It's not uncommon for game industry icons to express their preferences for or against something. This time around, it's American electrical engineer and entrepreneur Nolan Bushnell. Simply put, Bushnell believes that typical in-game advertising doesn't work. More on his opinion in the full article after the jump.

Maria Sharapova is excited about Top Spin 3, but how about the fans? Perhaps in effort to haul in those reeling from Top Spin 2's mixed reception, 2K Sports launched an official web presence for the next tennis simulation for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. But there's also the inclusion of dynamic content from Double Fusion, a more fluid control response and feel, plus rosters to whet the appetite of the average tennis fan. But what's in store on the site itself?

Let's face it: in-game advertising is all around us, and it appears to be here to stay. Exactly how is the market view evolving, and what should the industry do about it? Double Fusion Chief Executive Jon Epstein took the time to answer those questions in a recent interview.  More on that after the jump.

Some gamers may find in-game advertisements to be nothing more than shameless plugs, while others still believe it's necessary.

In the Independent Game Conference in Austin, Gordon Bellamy goes into the subject a bit more and discusses how advertising could benefit not only the company who does the advertising, but also the game itself. He also explains why Doritos can't go multiplatform. Find out why in the full article.

In the past, the stereotypical image of a gamer had something to do with young men stuck in the basement all day playing video games. With Nintendo's smashing success with the Wii console, however, such stereotypes have been shattered as the best-selling console has expanded the gamers market and revolutionized the industry itself.

In a recent article by Ad Age, the advertising website explained the ever growing marketing phenomenon that Nintendo initiated with the onset of the current console war. After the hype of the last generation of consoles died down, Nintendo's GameCube was staring at its competitors from third place. When the new set of consoles came in Nintendo decided to change gears and change their strategy.

More on Nintendo's revolutionary strategy after the jump!

It looks like whether we like it or not, more in-game advertising is coming our way as Eidos Interactive has just announced a three-year deal with in-game advertising specialists Double Fusion.

The deal between the two companies will cover ten Eidos titles, all currently in various stages of development. The ads will reportedly range from dynamically-served advertisements, which can be rotated or changed after the games' release, to deep integrations and product placements.

Eidos Interactive Chief Executive Jane Cavanagh had the following to say regarding the deal: "This is an exciting and innovative opportunity for Eidos, we're delighted to be working with Double Fusion and we fully believe that our titles will offer the perfect platform for the right media partners."

Definitely upping the ante for the in-game content providing firm, Double Fusion is now upgrading their senior levels with game industry marketing veterans from all fronts: consoles, PCs and even MMOs. Still pending as to which company this dynamic ad content provider will be merging with, as least now they have Directors worth the company's reputation.

 

According to an official press release, Euro-based Double Fusion has appointed Daniel Best, Europe">David Miller and Itzik Ben Bassat to positions in the senior European management team. Daniel Best, former Online Commercial Manager of The Independent, is now the Sales Director for the European front.

As former Director of Brand Marketing for SEGA Europe, David Miller will now be heading the Director position of Business Development and Marketing in Europe. He has also worked for Capcom, Electronic Arts and Virgin. But perhaps most out-worldly of appointments was Itzik Ben Bassat, who is best known for being a part of Vivendi's image upgrade of Blizzard Entertainment.

Surprisingly, Ben Bassat was considered "the architect" behind World of Warcraft's success internationally, and also responsible for upgrading Big Blue from a simple games development studio to a company focused on online entertainment. If you wanted someone to blame for the lack of focus on Starcraft 2 and Starcraft: Ghost, now you've got a name.

It looks like the titles that Double Fusion touches are sure to sport lots of in-game ads for sure. This news is almost enough to make us wonder, how would PlayStation Home look if Double Fusion got the "go signal" from Sony? Downtown Tokyo? *shudder*

 

After just entering a deal with Aspyr Media and their flagship tennis title Top Spin, Double Fusion now gets to deliver dynamic in-game content to "a number of THQ's highly anticipated titles," including the Juiced, MX vs ATV and Stuntman series. The in-game ad firm bagged US$ 26 million late last year in sponsored finances for an aggressive move to the virtual advertising market, and seems to be on a definite roll.

Although Double Fusion won't be the primary source for advertising material, the firm will be acting the conduit for interested marketers to supply their advertising content over to the tappable bracket of adolescent and young adult male gamers.

But up against Microsoft's official in-game ad content provider Massive, the ability for Double Fusion to offer their content for games coming to the Xbox 360 will be severely hampered by Microsoft's monopolistic stand that "all dynamic in-game advertising on the Xbox 360 will be through Massive's servers and technology."

Jonathan Epstein, president and CEO of Double Fusion, said in a closing statement with the official press release, "THQ's top games reach an enormous audience, critical to effective advertising. The addition of these next generation franchises allows us to offer an even more robust network to brands and marketers."

Don't look now but those pesky commercials are about to really invade video games. Double Fusion just got US$ 26 million from its investors. All that money will go to the company's plan  for more aggressive in-game advert sing. Turns out in-game advertising offers new ways for product peddlers to get the money in your pockets. Serves you right for tuning out TV and radio.

"Videogames are providing a new advertising vehicle that...delivers a highly engaged audience... [and] changes the way consumers....interact with brands," said Double Fusion. "Advertising... creates new business models for game companies.... continue to accelerate the growth of the gaming audience."

Oh, its for your own good after all.

As much as we don't like in-game advertising, you have to admit that it's going to pop up in games a little more each year. Liking it or hating it is definitely situational, since we can laugh at the absurdity of Sam Fisher using Nivea's beauty products and get annoyed at ads for Chuckie Cheese in the middle of an epic, 22nd century FPS.

We guess you'll just have to wait and see gamers' responses when they hear that Take-Two Interactive has sprung a deal for in-game ads for a little while.

We got word that Take-Two and in-game advertising company Double Fusion got into a multi-title deal to sell in-game ad space in up to nine 2K and 2K Sports titles. What that might mean is that Double Fusion provides the tech for putting in ads, while they try to sell the in-game ads to the highest bidder. Either that or Double Fusion already has some specific sponsors that hired them for plugging, making this the perfect fit for their plans.

For the most part, we actually don't mind so much if its a sports game. It's hard to imagine the NBA without those ads on the sidelines, and if they can keep the realism there (no Vote for Pedro in 2008 ads, for instance), then it'll just be another one of those nifty little touches that might keep the game price down. We have no idea how they'll make it a sensible addition into 2K's action titles, but we're praying 2K has more sense than other gamemakers to keep the ads contextual or, at least, unobtrusive.

So long as we don't start hearing news of Hideo Kojima giving Solid Snake an in-game Viagra placement for Metal Gear Solid 4, then it's definitely not as bad as it seems.