Surely you've already heard of the PlayStation Network game Pain. Players know that the game features the ultimate in human slingshotting technology, but what you may know is that the billboards that your shot character whizzes by are capable of showing varied ads that can be changed at any time.
Adweek says that Sony wants to charge different rates to advertisers based on how many people are playing the game. In other words, more people playing logged into their PS3s Pain equals more money for Sony from advertisers.
Right now, all the embedded ads are either Sony-related or totally fake. That will change as advertisers buy into the program, and Sony expects to have 20 games that can handle this type of advertising by next year.
[Thanks, Mr. Ross]
Dale North is Destructoid's Editor-In-Chief, a founding editor, and specialist in Japanese gaming. An accomplished musician, Dale was reporting from Japan during the earthquakes of 2011. Luckily, he got the fuck out alive and is home in America now with his wife and beloved corgi, Einstein. Dale is also a co-founder of Destructoid's sister anime site
Japanator. Likes Corgis, Sega Saturn, PSP, iPhone, Photographic tools.
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Come to think of it that would be cool to blow his ass up!
If I was interested in playing Pain (not really right now) I doubt I'd care if I was smashing into a real or fake billboard, so long as the billboard had a visual style that fit in the game and was well rendered.
Besides, the gaming companies had to raise their product from $50 to $60 this generation to pay for the slew of marketing execs figuring out new and exciting ways to rebrand digital real estate in a way to maximize sponsorship throughput to a targeted demographic.
I just made that up and its so much bullshit its probably an actual marketing term. I guess if there is cash involved in polluting video games with adds, I may as well be on the moneymaking side of evil.
Like the others, I don’t mind the ads so much in this case, because they make the city look more like, well, a city. But if I see a Nike billboard in Killzone 2, somebody’s getting his head cut off.
@Dale North: Sony’s plan for in-game ads starts with Pain
I see what you did there, and I like it. Double entendres rock.