A Start for Things to Come

I'm starting this blog in an attempt to earn some extra credit for my Comm 332 class, Media Strategies in Advertising. The requirements, it has to be about communications and/or advertising. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to ramble on about here, but hopefully I'll learn something, as will you the reader, I'll become a better writer, and I'll get a little bit of extra credit for my work.

This week my professors have been shoving game advertising down our throats. I think it's a perfect platform for advertising, and have been saying this for the past three years since I became aware of product placement. To me, product placements in games makes the world of the game come alive. In real life, when I walk down the street, I see billboards, flyers, and other advertisements. When I walk down the street in a game with these product placements, I see the same thing. It adds to the realism.

In one particular game, Rainbow Six Vegas, for the Xbox 360, there are actual products throughout the game's world. Axe body spray billboard's, movie posters for an upcoming release, and every car is a Dodge. Some of these are loaded into the disc (Dodge) others are updated through Xbox Live (the movie posters). This game specifically shows the applications that smart advertisers can use to tap into the audience of the gamer. The best part of these ads, is that gamers will seek them out. Their game's environment will change, and they can look to find out what is different.

Well I think that is enough rambling for today.
Peace