When I say "Advergaming," chances are you're rolling your eyes. I don't blame you. The word just sounds dirty. "Look," you're saying, "I don't want to play somebody else's marketing." Advergaming brings to mind visions of trying to play a tetris clone with hamburgers and fries falling from the top of the board underneath a pair of golden arches. I don't blame you for saying, "Not interested."

But, done right, advergaming doesn't have to suck. With the right product (or the right attitude), these can actually be worthwhile games. Games that it just so happens you can play for free. A great example just launched this week in the form of The BMW M3 Challenge Game, a free download.


The M3 Challenge was developed by Blimey Games, creators of GTR2, which got a solid four-star review from GameSpy. So under the hood of the BMW game (no pun intended) is a solid, serious racing sim. The kind of game you'd pay real money for. No question about it, it is a giant ad for BMW's M series, starting with the drool-inducing opening commercial -- I mean, cinematic. But it's also a terrific hardcore racing experience. BMW doesn't splash advertising all over the game; the company just puts their vehicles on the track and lets the cars do the talking.

This works for everybody. Gamers get a solid racing game for free. And the developers supplement their development budget, earning some quick money that can help make a likely GTR sequel that much cooler. That definitely gets my engines pumping.

Download the BMW M3 Challenge [Free Game]

      -Fargo

Posted by Fargo at 10:27 AM PDT
Edited on: September 11, 2007 10:30 AM PDT
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