Last week, my fellow columnist Shankar Gupta noted the loading time debacle with "Wipeout HD"'s in-game ads. The story is a frightening one for marketers unfamiliar with the gaming space. What was essentially a 10-second mistake resulted in the early termination of a campaign and loads of upset customers. Is the gaming space really so unpredictable and volatile?

In-game ads are a relatively new online ad option, and so the best practices are still being determined.

Electronic Arts is shaking things up and leading by example. The video game company seems to be evolving a new approach to game publishing, one that promises a cross-platform distribution model fortified against piracy.