Support NeoGAF

[Baleoce]

Reminds me of the 90's when some games were made basically because of sponsorships. Like Coolspot (who basically the mascot red dot that comes from the 7UP logo, and obviously there's the bottle he surfs on, and the bonus stage).

 

[mclem]

The original:

Though I'm not sure if this classifies as product placement or just an ad.

This is the earliest instance I can think of:

(There are some earlier games - Tapper is the obvious one - but at least there the product placement absolutely clearly fits with the game!)

 

[Archanfel]

As much as I adore Alan Wake, holy fuck the advertising was gross

It did make me laugh though when I turned on a TV expecting another episode of their Twilight Zone ripoff to play and saw a Verizon commercial instead.

 

[MrLuvvaLuvva]

James Pond was one big giant advert for Penguin chocolate biscuits!

Tbf to the game though they are the chocolatiest biscuit in the world!

 

[deim0s]

MGS:

 

[GRW810]

Title says it all.

I'll go with the Mercedes Karts in Mario Kart 8. They're just... So strange, tonally. Cartoons flinging turtle shells at the body styled after a luxury sedan?

Not even close to being the worst product placement. A car in a racing game isn't in the same category of terrible as cup noodles.

 

[gelf]

It's weird how in Crazy Taxi you actually miss the product placement when it's gone from the later versions.

 

[kqedequalsvolvo]

Sean White Skateboarding.

Made all the more egregious by the fact that you're supposedly skating around the city to stick it to the man by uncovering their heinously uncool 'No Chewing Gum Allowed' posters and billboards with advertisements for the notoriously hip Stride Gum.

Example @3:50 in this Giant Bomb Quicklook.

https://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-shaun-white-skateboarding/2300-3376/



Edit: Opps, didn't spot that I've basically copied this word-for-word and even the same video in my hurry to share the joy of Stride Gum with the world. Sorry.

"I came here to chew bubblegum and eat hamburgers, and I'm all out of demographics.".

Hoooolllyyyy shit.

 

[SmartWaffles]

Surprised no one posted this yet. Not even sony games can escape it.

I actually found this neat lol, I own exactly the same phone down to the same color back then.

 

[Hesh]

Sobe in Munch's oddysee. Not quite as bad as Cup of Noodle but still totally breaks the world building/fiction of the Oddworld universe

Oh man, Sobe. That reminds me of some weird show TBS aired around 4am a decade ago where a couple of guys would talk about video games and whenever it was time to plug their show sponsor they would completely shit all over Sobe and say how horrible it tasted.

Strange because in the films they were Domino's Pizza fans, and that licensing was right around the same time.

There most certainly was a major Pizza Hut promotion back then. I have fond memories of begging my parents to go to Pizza Hut to get the TMNT toys in their kids meals and to get a chance to play the TMNT arcade game. I also remember after that Pizza Hut had a cool promotion where you could get a free VHS with some episodes of the X-Men cartoon on them with their kids meals. Also who could forget The Land Before Time hand puppets from the Pizza Hut kids meals? Man, I miss childhood trips to Pizza Hut.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Shaun White Skateboarding

You have to watch the video to understand: https://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-shaun-white-skateboarding/2300-3376/?t=3m55s

(timestamp 3:55, it should queue up to that point in the video with the link above)

Sean White Skateboarding.

Made all the more egregious by the fact that you're supposedly skating around the city to stick it to the man by uncovering their heinously uncool 'No Chewing Gum Allowed' posters and billboards with advertisements for the notoriously hip Stride Gum.

Example @3:50 in this Giant Bomb Quicklook.

https://www.giantbomb.com/videos/quick-look-shaun-white-skateboarding/2300-3376/



Edit: Opps, didn't spot that I've basically copied this word-for-word and even the same video in my hurry to share the joy of Stride Gum with the world. Sorry.

Oh wow.

This has reminded me of perhaps the actual winner:

Shaun White Snowboarding (Target Limited Edition)

Target To Offer Special Edition Of Ubisoft®’s Shaun White Snowboarding Video Game Exclusive Version of the Highly Anticipated Action Sports Game Hits Shelves This Winter MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Oct. 8, 2008

