Rokkan

Gaming industry blog Saving Content sat down with ECD/Partner Charles Bae to talk about the influx of advertising in video games:

“For the gamers who don’t want to see an advertisement on a billboard during a Madden Game, use a Sony cell phone in Splinter Cell or Drive a Dodge Charger in Grand Theft Auto you are out of luck. The age of advertising has finally taken over the gaming world.

• Do you think advertising in games has a positive or negative effect on people playing the games (or no effect at all)?

I don’t think in-game advertising has a real effect on a gamer. For the most part, brands and game publishers have been doing a respectful job with ad placement. Since we’re dealing with an immersive experience, advertisers and publishers seem to be following the basic rule of placing ads within the context of a respective game’s world. It makes absolute sense for an ad to appear on a billboard in a game set in New York City. It also makes sense to fill a sports game with advertisements because it actually helps bring the game closer to reality. Ads and sponsors on sports networks have conditioned us to expect ad overload while watching sports on TV, so a sports game without is would feel wrong.

An instance such as PlayBoy magazine appearing in a game like Mafia 2, is a win-win for everyone. Gamers enjoy the centerfolds, Playboy shows off their brand heritage and relevance in Mafia’s period setting, and the game itself adds another touch of realism.

• With the money that is pulled in from advertising, do gamers receive a better product?

Money never makes a game better, in fact, not one single factor makes a game better. More time, more money, more developers, might indeed help create a better product, but the game may still fail to deliver. There are tons of games that have had big budgets but launched with mediocrity and underwhelming sales figures. I think it all comes down to the talent behind the game, and advertising money may certainly help developers and studios hire best-in-breed talent. Same goes for the film industry. You can spend a ton of money on a hollywood blockbuster, but the chances of the movie actually being good is 50/50.”

Read more over at Saving Content.

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2010 - New York City has literally been taken by storm with a tornado watch and a flurry of events affiliated with Advertising Week. Monday was a celebratory day for us here at Rokkan, with two of our biggest projects named finalists at the 2010 OMMA Awards, and another win for the latest redesign of VirginAmerica.com for Website Excellence in Travel & Tourism.

A look at VirginAmerica.com when we first launched.

A partnership that started at the launch of the airline in 2007, Virgin America and Rokkan set the precedent of booking air travel, pushing the traveler’s needs at the forefront of the design while maintaining Virgin’s unique brand image and experience. Now, just three years since the date of launch,VirginAmerica.com accounts for over 70% of the company’s total multi-million dollar sales and continues to grow their fleet alongside their popularity.

The redesign, Virgin America 2.0, gave a facelift to the previous site with even more focus on a faster, transparent booking process and connecting flyers with Virgin America through social networking and rewards.

We are honored and proud to work with such an influential company with an altogether innovative and likeminded approach to creating great user experiences. Congratulations to both Virgin America and our team here at Rokkan for another major success. Keep flying!

Finalists for the 2010 OMMA Awards were announced this week with ROKKAN representing two major projects, 2K Games and Virgin America v2.0. The OMMA Awards celebrate the year’s best in online media, marketing and advertising through three disciplines across 77 separate categories.

2KGames.com was nominated as a finalist in the Entertainment Gaming category for Website Excellence. Featured in OMMA Magazine’s Creative Roundtable this past June, 2KGames.com was praised as a visually arresting site, considerably ahead of what most gaming publishers are doing with community and social networking. The site serves as a portal for 2K’s growing line of impressive products as well as a destination for gamers to discuss the latest news and hot topics. ROKKAN and 2K Games have worked together on several projects including the award winning game, BioShock.

Also in the race is VirginAmerica v2.0 under Travel and Tourism for Website Excellence. This is ROKKAN’s second recognition for Virgin America by OMMA, running against other travel and tourism websites such as, iCrossing’s Vail.com and Level Studios’ San Luis Obispo Vacations. Virgin America continues to push the envelope in airline booking, creating a minimalistic, altruistic approach to traveling and purchasing tickets. All of the information you need without any of the fuss.

The OMMA Awards is now open for voting, allowing MediaPost members to choose up to three entries for the Member’s Choice Award. To vote for ROKKAN, you can easily sign up and cast your ballot here.  Winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on September 27, 2010 at the Hilton New York.