In-Game Advertising (featuring Crackdown)

Recent "News" that ads for The Royal Navy are now showing up in the UK version of Crackdown got me thinking about the ads in the game the next time I turned it on. Whether games should be used as recruitment tools is a whole different subject, so I shall talk a little about In-Game Ads as a whole, and a little about the Ads in Crackdown. Some say that In-Game Advertising is the future of games. Obviously it is a good money making scheme for the people behind the games. Personally, so long as they don't go overboard, and don't advertise in games where they are obviously out of place, it doesn't dampen my playing experience. Billboard ads in racing games (like Burnout), Sports games (like Madden) or open world games (like Crackdown) are fine with me. Things like The King (of Burger King fame) in Fight Night, Pop up ads (NBA 2K7), and (hypothetically) wearing +2 Nike shoes in a fantasy role playing game are not cool with me.

Besides how the ads effect the experience directly, we should consider exactly how this effects us, as gamers, in the long run. Is their only goal in doing this to fatten their pockets a little bit? If so, there is really no reason we should stand for it. However, if the extra income is put into the game development, or future developments, I say it's a worthy choice. Let us focus in on Crackdown a little bit. Although ads for in-game destinations have been in the game since day one, only recently have legitimate ads been added, thus it seems likely that no ad revenue was spent in the development of the game. The real test will be, I think, when the promised downloadable content is finally released. If they come out with new content (something like some new characters, new modes, new weapons), and give it to us for free, I think the ads will have admirably fulfilled their purpose. If they charge for it...well I won't be too bummed, but I think it will once again put In-Game-Advertising in a negative spotlight.

Enough about that though, now it's time for some fun. You didn't know advertising could be fun, did you? Well I'm not going to promise anything now, but I still think it's interesting. Here's what I'm talking about, I'm talking about the actual ads featured in Crackdown. Last night, I ran and jumped all around Pacific City, hanging on/looking up at variety of billboards, snapping a picture each time. What interests me here is what would seem to be an easy task; differentiating between the real world ads, and the Pacific City ads (the giant Dodge ad with a big red SUV on it doesn't count). Well, see for yourself. Below is the link to the my pictures, plus a preview picture. See how well you can tell them apart!

From Crackdown Ads