Advertising is certainly nothing new to film. Product placement is fairly common by now, long after the days of "E.T." and "Risky Business" first pioneered the art.

What we at Nerd Alert have been observing for the past few months is the slow, steady blurring of lines between video games and movies. We've discussed it at length in previous columns, but only now does it seem that other, typically undesired aspects of the film industry are seeping into the video game world. But what happens when product placement crosses boundaries and comes full force on the gaming world? Things get a bit interesting.

Ryan:

Gamers, for the most part, have embraced the influence that films have had on video games. With improved technology seen in this generation of consoles, it has been possible to craft exquisite, realistic-looking worlds previously unheard of. More often than ever before, video games parallel and, believe it or not, surpass films in their ability to convey a powerful story and emotional punch. Titles like "Metal Gear Solid," "Ico" and "Final Fantasy VII" present immersive plots that draw consumers in — for sometimes 40 hours of story.

Though people were all too eager to welcome the influence that films had on video games, few realized what this evolution would eventually bring with it. Product placement is not only becoming increasingly prevalent in games, it's beginning to take things over.

In a column Zach and I wrote last year, we discussed advertising in games and debated whether or not it was beneficial to gamers. At that time, I argued that not only did advertising allow smaller companies to produce games without spending loads of cash, but it also added realism to titles it appeared in. "Shenmue," a personal favorite of mine from a few years back, featured prevalent product placement — and a somewhat disturbing fixation with sailors. Although the game had its fair share of product placements throughout, they added to the game's experience rather than taking gamers out of it. Now things look to change, as Activision somehow thought it would be a good idea to sell its soul to Puma.

Sundeep:

In an effort to push their clothing and shoes onto the public's minds, Puma has signed a deal with Activision allowing for an entire mission of "True Crimes: New York City," a sequel to the earlier "Streets of L.A." video-game, to be dedicated to a pair of Puma sneakers. The mission will feature players attempting to find a pair of stolen "special edition" True Crime RS-100 sneakers and then returning them to their store. The same shoes (only 200 will be made) will actually be available for consumers to buy at select New York stores. The shoes will feature the True Crime logo on the inside of the shoe with "T" and "C" embroidered on the heels. More shoes will be available for customers to buy online. I find it humorous that Puma made sure the player had to "return" the shoes to the store, rather than steal the shoes.

Ryan:

It's things like this that make me frustrated with strategic communications people. Though blatant product placement is just now receiving attention, it isn't necessarily a revolutionary concept — remember "Cool Spot," "Yo Noid!" and "McKids?"

While I definitely understand their yearning to reach core demographics by placing advertisements in video games, that doesn't mean I condone something as absurd as the great Puma deal of '05. The first "True Crime" game was actually pretty entertaining, despite being a rather blatant spin-off of the "Grand Theft Auto" franchise. It featured some brands and even an appearance by Snoop Dogg, but the focus of the missions in the game was never to locate stolen Pumas and run them back to the nearest Foot Locker. Activision has crossed the line with this move — in essence, they've stomped directly on it. Games like "Def Jam: Vendetta" heavily showcased licensed apparel and jewelry, but do so in a manner that doesn't come off as a corny marketing ploy. But "True Crime: Streets of N.Y." doesn't tastefully implement brand-name products into its missions — it makes them the missions.

Sundeep:

The real issue is the possible marring of video games as an art form. Product placement corrupts video games that were once innocent of giving up their storylines for dough. Just imagine the horrible nature of video game elements like "Halo's" Master Chief trading in armor parts labeled with Coca-Cola or "The Legend of Zelda's" Link walking around with Nike sneakers. It's just not cool. The whole point of a video game is to recreate reality, not put elements of reality back in a recreated world. Video games, like movies, should never give up the integrity of the worlds they create for anything that is part of this world. Unless of course, you're actually making a video game about McDonald's or Gap. That's different; people playing to win or wear food and clothing would be great … yeah.

Ryan ([email protected]) and Sundeep ([email protected]) are hopelessly addicted to all things video game. Sundeep has been playing "Warcraft III" a little too religiously. Ryan has been playing "Shadow of the Colossus" a lot — and won't shut up about it.