Video Gaming Blog

Mr. Michael Vass is a contributing author.

Oh the joy and the pain. It seems you can’t get one without the other. Specifically I’m addressing the fact that Google stated at the recent Casual Connect game convention,

“Nope, no plans for a console, [Bernie] Stolar said. And no “Google Live,” no video-game portal, and no video-game search, he said. Later, Stolar reiterated, “We are not going to be a publisher or a developer or a portal for games, at all. That’s the jobs of everybody here. That’s why we want to partner with you.”

So that is a nice thing. I don’t relish the thought of Google run games. It just hits a nerve thinking about it. But there is the other side of the conversation.

“Google outlined plans for “AdSense for Games,” applying concepts from its existing AdSense program to video games.”

And there is the pain. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s bad enough that in-game advertising is growing. There is no end to how many ad will be filling your MMO, Xbox, PC and other game systems in the next couple of years, suffice to say more than there are now. Add to that thrill the fact that Google will be adding it’s AdSense to them and you must be euphoric. I can’t wait to be in a dungeon, and as I open a chest, and ad for say McDonald’s McNuggets pops up in the chest. Hurrah! Or perhaps some future version of the Dawn Of War series will have a city battle scene, so while a Necron is fighting a Space Marine You get the wonderful backdrop of a Nike ad on buildings.

Maybe that doesn’t bother some, but it annoys the crap out of me. I don’t like ads before a movie (whether on DVD or a theater), or pop-ups on the net, and I hate them in video games. I understand that the money is good, but if Google is jumping in, so will Yahoo and every other advertising company. We might as well just watch television.

Pain? Lots of it. Joy, not so much.