Snowboarding phenomenon and Target athlete Shaun White will be riding his way into Target stores this Winter with an exclusive edition of Ubisoft’s newest action sports title, Shaun White Snowboarding. The special Target edition of the game, available on Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION®3 and Wii™, will have exclusive extended content and features that consumers won’t be able to find anywhere else, including the Target Mountain – an entire mountain environment found only in the Target exclusive edition. Gamers will also be able to take advantage of exclusive jibs, additional scenes and more characters. Additionally, players will be able to cozy up in the game’s virtual version of the Target Chalet, the real-life mountainside home where Shaun and his fellow Target athletes hang out with friends and family at the annual Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Among other exclusive features, the Target Chalet is the only indoor environment anywhere in the game. Target guests are now able to purchase a $5 pre-sell card to ensure they’ll be shredding the mountain as soon as the exclusive version hits shelves. “Shaun has been riding for Target for nearly seven years, so this exclusive version of Shaun White Snowboarding was a natural fit for our relationship with him,” said Troy Michels, Target Lifestyle Marketing. “It’s great to see the Target brand brought to life alongside Shaun in the game and we’re confident that Target guests and gamers will be eager to see what has come from our collaboration in the Target edition of Shaun White Snowboarding.” Shaun White is an Olympic Gold Medalist and has 42 professional wins, including seven Winter X Games gold medals. He was also the first athlete to win gold medals in Winter and Summer X Games in unique disciplines. White has collaborated with Ubisoft’s award-winning development team to create Shaun White Snowboarding. The game features open-world mountains across the globe, where players are free to define their own experiences, and express themselves through tricks, unique riding styles, and highly customizable avatars. Players can also hang out with their friends and have fun off the board by throwing snowballs, hiking to access secret spots, and filming their friends doing tricks. “I’ve had a blast working with the Ubisoft developers, and we’ve created a game that’s really different from any other action sports game,” said White. “I think it really captures my style, and I can’t wait to see what Target guests think of the extra features we’ve made just for them.” For more information about Shaun White Snowboarding, please visit www.shaunwhitegame.com.

Exclusive Target Mountain and the only indoor location in the game.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Not even close to being the worst product placement. A car in a racing game isn't in the same category of terrible as cup noodles.

It's a solid candidate imo. A fantasy game series with fantasy everything in it shouldn't get licensed real world cars out of a sudden.

 

[nOoblet16]

Surprised no one posted this yet. Not even sony games can escape it.

Because there is nothing shameless about that one and done tastefully. If that is shameless then you might as well say that anytime you see a real world brand in a game shameless product placement and that'd be wrong. Depending on how it's done, sometimes having a real world brand in a game gives it a real feeling as if it actually exists and can help immersion rather than have some made up name there.

Now this here..is an example of shameless product placement.

Battlefield 2142

 

[Zelias]

The Yahoo mag in Phantasy Star Online Blue Burst. It was a giant, ugly advertisement that would hover behind your character. Worse, it was a hidden reward for reaching a certain number of kills in an event and when revealed, the community exploded and participation in the event plummeted.

 

[SatoAilDarko]

It's a solid candidate imo. A fantasy game series with fantasy everything in it shouldn't get licensed real world cars out of a sudden.

Italy is fantasy?

 

[Uzny]

Beats in Tomb Raider 2013

 

[JustSomeone]

Nintendo's systems in the house of the main character in the pokemon games

 

[Betty]

MGS:

This is just an advert for the game though, in game it's done pretty tastfully.

There's never a scene where someone mentions Apple, or hands you an iPod or talks about the virtues of regain for example.

 

[Robin64]

 

[*Splinter]

I never saw the harm in using real brand logos instead of fake generic mock ups, especially for games set in the present day (Pikmin "makes sense", for example).

The Cup Noodle thing sounds more like a joke put in by a developer that likes Cup Noodles? Haven't played FF15 though.

This is kinda gross, don't know the context.

 

[Schlorgan]

Beats in Tomb Raider 2013

That's fine. It's in the background enough that I never noticed it.

The FFXV and Alan Wake examples where they stop the game to basically show you an ad are the best/worst examples in the thread so far.

 

[BGBW]

I remember when MGS3 was at peak popularity, you'd see a lot of import sites selling Calorie Mate cashing in on it. Seems to be one of the more successful cases of product placements.

The Amiibo box in Splatoon is an odd choice as it's just a fancy way of presenting the Amiibo menu option in game. Would you consider the Amiibo button on the MK8 menu screen advertising too? It's interesting to note that in both Splatoon 1 and 2, the box is behind the player's starting position in the plaza, with every other game option being in front. So it's never actually pushed in front of the player.

This is kinda gross, don't know the context.

Splatoon has a plaza where all game modes can be walked to (you can also just select them from a traditional menu). The Amiibo box is just the Amibo functionality option. It's no different from any other game mentioning them.

 

[HassanJamal]

Probably cheating a bit but Life Is Strange except it's just mentioned.

I nearly forgot LiS was a SE title, thanks SE!

 

[hotcyder]

Beats in Tomb Raider 2013

Bah! Beat me to it

My answer is MGS4 as Apple clearly payed a great deal to get iPod and Apple products in a multitude in scenes.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Kojima probably pushed to have those real-world devices in the game; guy loved the iPod at the time - and Apple were probably happy to license it's appearance if they also included that current iteration of the iMac.

Shame they never went back to patch it to make it look like the actual 2014 revision though.

 

[Death Penalty]

Seriously though, Cup Noodles in XV is the answer. I've never felt as repelled by product placement as I did when playing the Cup Noodles quest in XV with the characters shilling for the product. It's heinous.

 

[Caayn]

This is kinda gross, don't know the context.

Giant Amiibo box in the main hub of the game. Even if you don't have any Amiibo it'll stay there.

It's basically "Please buy our €15,-, or higher from scalpers, plastic toys for digital content" in the main hub. At least it's an ad from the same company that made the game.

Beats in Tomb Raider 2013

 

[Vazduh]

Zool had some fucking RIDICULOUS Chupa Chups placement...

Came for this.

The game was rock solid, tho!

