Is Game Engine Technology The New Face Of Digital Storytelling In Advertising?

According to an article in Advertising Age, game engine technology will be the new face of digital storytelling. The same technology that is used to drive gaming systems can be used to design interactive advertisements that enable the user to become part of the story behind the ad.

In the article, Loni Peristere, co-founder of special effects studio Zoic, explains the concept of "open source storytelling" where the merging of video games and storytelling will bring interactivity to a whole new level.

The ability of gaming system technology to put narrative into real time space offers exciting possibilities for advertisers. Imagine an ad where the user is able to interact with the story and drive it to where he/she wants it to go? The same immersive experience offered to gamers can now be used to engage consumers in a way that allows them to interact with a product and/or service.

According to Peristere, animation and visual effects are "going to go away and it will become a storytelling business." The best visual effects artists are storytellers, and to Peristere the whole industry is really going back to the art and business of storytelling. Seems as if this change can also benefit advertisers who are looking for new and innovative ways to create buzz in an already overcrowded environment.

What do you think of using game engine technology to drive real-time narrative in advertising? Will this kind of interactive storytelling lead to increased sales for advertisers? Or is this just a trend that will eventually die out?