Television uses commercials. Movies run ads and endorsements. Video games should join the trend.

Many sci-fi and fantasy video games cannot benefit from in-game advertising. No one wants a Coca-Cola ad in Final Fantasy. But maybe there’s a compromise so video game producers can pad their bottom lines and gamers don’t have to sacrifice quality. Video games can be sponsors by companies themselves. Just like a TV special brought-to-you by a lone or small group of advertisers, a video game could be brought-to-you by a car company or soft drink.

There are a variety of ways to implement this. The game could come with a commercial a the beginning, skipable with the start button. Even if the commercial is skipped, every time you play the game you see some quick logo to remind you of the sponsor. Before you scream at me, think about how many times you already have to hit start for all the game company logos you have to sit through (do I care that much that Havok’s physics engine was used again). One more time ain’t going to kill you, especially if it cuts $10 off the price tag (or at least allows for a bigger budget and a better quality game).

Also the game box could be valuable real estate. On the back of each game bottom, there already reside soon-to-be a dozen logos of game companies and partners. Why not charge McDonald’s a million dollars to put their logo there too? And to not piss off the gamers, maybe toss a coupon in the game. For even more synergy, let McDonald’s share commercial time or sponsor free trailers and demos. Advertising won’t suck if it gives us something cool at the same time.

Production costs for video games are rising fast scaring away ambitious development (damn casual gamers). Finding a variety of revenue opportunities can calm anxious executives worried about the bottom line and, hopefully, at the same time give gamers some added value.