New game trades wizards, elves for barflies, bouncers | CNET News.com: "The game, announced Wednesday by online marketing firm In Touch Media Group, drops players into virtual versions of real-life nightclubs, where they party and schmooze with an eye toward climbing the cyber social ladder and 'owning' the clubs themselves.

tags: virtual world advertisement distribution

'We found that individuals over 25 are very interested in this,' In Touch CEO Laura Betterley said, referring to surveys of more than 4,500 potential game users, who voted on everything from the game's objective to its name. 'It shows that people want to meet people but may not want to go through the pressure of going to a (brick-and-mortar) club to do so.'

And as you might guess--with a game being developed by a marketing firm--there's another objective, at least for the game's makers. In Touch has filed a patent application for a form of 'seamless,' in-game product placement that lets players click on items and receive an e-mail from the advertiser, with no interruption in the game.

'In-game advertising is huge,' Betterley said, citing phenomena like the ad-skipping TiVo that may be driving advertisers to market online rather than through more traditional media."