Back to: Advertising, Worldbuilding, References - Videogames,
Advertisements are intrinsic to good worldbuilding
The adverts in Cyberpunk 2077 are intrinsic to my enjoyment of Night City. Everywhere I turn, my gaze is filled with large, colourful, sexual signs selling me something - Chromanticore, Watson Whore, Kiroshi Implants. Until I drive out into the Badlands, they’re impossible to escape. What I could not bear in reality fills me with awe in Night City. The visual distraction is what makes the world of Cyberpunk 2077 feel like it truly is an ultra-capitalist cyberpunk dystopia.
Outwith the futuristic context, adverts can still be implemented. Craftsmen holler about their wares, putting adverts in newspapers and on community message boards. Companies advertise on the radio. Graffiti is sprayed beneath bridges. Religious art is painted on chapel ceilings.
Related to
Ideas that stand in opposition
- Advertisements devalue the quality of the content they interrupt
- I still stand by this in most cases, however I think that creating a rich and realistic world involves filling it with the same kind of distractions we experience in real life.