According to Double Fusion, the dynamic networks used by in-game advertising companies to monitor player behavior data can be used to aid processes such as level design.
Frank Sagnier, the European MD of in-game advertising specialist Double Fusion, told Develop that advertising placed in game environments can be used to monitor the popularity of in-game areas, which in turn can aid designers’ creation of new locations.
“Developers are starting to realize that there is a benefit to having this tool running underneath their game,” he said.
“For massively multiplayer games and virtual worlds we have developers asking us to look into where players are going and what they see. We can track the ads to see that players are going to certain spots.
“It’s difficult to know what environments work when you’re designing a game in a vacuum, but when it comes to MMOs you can update the game based on player behavior. Really, consumers can control the design of a game. Because we can track the data on what they are looking at and doing, we can help developers design their games better.
Double Fusion recently released a new technology which separates in-game advertising from the development process, enabling advertisers to implement new ads in already completed games and back catalog titles. Already being utilized by Ubisoft, NCsoft and casual game publisher Oberon Media, the technology, dubbed fusion.runtime, aims to offer companies much more flexibility in their approach to advertising strategies, and ensure that the implementation of adverts doesn't hamper the development process.
Microsoft is now working hard on getting owners of the original Xbox gaming console to the Xbox 360.
The company is now offering a new deal this holiday season specifically for the owners of the Xbox console who are also members of the Xbox Live service.
They are going to offer a copy of the hugely popular Halo 3 gaming title to gamers who wants to buy an Xbox 360 as long they have a paid-up Xbox Live membership and the original Xbox console.
This offer is valid between 21 November and 21 December. They would also have to move their existing Xbox Live account to an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Halo 3 was just recently launched and it became a smashing hit for the company breaking several records for videogame titles in the market.
The game, which Ubisoft said is planned for "next-generation consoles and PC," is scheduled for release in March 2008 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Rainbow Six gaming franchise.
In an announcement today, Ubisoft didn't reveal much about the upcoming game but promised improved graphics, new gameplay features and new Vegas settings. The tactical solo campaign will return, and the sequel will build on its predecessor's popular multiplayer modes.
What happens in Vegas happens again in Vegas.
Co-op and adversarial multiplayer will return, and Vegas 2 will provide "unprecedented interaction between the solo and multiplayer modes," Ubisoft said.
"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas took the gaming world by storm in 2006 thanks to its technological advances and gameplay innovations," said Yves Guillemot, president and chief executive officer at Ubisoft. "We are convinced that Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will remain a pioneer in the highly competitive first person shooter genre, bringing more of what Rainbow Six fans love to the table."
Three all new multiplayer maps are set for release on December 11 as part of the Heroic Map Pack, the first in a series of downloadable content from Bungie Studios to come via Xbox LIVE®.
Available for 800 Microsoft Points exclusively on Xbox LIVE Marketplace, each map presents a totally different play style.
The symmetrical valley of Standoff, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types.
The vast, labyrinthine passages of the Rat's Nest bring something completely new to the multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise. Strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, this map is ideal for big team battles.
Foundry is the ultimate Forge map. Players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, placing stairways, walls, bridges, and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map imaginable.
All three maps will become available for free download via Xbox LIVE Marketplace in Spring 2008, just prior to the next wave of new Halo 3 multiplayer maps.
One of just a handful of titles to be released as a boxed game at traditional retail outlets and as a digital download via Microsoft’s online network, Eidos’ Tomb Raider: Anniversary has finally arrived on Xbox Live.
A remake of the seven million plus selling 1996 classic Tomb Raider, the game charts the exploits of tomb-raiding heroine Lara Croft as she jumps, swings and shoots her way through Peru, Greece, Egypt and Great Britain in search of a mythical object called the Scion.
Already available as a standalone title in stores, the game is now available via Xbox Live in the form of two downloadable packs. The packs cost 1200 Microsoft points each, and combined will take up 3GB of hard drive storage space.
Microsoft’s Xbox Arcade Collection and Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion expansions are the only other titles to appear both as boxed games in stores and as digital downloads on Microsoft’s online network.
Rather than being a straightforward port of the original, developer Crystal Dynamics used an enhanced version of last year’s Tomb Raider Legend engine to optimize the experience. Additionally, protagonist Lara has a range of new moves - taken directly from Legend - not featured in the original game.
The Wii version of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, already in stores stateside, will hit European retail outlets on December 7.
2K Games has defended its right to employ tough anti-piracy measures to stop its titles being ripped off before they even reach store shelves.
The publisher was criticised for the the release of BioShock on PC as it required an awkward authentication set-up before consumers could begin playing, but believes it was necessary as many games are stolen during the manufacturing process and cracked pre-release.
"We went to great lengths to avoid the piracy issue," commented Martin Slater, senior programmer for 2K Australia, reports GameSpot. "We achieved our goals. We were uncracked for 13 whole days. We were happy with it."
"But we just got slammed. Everybody hated us for it. It was unbelievable," he said.
"We were trying to avoid production DVDs going walkies between the manufacturing process and actually turning up on shelves. You find with a lot of games, what happens is that anywhere between manufacturing and the stores, one of these DVDs will go walkies and end up in the hands of crackers," he admitted.
As a multiformat title, Slater said that it's important that a pirate PC game doesn't cannibalise sales of the genuine console game.
"When you're releasing simultaneously on the 360 and the PC, one of the things in the back of the publishers' minds and the people who want to make all the money is that we don't want to lose console sales to people ripping off the PC and the piracy issue.
"If they can get a cheap pirated version on PC they may not buy the 360 SKU, which is probably your main SKU," he added.
Slater said the the company wouldn't adopt the same methods that it had for BioShock – awkward downloads for consumers can be just as time consuming and technically challenging for the developer – but it is willing to enforce strict measures in order to stop games losing sales to illegal piracy.
"I don't think we'll do exactly the same thing again, but we'll do something close," he stated.
"You can't afford to be cracked. As soon as you're gone, you're gone, and your sales drop astronomically if you've got a day one crack."
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“Developers are starting to realize that there is a benefit to having this tool running underneath their game,” he said.
They are going to offer a copy of the hugely popular Halo 3 gaming title to gamers who wants to buy an Xbox 360 as long they have a paid-up Xbox Live membership and the original Xbox console.
Already available as a standalone title in stores, the game is now available via Xbox Live in the form of two downloadable packs. The packs cost 1200 Microsoft points each, and combined will take up 3GB of hard drive storage space.
"But we just got slammed. Everybody hated us for it. It was unbelievable," he said.
