On Thursday Yahoo announced that it would begin including hundreds of online games for free download from its portal site. In an unusual marketing twist, Yahoo is integrating commercial advertising into the games. Whether or not the public will accept advert-heavy video games remains to be seen.

According to Yahoo, more than 400 popular games will be available for download, all supported by in-game advertising. The games include various titles from publishers such as Sugar Games and Big Fish Games. The titles should be available on the Yahoo web site before the end of the year, according to company representatives.

To integrate advertisements into the video games, Yahoo has partnered with DoubleFusion, and will be selling ad spots in the games with the assistance of NeoEdge. Most of the games being considered are casual online-type video games, which do not require much time to play. Some of the more popular titles include Solitaire and Tetris. These types of casual video games are associated primarily with female players in the 35 to 54 age group, according to Yahoo demographics specialists.

Critics have charged that placing commercial advertising inside video games is a sign of desperation from Yahoo, which has recently struggled to shake off unsolicited takeover bids by Microsoft and others after seven consecutive quarters of disappointing earnings. Some pundits charge the company is simply looking to earn an advertising buck any way they can, even if it means grabbing for nickels and dimes from online game advertising.

Yahoo, on the other hand, says that in-game advertising allows it and its various publishing partners to increase revenue by giving advertisers access to gamers, a coveted demographic.

But for many hard-core gamers, what Yahoo is doing is blasphemy plain and simple. Serious video game players are worried that the powers that be will begin injecting commercial advertising into all sorts of video games, not just downloadable titles. They imagine being in the middle of a high speed police chase in Grand Theft Auto IV, when suddenly the screen goes black and a Pepsi or Red Bull commercial takes over for 30 seconds!

While there is currently no indication that video game developers plan to incorporate this type of overt advertising into games, for many, Yahoo’s move sets a bad precedent. Real gamers want to keep their games pure and untainted by commercial advertising as much as possible. And as sick and tired as we all get of being constantly bombarded with adverts, who can really blame them?

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