Gamers express concerns about in-game video advertising

In-game ad companies are constantly touting the value that advertisements bring to video games and are constantly quoting surveys from gamers who claim to prefer games with ads, specifically for the realism they create. Who wants to drive by a fake looking Times Square with bogus ads when you can have real brands recreate their flashy, glitzy billboards in a virtual experience, right? But when Double Fusion announced the other day that it would begin delivering video ads in the downloadable game WipEout, not everybody was happy. It seems that to some, video ads don't make things more real, but potentially make things go real slow. While Double Fusion's plan is run these video ads during natural “this game is loading” breaks in WipEout, fans are screaming that the ads actually serve to lengthen the games usual down time. Check out some of the reaction on AOL’s gamer-aimed blog Joystiq.com. Yikes. Is there not as much acceptance among gamer for in-game ads as we might believe? Or is it just video that is setting people off? Interesting case study to watch for this still-being-established medium.

—Posted by Mike Shields