Video game lovers are spending more time than ever in front of their game consoles and savvy advertisers are playing right along with them. New developments in popular advergames now enable advertisers to place rotating ads onto in-game billboards just like in the real world.

Fans of computerized games have become accustomed to the occasional fixed ad flashing across the screen during an intense lap around the NASCAR track or a laser shoot out against futuristic androids. Now gamers can expect to see a greater diversity of ads while playing around the electronic arcade. Advertising services firms like New York-based Massive Inc. have begun launching high-tech networks that serve ads onto in-game billboards for whatever length of time or frequency the advertiser wants. For advertising planners, placing ads in computer and video games will be just like buying commercial time on TV or radio. And for marketers competing to get in on the action of this rapidly growing market, that's no game.