the distance?
Ads 'spray-painted' on the side of a building that is about to be attacked?
Ads 'laying' on an office table?

I'm o.k. with that.

They start making the ads interfere with the game, or in-your-face crap, I
start buying from someone else ;)

+1 with everything that you said.

[JazzyJake]

i think what they do in games like the need for speed series, where you can purchase specific parts. I.E. a COBB stage 2 engine tuning kit, for your Subaru Impreza, as opposed to Tier 2 tuning kit for your rally car.

if you tell me that isn't advertising you're missing something..

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by Dread

As long as it isn't pop-in-your-face ads I could care less.
Ads on billboards off in the distance?
Ads 'spray-painted' on the side of a building that is about to be attacked?
Ads 'laying' on an office table?

I'm o.k. with that.

They start making the ads interfere with the game, or in-your-face crap, I
start buying from someone else ;)

+2 to all of that as well. IMO it normally makes the game life like.

Apparently in MGS4 you can pick up a magazine and flip through the pages. That would be cool way to advertise in a game :P

[Jokerswild]

Watch what happens, I bet we'll get to the point where you have to watch ads before the game will start.

[Dr. V]

Originally Posted by Jokerswild

Watch what happens, I bet we'll get to the point where you have to watch ads before the game will start.

That's what I automatically assumed when I saw this actually.

I guess great minds think a like Joker...just mine is a tad bit younger...

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by Dread

As long as it isn't pop-in-your-face ads I could care less.
Ads on billboards off in the distance?
Ads 'spray-painted' on the side of a building that is about to be attacked?
Ads 'laying' on an office table?

I'm o.k. with that.

They start making the ads interfere with the game, or in-your-face crap, I
start buying from someone else ;)

Well said. I agree with everything in that post.

[Stormcrow]

I wouldn't actually mind some ads in games, like the cans rolling around the streets saying Pepsi, or of that nature. As long as it fits into the setting. But when it gets to the point where you have to sit through the onslaught of in your face as the level loads, thats going to be too much. Thankfully theres always going to be a patch which removes them Speaking of which, isnt it Battlefield 2142 which features spyware to monitor your internet usage?