Streaming Commercials

A new game entitled Tex Atomic Big Bot Battles (TABBB), set for release sometime in the first quarter from Real.com, invites an even richer advertising experience. The setting is a combat arena populated by battling giant bots wielding menacing weapons, while in the background a billboard streams a video advertisement.

TABBB, developed by gaming-technology company LithTech, is the result of a partnership with RealNetworks to develop rich games with small download sizes. The companies also worked to incorporate Real technology into the LithTech engine to allow streaming in the game environment.

Real.com's game center works on an up-sell model for digitally distributed games. There is a free downloadable demo version to give users a feeling for how the game will play, and then they are typically offered the full downloadable game for around $19.95.

With this new technology, the games are still downloaded onto the user's computer, but additional features can be streamed when connected to the Internet. The possibilities presented by this development are limitless, says Phil Honeywell, LithTech licensing and marketing manager: It could be used to stream additional voices or music, or even to produce a world-based game, streaming real current events to enhance the feel of authenticity.

Intel has signed on to sponsor the launch of TABBB, and will be streaming ads onto the game's billboards, adding another revenue stream for Real.com on top of the money users pay for the download. Users can choose to play the game offline and avoid the advertisements, but Real sweetens the pot for players by offering multiplayer functionality when online.

The virtual worlds we enter to escape and entertain ourselves may soon be as filled with corporate messages as Times Square — only time will tell if online users will swallow such commercialism. But in the meantime, it looks as though ad-integrated games hold promise as a magnet for more advertising dollars.

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