In-Game advertising used to recruit secret agents in Splinter Cell

[Image: craig bond]OK, let’s be honest. Has any of us been watching this in-game advertising trend with any expectation of good things? I’ve basically been waiting for garish deodorant ads in the middle of Counter-Strike, telling me how to stay stink-free in my X-TREME gaming lifestyle.

But according to Kotaku this morning (you know, if the TimesOnline knew enough to care about inbound links, they might be upset that everyone is going to link to Kotaku), British intelligence agencies are going to start advertising in Tom Clancy and Splinter Cell games.

That’s pretty awesome.

One the one hand, i’m kind of upset that their game plan is to “plant the idea in the heads of younger players” brainwash kids into thinking spy stuff is the coolest shit ever, but on the other…spy stuff is pretty much the coolest shit ever.

On top of this, though, is the awesome fact that someone has started to notice all those studies that say, more or less, “playing video games makes you smarter.” People who play video games have better cognitive development, find things more quickly, and are often better able to focus on individual tasks. Don’t ask me to support those findings, I can’t. But I’ll bet you can find the evidence.