14 DAY TRIAL // Arstechnica reveals some downright disturbing in-game advertising that can be found in Dungeon Siege 2: Broken World. Just as its predecessor, this expansion pack is an action packed fantasy role playing game. In these conditions, for a developer to throw in actual real-world advertising in the mix is like putting a nail through your own foot. While many players scream "Murder!" when they see in-game ads, I usually don't mind, yet there is a fine line developers should not cross.
The ad appears in a conversation between your character and a NPC named Kerth. He casually informs you, with full voice acting accompanying the text box, that he is able to provide some special codes for the Dungeon Siege PSP game. It's not precisely the kind of experience one would expect of a fantasy RPG. After all, fans sincerely doubt the practical use of such an endeavor, since the PSP version is basically a port of the PC game and cases when gamers own the bots are next to none. It's a rather cheap thing to do on Take Two's account.
The concept itself isn't new and has been used on various occasions, mostly for console titles. Fantasy games are where problems arise for in-game ads, in terms of breaking the immersion. Game ads might be overlooked, but only if they make sense in the context of the game. Medieval knights and dungeon dwellers don't carry PSPs. Were I to fight hordes of zombies in a mall, I wouldn't mind seeing a PSP poster in the game shop, but if you're against ads on principle - nothing will persuade you.
