The games journalism equivalent of binology involves scouring the job advertisements that developers post, seeking clues as to the content of future titles. Say Popcap were to exhibit a desire to hire a Masters degree wielding "actual unicorn-handler with three years experience of rainbow-wrangling" I would assume Peggle 2 was a glorious physical playground rather than a digital toy. That hasn't happened, but a poster at NeoGAF spotted that Blizzard are looking to recruit a Franchise Development Producer for their "next-gen MMO", with one of the main responsibilities being to "work with major consumer brands to facilitate product placement and licensing within the world of Blizzard Entertainment's next-gen MMO". Hmmmm.
I can't think of many existing products that would fit into a fantasy or far-future world and, in keeping with that, the speculatrix is muttering wildly about modern day or near-future settings. Titan is already considered to be a sci-fi type of thing but perhaps this is enough to warrant belief that our own culture and its commercial products will be the focus. I wonder what the flesh of Professor Zarglebrox Pepper, Dr Pepper's great great great great great great great grandson, tastes like when distilled into a liquid form?
It seems highly possible that this could also betoken an alternative revenue stream to the subscription models of prehistory (and SW:TOR). The full listing is here.
Let's see: in a world where real-life products exist, in-game advertising is an aid to realism; all in-game advertising is evil; in-game advertising is a decent alternative to paying a subscription; I am unhappy and believe there will still be a subscription price; drinking Pepsi to regain health is terrible and wrong, and it is precisely what will definitely be happening; ACTIVISIOOOOOON!!!
Print that out and circle your choice or add your own thoughts below. I suppose you could even just shrug and move on. It is your life!
