More console-hating. This time, online execs unload against the gaming platforms at the BMO Capital Markets' Interactive Entertainment Conference. The panel discussion heard vivid opinions on the market and what a gamer wants. Read more in the full article.

Europe is now set to upgrade their status in the world games market with their own set of developer conferences, starting with the Northern Exposure (no relation to the TV series, folks) Games Conference 2007 announced for a May launch. Game industry big names in the region, such as Eidos, Revolution Studios, Introversion and IGA Worldwide, are confirmed to bring forth speakers for the event.

 

Obviously the first of many more big game events slated for the region, Northern Exposure 07 will tackle opportunities for the UK and Euro company to enter in the world game Market. NE 07 now sits side-by-side with the Develop Conference & Expo coming back to Brighton in late July, GCDC 2007 coming to Leipzig in late August, and the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) 2007 Finals coming to Paris in early July.

But instead of focusing all on the European market, the event will also help many industries try to maintain balance between the need for profit and the need for creativity. Leaning heavily on the experience of already established developer companies, NE 07 hopes to provide a solution to the profit vs. new IP dilemma. Nina Cliff of CodeWorks GameHorizon (the organizers) said:

Spiralling development costs and team sizes in recent years have increased the pressures on studios and threatened their creative ethos. Northern Exposure 07 will investigate how – through new business models and platforms – developers can retain that characteristic sense of imagination and still make a profit.

In order to boost the developer morale in the region, other big names such as Mumbo Jumbo, Eutechnyx, Team 17, Blast Entertainment, TIGA, and Carbon Engineering will also participate in the event. Topics such as finding ways to enter Xbox Live Arcade title development, growing casual gaming markets, direct (digital) distribution, and exploring profit possibilities in in-game advertising will be discussed.

The conference will take place at York Racecourse, UK in May 10, starting from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An after-event party is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start over at Pitcher and Piano.

In-game advertising was one of the biggest issues that hit gamers and game developer alike in recent years. It's always been a part of gaming pretty much from the get go, with sports titles often plastered with real-world company logos and whatnot.

Bu a lot of people were put off by the overly anachronistic ads and spyware reports that popped up in a number of games in the past year (*cough*Battlefield 2142*cough*).

Despite the backlash over the whole issue, in-game advertising does have a good side. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Europe and part of IGA Worldwide">Ed Bartlett, vice president of IGA Europe and part of IGA Worldwide, the biggest name in in-game advertising in the whole world, said that IGA could help independent studios to keep possession of their own intellectual property.

Bartlett points to two titles - Stoked Rider and Trackmania - which were made available via free download thanks in part to IGA. This in turn has improved their developers' finances.

"Obviously the more players you have the more ad revenues you get, which makes it almost a self-fulfilling model. By having a bigger audience you bring in more ad revenues which means you can offset the costs even further," Bartlett explained.

"When you look at a big triple-A console release you're never going to be able to offset the entire cost of the release through advertising. But I think with a PC-only release, where you're reiterating a technology which has already been paid for and developed as it was with Trackmania, then I think you're looking at some exciting new models."

Not all developers are eager to explore the whole in-game advertising scenario, as Bartlett himself admits. IGA is still attempting to change its image, though, by showing evidence of its achievements so far. "We've seen some resistance from the smaller independent studios rather than the bigger studios, who are obviously our targets, so generally we're getting a very positive response," he said.

Personally, I welcome any kind of in-game advertising that would actually add something to a game's fun value. I can't think of anything off the bat other than all of the real-world cars in games like the Need For Speed and Gran Turismo games (come on, if that ain't advertising, then what is?).

With the sheer variety of games these days - from sims to historical shooters to fantasy - I'm trying to come to terms with the fact that anachronistic in-game ads will be in good supply for the years to come. Of course, there's also the issue of in-game ads making games cheaper for us gamers, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

What's your take on this? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think.

