We’ve been getting asked quite frequently lately, how the new Sony PlayStation 4 will affect in-game advertising, and what opportunities would arise with regards to our services at RapidFire. We thought we’d address this in a short blog post. The PlayStation 4 is considered an eighth generation console, which makes it more powerful and advanced than the seventh generation consoles which include the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii. It will undoubtedly be a powerful piece of machinery, and will boast the following reported specs: Semi-custom accelerated processing unit (APU) developed by AMD in coordination with Sony The graphics processing unit (GPU) consists of 18 compute units to produce a theoretical peak performance of 1.84 TFLOP/s The PS4 will contain 8 GB of GDDR5 unified system memory with a maximum bandwidth of 176 GB/s, which is 16 times more than the PlayStation 3. If you’re not a technical person,

Yesterday marked the results of the first NUads experience, and interactive polling, which launched in Canada, US, and UK, during the fall of 2012. The NUads were built with consumers and advertisers in mind. For consumers, through the power of Kinect for Xbox 360, NUads enable natural interactivity using the simplicity of a spoken word or the wave of a hand. For advertisers, implementation is easy. All they need is a standard TV spot, a question in mind and a few creative responses, and they can reach active Xbox LIVE members with their message in participating markets. In addition, the aggregated poll results provide insights that can help inform future product developments or ad campaigns. A few of the initial NUads advertisers, included Subway and Toyota, and they had the following to say: “Consumers want a relevant and engaging experience when watching TV,” said Dionne Colvin, national media manager, Toyota

There have been plenty of rumours surrounding both the ‘Xbox 720’ and ‘PlayStation 4’ over the past couple years, but a recent and final issue from UK magazine PSM3, has some pretty revealing details surrounding the PS4. One of the many details that caught our eye was regarding In-Game Advertising. Before we get into this though, for those of you that don’t know, the PlayStation 4 (PS4) refers to the upcoming and 8th generation console from Sony, that will replace the current PlayStation 3. The actual name of the new console hasn’t been officially released yet by Sony, so the PS4 is just the name that the gaming community and media has popularly given the unreleased console. PSM3 Magazine didn’t go into too many details, but stated that Sony has plans to make in-game advertising compatible with the PlayStation 4. We’re not surprised, due to the fact that back in May this past year,

It was recently announced that the UK Government would be providing tax relief for video game developers starting April 1st of next year. The tax relief rate will be set at 25% of qualified expenditure, and there will be no minimum spend requirements, which is fantastic news for indie game developers. A lot of game developers in the community were wondering what impact the tax relief would have on Advergames and In-Game Advertising, as these provide revenue streams that many would think won’t be covered. Here’s the good news, In-Game Advertising will be allowed and is still encouraged with the new tax relief! This includes both Product Placement in Video Games and Dynamic In-Game Advertising. As a reminder, Dynamic In-Game Advertising is real-time advertisements in video games that take the form of billboards, and can be geo-targeted. Static In-Game Advertising is similar to product placement in films, so it can’t be displayed in real-time,

One of the many In-Game Advertising services we offer here at RapidFire, happens to be Product Placement within Video Games (aka Static In-Game Advertising). With Static In-Game Advertising, the advertisements are programmed directly into a video game and is done so during the development stage of the game. This differs from Dynamic In-Game Advertising, where the advertisements can be implemented into video games and displayed to the players in real-time – via an ad sever and internet connection. We’ve developed a proven and streamlined process in getting your brand into the video games, in the form of product placement. Step 1: The Introduction The first step in the process of Static In-Game Advertising, is the introduction. Here, we introduce ourselves as a company to the client, and discuss our capabilities. We also get to know the client and what their goals are. We’ll typically ask questions such as: Who is your target market? or what

In the past few weeks, we’ve seen an increase in the number of advertisers asking us to clarify, what criteria must be met for an impression to be registered with Dynamic In-Game Advertising. This is a fantastic question, and we’re happy to outline this here as a blog post. Firstly though, we’ll briefly explain what Dynamic In-Game Advertising (DIGA) is, for those that don’t know. DIGA is a type of in-game advertising that takes the form of billboards or posters within video games, most commonly video games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC platforms. These billboards within the video game are displayed to gamers while playing over the internet, hence they can be updated in real-time, geo-targeted, and enjoy similar capabilities as other online digital advertising channels. DIGA operates on a CPM price model, which means advertisers are charged for every 1000 impressions served. The common question we often get