Video games including selectable and/or geographically relevant advertising

Abstract

A video gaming system and related network interfaces with an online fantasy sports game. The video game play is enhanced using selectable and/or geographically relevant in-game advertising. A video game program product can include video game instructions, video game character parameters, and image data configured to provide a video game environment in the video game. The video game program product can include instructions configured to display a first selectable advertisement in the video game environment, wherein when selected by a user of the video game, (i) an advertisement web page is electronically directed to the user (ii) advertisement information is made accessible to the video game user, (iii) additional advertisement information is displayed to the user, or (iv) additional advertisement information is downloaded into the video game for viewing by the user.

1 . A video game program product for providing an interactive video game in conjunction with a video game machine, comprising:
 video game instructions, video game character parameters, and image data configured to provide a video game environment in the video game; and   instructions configured to display a first selectable advertisement in the video game environment, wherein when selected by a user of the video game, (i) an advertisement web page is electronically directed to the user (ii) advertisement information is made accessible to the video game user, (iii) additional advertisement information is displayed to the user, or (iv) additional advertisement information is downloaded into the video game for viewing by the user.   
     
     
         2 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , further comprising
 instructions configured to enable the video game machine to download a second selectable advertisement from a server over a network including the Internet and display the second selectable advertisement in the video game instead of the first selectable advertisement.   
     
     
         3 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein once the first selectable advertisement is selected by the user of the video game, an email is sent to an email account associated with the user, the email including additional advertisement information about the selected advertisement. 
     
     
         4 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the selectable advertisement is selected and downloaded by the video game machine based on a real-life geographic location of the user playing the video game. 
     
     
         5 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the selectable advertisement is selected and downloaded by the video game machine based on a real-life geographic location of the video game machine. 
     
     
         6 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the selectable advertisement is selectively downloaded and displayed based on a navigation of a virtual character within a virtual environment by the user playing the video game. 
     
     
         7 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the video game is a sports video game including sports video game instructions, sports video game character parameters, and sports image data configured to provide a sports video game environment in the video game. 
     
     
         8 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the first selectable advertisement is selected and placed in the video game based at least in part on the actions of the user within the video game. 
     
     
         9 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the user is given an incentive to display the first selectable advertisement in the video game. 
     
     
         10 . A video game program product according to  claim 1 , wherein the first selectable advertisement includes a promotional award to be used by the user. 
     
     
         11 . A video game program product according to  claim 10 , wherein the promotional award is redeemed by the user in real-life. 
     
     
         12 . A video game program product according to  claim 10  includes a virtual promotional award from an online fantasy league. 
     
     
         13 . A method of providing geographically relevant advertising media in a video game, the video game including video game instructions, video game character parameters, and image data configured to provide a video game environment in the video game, the method comprising:
 identifying a geographic location of a video game user or a video game machine upon which the video game is played;   selecting an advertisement to be displayed in the video game based at least in part on the geographic location identified of the video game user or video game machine; and   transmitting the advertisement selected to the video game machine over the Internet.   
     
     
         14 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the advertising media is transmitted to the video game machine over the Internet to replace previously displayed advertising media. 
     
     
         15 . A method according to  claim 14 , wherein the advertising media and the previously displayed advertising media are selectable by the user in the video game. 
     
     
         16 . A method according to  claim 15 , wherein, once the advertising media is selected, additional advertising information is made available to the user. 
     
     
         17 . A method according to  claim 16 , wherein the additional advertising information is emailed to an email account associated with the user. 
     
     
         18 . A method according to  claim 16 , wherein a website with additional advertising information is made available, or displayed, to the user when the advertising media is selected. 
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein the advertising media includes a virtual object displayed in the video game. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 13 , wherein a virtual navigatable environment is hosted in connection with the video game; the user is enabled to navigate the virtual navigatable environment using a virtual avatar associated with the user; and the advertising media transmitted is displayed in the virtual navigatable environment based on the geographic location of the user or the video game machine.