We're always talking about how product placement and other forms of ads are making more and more inroads into video games but here's one I don't think we've covered before. Advertisers are now putting their messaging inside "easter eggs" in the game or otherwise making them surprising to the player. This takes a feature that had previously been reserved for serving up some value to game-play (using codes to get extra lives, more ammunition, etc) and turning it into an ad hook.

The impetus to include promotional material in the game is especially strong when the game is part of a larger property such as a movie. Two recent examples, Superman Returns and Eragon, show how the movie or DVD and the game are intertwined, with content from one showing up on the other.

Not everyone is a fan, though. Some gamers aren't thrilled with game-play being interrupted with ads. That's not surprising since the games are pretty expensive to begin with to then have their time sold off to advertisers.