The Wall Street Journal has a news story on Massive Inc's new game ads, which are going beyond static images. Anarchy Online is the first game to be updated with full motion and sound ads, which will run for about 15 seconds. Massive only charges advertisers if people actually watch the full ad, which are activated when a player comes close to an advertising spot in the game.

The introduction of full-motion ads on games gives advertisers more options. Massive's Mr. Davis says Hollywood movie studios have shown particular interest in running 15-second movie trailers in online games. Mr. Rich says Paramount may be interested in such ads, but emphasized that the content of any such ads shouldn't turn off gamers. [...] Massive says its technology works for both online games and consoles, but it hasn't yet negotiated a deal allowing for ad-insertion in console games. Mr. Davis says he hopes to strike a console game deal soon. Edward Williams, managing director at Harris Nesbitt Equity Research in New York, says the videogame ads won't take off until console games are included.