What this kind of feature offers to branded games is huge. Imagine a standard survey incorporated into a game scenario, where the content and participation in the survey is the payoff for the users. This could be something like Ford creating a game where users create their own cars, putting a limited number of points into features like safety, gas mileage, performance, and design -- getting information on what that user is most interested in, and the user then getting a game experience customized to him. That customization is the key element. Someone putting major points into safety is not going to be happy to play a racing game, where performance would be the desired metric. This would also skew the results of the "survey."
Putting backchannels for information into branded games could be very successful, but the experience must be complex and have equal payoff for
each "answer." Marketers using games as a tool might want to get a feel for the system done well from the BioWare games, and then consider implementing a similar system with a backchannel for
information in their own offerings. They might be pleased with the "effect."