GameDaily points out that tucked behind Battlefield 2142's manual is a white card that says that the users IP address and "other anonymous data" would be sent to a company called IGA Worldwide in order to deliver in-game advertisements. The disclaimer then says that users should not install or play the game on a system that's connected to the Internet if users aren't comfortable with having their information transmitted and collected by the IGA.

This isn't anything new. And since word of it got out, rumors spread, and people started claiming that Battlefield was forcing spyware into people's computers. Of course it was later confirmed that all that was being sent was IP addresses, geographical regions, info on what advertising the player has been exposed to already, and how big the ad was.

The situation of course raised online debate about whether or not in-game advertising is acceptable. Some argued that it's just the same as having to put up with movie trailers in DVDs, some said that it ruins the gaming experience. Some say that they're alright with it as long as the ads "fit" in the game world; contemporary ads (say a Coke billboard) for contemporary games (in GTA). Some say they don't really mind, and if given a choice between a game having to be more expensive and ad-free or having the game sport a few promos in it but have a lower tag, they'd choose the latter.

Steven Wong of GameDaily pointed something out that made sense. He says:

The biggest problems arise when the advertising takes priority over the game, so players end up spending money on long commercials. Sure, one could buy Burger King-themed games for kids for $4, but I can't imagine too many people who would be willing to spend $50 on something like that.

We guess it's all well and good to have in-game ads as long as it doesn't cross a certain line thematically (no modern ads in a fantasy game please!) and ethically (do not collect more than IP info), and the game still stays a game, not an interactive billboard with a patched on story.

We've seen the power of in-game ads before. And now, Electronic Arts Inc. is going the extra mile. They have just agreed with leading in-game advertisers IGA Worldwide Inc. to give marketing departments new options regarding dynamic ad placements within the games of the EA franchise.

Was that a mouthful? Thought so. Basically, what this entails for EA is that they will have a portfolio of their games incorporated into IGA’s network of advertisers.

Yes, yes, some of you might be groaning in agony now. We don't want our video games to turn into the next-gen commercials, right? But when we hear EA and IGA say "dynamic ad placements", we're not talking about shameless plugs here. We're talking relevant and realistic brand presence integrated into the context of the game. Emphasis of course would be on "relevant" and "context".

And what's the first game that will get the glory of ad placements? None other than Battlefield 2142 for the 360! Now, let's visualize... Should we expect NPC soldiers in the game to suddenly break out in a musical jingle advertising Mentos? Nope. Should we expect to see big, robot, war machines wearing branded "tank tops" (pun shamelessly intended) from Zara? Nope.

So what kind of ad placing could we expect? Well, we don't know exactly how "incognito" the ads will be placed, but you get the point from our examples above. No loud ads.

At the seventh annual MSN Strategic Account Summit last May Microsoft Corp. made an announcement that it is acquiring world-leading network for video game advertising, Massive Incorporated. Massive's services covers putting up ads across Microsoft's Online Services like Xbox Live and MSN Games. This has lead to speculations of an exclusivity deal between Massive and Microsoft for Xbox 360 ads, leaving two of the biggest in-game ad players, Double Fusion and IGA Worldwide out of the running.

When Massive's president of new media, Nicholas Longano was asked to comment on the rumored exclusivity, he said, "At this particular point in time, we’re working and we’re integrating and applying ourselves across many platforms. We’ve got a technology that’s proven, robust … It’s a solution that works, it’s accepted by the publishing world, by advertisers, and it provides a good game experience, and right now, that’s really the most important element. As to where we’re all going to be in 24 months, 36 months, we’ll wait and see."

The biggest downside that insiders see about this exclusivity issue is the threat of other industry players, such as Double Fusion and IGA Worldwide, missing out on revenue generated from the console, to which Longano replied with an outburst of confidence, “The worst thing that can happen [for the industry] is when you have multiple representatives going out there and trying to represent the same content. That’s when there‘s confusion that takes place. … Confusion slows down the market. Right now, I think that the marketplace, and when I say the marketplace, I’m talking about advertisers, right now they know there’s a solution. Massive is a tremendous solution. It’s tried, it’s tested, it’s proven.”