The Nielsen Company's Monitor-Plus advertising monitoring service shows that companies spent more than $823 million in 2008 to promote video games in the U.S. With that claim, the media research group revealed that it established a long term agreement with Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR), a research firm specializing in the video game industry, to provide detailed anlysis of historical marketing campaigns in the games business. EEDAR will integrate information from Nielsen's Monitor-Plus with its own Game DNA service, a proprietary database of video game features covering over 8,000 titles. The combined data will be available with digital versions of the print and TV ads through EEDAR's GamePulse information service, as well as its DesignMetrics sales projection and risk analysis product. "The combination of Nielsen market intelligence with EEDAR’s games metrics and analysis will be a valuable resource that will enable games publishers to make more informed decisions regarding the $823 million spent promoting video game titles,” says The Nielsen Company's VP of New Business Development Enid Maran. "EEDAR is very pleased to work with The Nielsen Company -- one of the most trusted names in marketing research," EEDAR's executive chairman Gregory Short adds. "The integration of Monitor-Plus marketing data and creative assets into EEDAR technologies will redefine how the video game industry can analyze and best leverage the pivotal role marketing plays in the consumer purchase process."