Xbox Games Teach You About the Danger of DUI. Sorry Paris Hilton...

In-game advertising is a hit and there are already employment ads for intelligence agencies implemented by the British government in Splinter Cell:Double Agent. Seems that this time, the British have come up with something new: they're going to implement anti drunk driving billboards in games like Need for Speed: Carbon and Project Gotham Racing 4.

This project comes straight from the Scottish transport minister and it only required about $20,000 to be started, as it's only a pilot for now. Seems that Paris Hilton won't be digging PGR 4 any more, since virtual billboards are going to be constant reminders of her little issue from a couple of months ago. We can't help but wonder what's going to happen to the gamers who drink and drive virtually. Will we see ads in videogames saying "Don't drink while playing this game!"? Truth be told, when you're getting your behind kicked in an Unreal Tournament 2004 multiplayer session and you've had one too many beers, sparks are ready to be ignited and fists will be thrown.

I wonder if the British authorities (and developers) will have the guts and originality of implementing anti-violence billboards in Manhunt 2, as that would be some class act decision. The only problem is (in the case of driving games) the place where you create these billboards. Will we be able to smash through them? Are they visible enough? Are they big enough? And what about speeding? Isn't it a bigger problem then drunk driving?

Please keep in mind that these ads will pop up in online enabled titles and it seems that racing games are not the only ones on the list, since it features PES 2008 as well. So you'd better keep your eyes peeled the next time you score a goal or pull out a drift, as you might learn a valuable lesson from those ads.