OMG why has everyone voted no so far? I don't know about you guys, but tend to look at this as just a way for some more joes to rake in cash for doing nothing. Plus, I for one do NOT want to see god-damn Coke banners or other crap littered about in games. I read a good article about Massive's advertising schemes, and quickly forged an extreme dislike for them.
One quote from pro-massive supporter:
""No one brought up the fact that, theoretically, more cash flow to the
publishers means better quality games."
And my cynical rebuttal:
1.) If the developer gets paid a fixed amount by the publisher, then
no matter how much money the publishers make, the developers don't
benefit.
2.) Even if the developer did benefit (through % cuts), it certainly
would NOT result in better games - The more money a developer has,
the more he has as a backup to make crap games, or waste money on
more crap special effects.
A little extreme, but all I am saying is more cash does not equal better games.
Luckily, the developers have the ultimate say in whether to accept the advertising or not, and hopefully they will steer clear of it.
And if you are only voting no because you would like more "realism" added to games, then don't forget that fictional advertising would be just the same - only it would be more creative (and perhaps even funny on occations), and you wouldn't have all these joes milking the industry for as much as they can get their hands on- who don't even have any interests in the future for the industry and just want to swing a quick $.
Keep the corporate grasp of capitalists away from the gaming industry please people.