 

[Lom1lo]

I wonder why no one shows spots in loading screens of multiplayer matches.

 

[Caayn]

I wonder why no one shows spots in loading screens of multiplayer matches.

Didn't a game do that and the devs artificially lengthened the loading screens to fit the advertisements?

Edit: Found it, it was Wipeout HD on the PS3.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX4f9zts6JM
Article: http://kotaku.com/5328983/wipeout-hd-gets-loading-screen-ads-adds-user-fury

 

[2+2=5]

Superfrog had Lucozade

but since it wasn't sold in Italy(and still isn't), at the time i thought it was just a fictional drink, the fact that it wasn't a magic potion and the weird name made it funny and somewhat strangely fitting for me, even more than a magic potion.

 

[Noobcraft]

The Sony smartphone in Uncharted 4 stuck out to me. I've never even seen a Sony branded smartphone in the states, much less one that gets full service while standing underground (destroyed clocktower).

 

[foxbeldin]

No mention of Nissan all over quantum break?

 

[Patryn]

No mention of Nissan all over quantum break?

It's on the first page:

Quantum Break did this shit too. Every computer was a Surface, every person had a Windows Phone, and ever car was a Nissan. Super jarring. There's a way to do product placement in a way that's semi-tasteful, but Remedy definitely hasn't figured it out.

 

[azertydu91]

The Sony smartphone in Uncharted 4 stuck out to me. I've never even seen a Sony branded smartphone in the states, much less one that gets full service while standing underground (destroyed clocktower).

It even get wifi there

 

[mindatlarge]

Phantasy Star Portable 2 and Yum Brands

 

[Freeman76]

How are so many people put off by this? Its always going to happen, an increase in revenue is the reason to go into business for most people.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

.

That shit looked delicious. It even inspired me to cook up some real shrimp and grab me some cup noodle and drop'em right in. Was soo good.

 

[ResidentDante]

Didn't a game do that and the devs artificially lengthened the loading screens to fit the advertisements?

Edit: Found it, it was Wipeout HD on the PS3.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX4f9zts6JM
Article: http://kotaku.com/5328983/wipeout-hd-gets-loading-screen-ads-adds-user-fury

Came for this. The devs tried to convince everyone that the loading didn't take longer with the ads. They were taken with their pants down to say the least, they had to go back and remove them again. It really pissed people off because the ads weren't in the game originally!

 

[Honey Bunny]

"Past few years"?

Panasonic FOMA P900iV

Had no idea it was a real phone! Now I want one.

 

[AlephAlpha]

What do you think when you hear "Lemmings"?

Of course you think "Jelly Beans!"

 

[Rellik]

I like most product placements like when Splinter Cell: Double Agent had Nivea products in the bathroom.

But the one that slightly bothered me was when I one day booted up Skate and EVERY poster in the game was advertising the Simpsons. There had been no update for the game or anything. EA just pushed the ads through and there was yellow everywhere.

Thankfully it lasted 1 day.

 

[Duchess O'Death]

Not even close to being the worst product placement. A car in a racing game isn't in the same category of terrible as cup noodles.

Cup noodles is at least funny. A Mercedes in Mario Kart looks out of place and lame product placement.

 

[MAtgS]

Nintendo's systems in the house of the main character in the pokemon games

If anything, I find it weird/sad in Splatoon 2 that the squids aren't playing on Switch or 3DS but instead smartphones.

 

[erotic grandpa]

I was sad to see that the Prototype remasters stripped the egregious dozen or so Hollywood Video locations from Times Square.

Saints Row 2 had active billboard advertising for a while, and all I remember was rounding a corner and seeing a huge billboard for the ill-fated Jeff Dunham Show. Ugh.

 

[TannerDemoz]

 

[MudoSkills]

I thought having the Burger King mascot as your trainer in Fight Night Round 3 was pretty weird.

I actually used him a lot because he gave you a bonus heart gain for training.

 

[IvorB]

The most shameless is definitely Cup Noodles in FFXV. It's got it's own side quest and Gladio literally gives commercial speeches at several points

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9PN8pzSn2Q

Oh my god. I already had nearly zero intention of buying this game but thanks to this thread I've got a heads up on this crap. I don't even have words for that... just... "wow".

 

[BGBW]

If anything, I find it weird/sad in Splatoon 2 that the squids aren't playing on Switch or 3DS but instead smartphones.

That technology is thousands of years old in the Splatoon universe.

Spoiler

I like how they had to put the Wii U logo on it like that, because its shape is so nondescript.

 

[fabricated backlash]

The Sony smartphone in Uncharted 4 stuck out to me. I've never even seen a Sony branded smartphone in the states, much less one that gets full service while standing underground (destroyed clocktower).

Or doesn't spontaneously break it's glass or lose the ability to make phonecalls at random.

 

[Mr. Phellps]

[...] Quantum Break did this shit too. Every computer was a Surface, every person had a Windows Phone, and ever car was a Nissan. Super jarring. There's a way to do product placement in a way that's semi-tasteful, but Remedy definitely hasn't figured it out.

Uncharted 4 does that too. Everyone has a Sony Xperia.