SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Gamers, get ready: Like it or not, advertising in video games is about to move to the next level.

Last year, advertisers spent $370 million placing their logos on billboards in virtual driving games, running ads on online gaming sites or reaching out to gamers in other ways.

Within five years, they'll likely spend a dizzying $2 billion, predicts technology research firm Parks Associates.

"It's definitely becoming a more established model for advertisers," said Yuanzhe Cai, the firm's director of broadband and gaming. "How many more 30-second spots can you put on a TV show?"

As the $12.5 billion gaming industry opens its E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica today, advertising is likely to get as much attention as avatars and animation.

Along with becoming more commonplace, the ads are becoming more intriguing and integral to game play.

While yesterday's in-game ads consisted of simple billboards pitching Dell computers or Nike shoes at a virtual ballpark, tomorrow's are likely to include video trailers for upcoming movies, virtual vending machines that dispense extra energy along with every Coke, and computer-generated Cadillacs or Nissans that players can win and use in racing games.

Then there are "adver-games." Last year, as part of a restaurant promotion, Burger King sold a series of goofy games for Xbox featuring its big-headed royal icon. The games, with names like "Sneak King" and "Pocketbike Racer," sold out and quickly became collector's items.

Similarly, candy and gum-maker Wrigley in February began offering free downloadable games exclusively for Nintendo's Wii console. Not surprisingly, the games come with names like "The Great Flying Mintini" (presented by Altoids), "Horse" (sponsored by Big Red) and "Out of Bounds" (brought to you by Juicy Fruit).

"Advertisers are all very excited ... and they all want the coolest and newest thing," said Cory Van Arsdale, chief executive of Massive Inc., a Microsoft Corp. subsidiary that sells and develops ads exclusively for video games. "Business is very promising."

Depending on complexity and reach, a video game advertising campaign can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $1 million, according to Van Arsdale — a lot of money, but still cheap compared to major TV or print media campaigns.

A game developer's potential cut could be as much as $3 on every game it sells, he said.

Of course, just as too many commercials can turn viewers away from a TV show, too many in-game ads can turn away gamers. Given the revenue potential, though, even game developers that previously shied away from selling ads in their games are starting to sell them.

"We're really intrigued by it," said Dorothy Ferguson, vice president of sales and marketing for NCsoft North America, which plans for the first time to insert ads into its popular online multi-player games such as "Lineage," "Guild Wars" and "City of Heroes."