14 DAY TRIAL // Are there so many advertisements in Need for Speed Carbon? To tell you the truth, I haven't seen that many, but maybe I was too caught up by the game to notice them.
According to Reuters, Electronic Arts Chief Executive Officer Lawrence Probst revealed that the company expects over US$ 5 million from in-game advertising in NFS: Carbon. He explained that these revenues will come both from dynamic and static advertisements.
Dynamic ads are those you see on in-game billboards, soda vending machines or other objects in the game. These advertisements can be changed over time while the static ads are coded into the game software and can't be altered.
Frankly, I don't know why you would get bothered by in-game advertising if the specific advertisement blends in nice with the environment. Take this for example, how would you like to see a computer commercial in Age of Empires? It wouldn't blend in, would it? A mobile phone commercial on a NFS Carbon billboard isn't that annoying. After all, billboards are meant for advertising right?
Advertising is also a good thing, as game developers make a lot of money from in-game ads, and they don't have to charge us a lot of money for the game. Maybe video games would cost much more if we had no in-game advertising.
I'm talking about subliminal messages or spyware, those are simply rude! Remember that I've reported some time ago that Battlefield 2142 features some spyware and also rumors about NHL2K7 subliminal advertising have appeared. That's a big no no!