10 More Embarrassing Product Placements In Video Games
It's hard to enjoy video games as escapism when they're telling you to buy Powerade.
Adverts and video games go together like steak and edible gold, which is to say that they're a pretty terrible combo that only rich people are obsessed with trying to ram down people's throats.
Speaking of, it recently came to light that EA are looking into "thoughtful" new ways of implementing adverts into video games. CEO Andrew Wilson stated that EA wants to "harness the power" of gaming communities so they can use them as a "meaningful driver of growth" in the future, in a speech that sounds like it was ripped directly out of a Deus Ex cutscene.
Of course, EA can totally be trusted with something like this. It's not like there are entries about them in this list, or the other list about the same subject.
Unfortunately, they're not the only ones to blame, as cringe-worthy attempts to force-feed players advertising in their £60, microtransaction-laden games is slowly starting to become a popular trend. Kind of makes you miss the good old days when the advertising was a bit more honest in its depravity like when Pepsi released a video game called Pepsiman about a Pepsi-can shaped man who collected Pepsi cans and instructed you to drink cans of Pepsi.
Ah, the good old days.
10. Diesel - Devil May Cry 2
Devil May Cry 2 is nobody’s favourite DMC game and let’s not pretend otherwise. It’s more likely that the DmC: Devil May Cry 2013 reboot has more fans than Devil May Cry 2 at this point, which feels like a bizarre thing to say considering DmC 2013's initial announcement had fans frothing at the mouth with rage over its protagonist's haircut.
A small part of the fanbase's apathy towards Devil May Cry 2 might have something to do with the reward, if you can call it that, for beating the game.
After making your way through DMC 2 as Dante on Normal mode and saving your data, you will immediately be hit with a full-screen advertisement for the Diesel clothing brand. There's no buffer here. You beat the last level, credits roll, and then BAM - buy some Diesel clothes, you fashion-oblivious nerd.
Both protagonists Dante and Lucia have Diesel-branded outfits you can unlock by beating the game with them, which is the justification for why these adverts are in the game in the first place. A clothing advert probably wasn't the cherry on top that DMC mega-fans were looking for at the conclusion of the disappointing sequel though.