I’d call myself a sports fan (not a fanatic unlike a few of my budding sports journo friends) but when it comes to American football I wouldn’t say I’m a follower. I’d watch on TV or play it on a video game though… which neatly segues into a story I found today on Kotaku, highlighting one of the new sponsors in the upcoming NFL game Madden NFL 11.
Old Spice Swagger, like yo.
According to a leaked screenshot posted on the official EA Madden forum, players in the game would have a new stat called ‘Swagger’ – oh wait, I mean ‘Old Spice Swagger.’
Advertising in games is no new feature, but I think this is taking it to a whole new level.
When you have sponsors starting to affect gameplay, isn’t that going past the boundaries?
Or are there even any boundaries in such a field?
I’m not too sure. While I won’t be buying the next Madden (more of a soccer or basketball person myself), I think this is setting a precedent for other games – even those not of the sporting genre.
Sports games have always had their fair share of in-game advertising, but what if this moves out towards other games? Maybe even penetrating beloved franchises (Mario sponsored by some famous plumbing company was the first example that came to mind). It’s sort of already happened to some degree, with Metal Gear Solid and the Yakuza series featuring in-game items and billboards from real-life products and companies – but this might just be more fan-service than anything.
I guess the foil bag keeps stuff fresh, even in the jungle
As video games get bigger and better (not to mention better looking), the market becomes more lucrative. There’s already a lot of money in advertising, but for some reason I’d rather not have my character’s sub-machine gun sponsored by some shooting range, or their health pick-up proudly brought to me by some private healthcare company.
I’m impartial for in-game tie-ins and appearances of real-life products, but when companies start to mess with the core values of gaming like gameplay, control and the like then it gets irritating, feels cheap and tacky and is something I don’t want to see in my video games.
