Gamers Like Ads?

The results of a new study on in-game advertising conducted by Activision and Nielsen Entertainment suggests that gamers don't react as negatively to the intrusion as you might think. "Research results also found that, contrary to the assumption that highly pervasive ads would detract from the game play and frustrate gamers, a majority of study participants said that when the product is relevant to the game, advertising enhances the experience." Then again, the games used for the test were MTX Motortrax, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Need For Speed Underground 2, and NHL 2K6, which all offer settings that are reasonably well-suited to product placement. Try putting a Pepsi commercial into a fantasy game and odds are the response would be quite different.
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