The Grand Takeover

I have found out that the life of a rookie in the world of journalism is not an easy one. At the beginning of the week I felt all wild eyed, like a baby chick freshly hatched from its egg. I was excited to tackle this article and show what type of prowess I had with writing. My excitement soon turned to dread when I realized that I didn’t know what the hell I was going to write about. The world of gaming is a large one, but when I wanted to come in and show people what I’ve got I realized that I can’t just pick any thing to write about. I had to search for a topic that was compelling and worth my time to write about. I soon discovered the perfect topic. That topic is the bull-shit rating that IGN gave Kingdom Hearts 2.

Actually, I’m just kidding about that idea. While it is true that IGN was a little rough in grading the game play aspect, my true concern is the inclusion of advertisements in gaming. It all started innocently enough with billboards in Gran Turismo, and Sobe machines in Splinter Cell. Somehow that opened a door to advertisers to the idea that they can influence gamers to buy their product. The idea seems so preposterous and unbelievable that it makes you say explicatives out loud without realizing it.

IGN held an interview with First Person Plural’s Alex Dulude and the prospect of advertisers sending their influence into the gaming Medium. What this basically means is that Advertisers pay money to the development company and in return, their ads are included in the game and once that ad is clicked, the company is informed and you are given a “Thank You” gift. A person is playing through this particular game and you come across a can of Mountain Dew. You drink the soda and it turns out that it is a power-up for their character. If they click on an ad for Mountain dew, three days later a 6 pack appears at their door with offers attached to it. The game isn’t filled with pointless product placement because gamers choose what they want in the game. When they first install the game they are presented with a sort of survey with a couple questions that ask them what type of person they are. Questions are as follows: Are you male or female? Where are you from? What type of music do you listen to? It’s simple and you are presented with ads that appeal to you, but it almost seems like something like this could become very invasive.

A couple good points were brought by Mr. Dulude. The advertisement money would cover some of the development cost and would end up lowering the price of games. Another point is that gamers are presented with very good offers. Mostly it’s to help the big corporations. It doesn’t make life easier; it just puts more money into big business. Money is what makes the world go ‘round and it’s only natural to make the transition to the next big medium. The video game industry is a nine billion dollar cash cow and there are millions of gamers around the world. Something like this was bound to happen, as grim of a reality that is, it’s just meant to be. However, I don’t like this at all for the fact that advertisers will want more and more control. They will do it so subtly that people will not notice the takeover. Game play will not be interrupted by advertisements, but eventually it will happen.

All I am saying is that big corporations are letting their foot in the door now, but eventually they will want the whole pie. I think that games will become mediocre because of the advertisements, because that is where the emphasis will lie; getting the product out there. I’m not shocked because of these events, but I am agitated. Gamers rely on video games as an escape from the world and when the world tries to invade that privacy, the gamers will cry foul and actions will be taken. Ads in games are good for business but bad for the people who devote their time to games.