Ads in Games
polycounter lvl 18
What your take in this? Personally it bugs the hell out of me since I am paying for the game in the first place. I don't mind Wild Tangents idea though or cheaper of free games that make revenue via this method.
Sure Hollywood does it, but doesnt mean we have to mimick everything they do?
It also has the potential to restrict what games are published because of the fact that alternate universes/fantasy wont work with having ads in the game.
Sure Hollywood does it, but doesnt mean we have to mimick everything they do?
It also has the potential to restrict what games are published because of the fact that alternate universes/fantasy wont work with having ads in the game.
Replies
If it hurts my experience, yes. If it violates my fundamental right to privacy, hell yes. If I don't get a return (i.e. cheaper games) for accepting those ads, go to hell and burn.
I'd rather not play a game where the objective is to drink pepsi to regain "health", and wear nike's to increase "athletic performance". Of course, using FREE AOL CD's as deadly projectile weaponry sounds fun. Unlimited ammo.
These fuckers are shoving their goddamn products in my face at every chance they get.
When I check my mail, I get shit loads of spam
When I listen to the radio, I hear adverts
When I wait for the bus, there's an advert on the side of the shelter
When I'm on the bus, there's adverts on the walls
When I walk to college or work, there's adverts on billboards
When I watch TV, there's adverts
When I watch a movie there's adverts
When I walk through town, people wear designer clothes with adverts on them
Magazines, books, newspapers, postal mail, e-mail, everywhere I go there's somebody trying to convince me to part with my money, like they perceive my money as theirs and I'm just borrowing it!
I know some people say that adverts in games make it feel more realistic, and having real products helps make it more believable, but I play games to get away from real life and all the damn marketing!
However, they still get shoved in my face at every opportunity. These days I can't even enjoy a movie without some company trying to get me to spend my money on whatever crap they're peddling
Soul, if you feel that way.. http://www.adbusters.org
imag, again, what about the effect of title/genre limitation so they can have that revenue?
They will charge the same price, or increase it no matter what. I noticed the past 6 months that premium titles have raised to the $54 dollar mark versus the $50.
There is a title already coming out that costs the same. Example? The new Splinter Cell for PC will have ads.
Don't forget, they had ads and Mcdonalds in Sims online. What happened? People actually started having their sims protest in front of the virtual version. Something a company paying for adverts doesnt want.
what way does this benefit the games or the gamer?
i stoped watching tv to get away from advertising , i dont read magazines, i really hope im not bugged to buy crap while playing games.
Alex
I agree with KDR, if this gets in there , how long will it be before games are being made to advertise alone ...
what way does this benefit the games or the gamer?
i stoped watching tv to get away from advertising , i dont read magazines, i really hope im not bugged to buy crap while playing games.
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They have always done ads in games. Anyone remember the "Cool spot" game for the genesis? that was more than 10 years ago. There are tones of Ad games on various websites to this day.
If it makes games cheaper to buy, then go for the ads. if it does not change the price, and if it limits genres, then No ads. simple as that. other than that I am all in favor of exuberant capitalism.
Scott
also: no bling queen or rims.
oXY: Well, I for one avoid brands I know from the ads because I know they'd rather put their money in advertising than the product itself and usually hike up the price. Noname stuff is always cheaper and often better. Well, except for computer hardware and other critical stuff but I take that as a given.
BTW, I'm already annoyed by the ATI and NVidia ads in front of the games (though I'm annoyed by any form of intro except the game intro itself)
"The conference program features discussions from both the agency/client and game developer perspectives, and will attempt to provide information on how advertising can add realism and revenue to games..."
The real world has ads, games are always trying to better emulate the real world, therefor games should have ads. Makes sense to me.
Im not sure , but i think gran turismo had a thing a bit like this ... originally the developers wanted the cars to crunch up a bit when racing too hard and scratching up the paintwork , but some of the car companies said they didnt want there cars to be destructible in any way , because it portrays a bad image of the company ... or something like that ...
the other thing that is a pet hate of mine at the moment , is logos at the beginning of games ... i played LOTR - BFME a while back , and the first time you play it there are about 5 or so un-skipable logo sequences , and 2 that are un-skipable always , unless you want to hack about with it ... the THX one being the most annoying , theres certainly no reason i would want to know THX has anything to do with the sound on the game , especially every time i play it ... its advertising , and its in my face and intrusive ...
i think when it comes down to it , we all wouldnt mind the advertising if it was subtle , but lets face it , thats exactly the opposite of what the advertisers want .
it's all about dnL and the Element... and a bunch of "sellout punk bands" as my friend calls them...
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flaagan, you didn't like the music in ssx3? I thought it was great as did my girlfriend and many other people. Well I really wanted to get a free case of dnL but the drink wasn't even released in Canada when we shipped that game. My favourite part was when 7up sent us the dnL logo, they gave it to an object modeler to put on a billboard and he thought it was a 7up logo so he flipped the texture right side up! Har, once everyone saw it in game it had to be put back upside down, then we received countless bugs from QA telling us we had upside down 7up ads in our game. I don't mind ads in games at all, it adds more realism to the world in most games, what I don't like is when we only get 1-2 license deals and then we have to plaster one million of the same ad all over the game making it look lame. I think the reason to put real ads in games is to make them more appealing to the masses, for example I think users of NBA Street3 would be more excited to create a Reebok or Nike shoe in the shoe creator feature than a no name brand one, I don't think the deals to use ads are all that lucrative actually, and the really big name sponsors ask for ridulous features to be added to the game to sell their product so those guys usually get cut because they try to make the game all about what they are selling. Also if we start seeing Burger King ads in Final Fantasy that will be lame because it would not occur in that universe, but Need For Speed you would see that stuff in real life so why not in the game?
However, I LOATHE the unskippable-game-intro-commercial's that are ATI! >:O
oh wait i always do
arguing that real world advertisements are a positive element of immersion is not true in my eyes because i am extremely annoyed by any type of advertisement; as a whole, i don't like them. i don't really want to die in a game because it's more real either
if your goal is to annoy this player, add them into your art direction. what is the purpose of your game design? is it some deep artistic meaning? more fun? (<-NOT!) fiscal survival? fiscal hunger? .. hey, to those that decide: it's your game.
i think advertisements have a place if they fit the art direction. (hyper realistic city or something)
i find unwanted advertisement disruptive, especially if they are flashy/noisy/pollutive and aren't entertaining or meaningful. give me peace and quite for christ sakes.
Honestly, I'm more worried about games becomoing nothing more than glorified tech demos; rehashing tired ideas and genres, and complete murder of innovation in game design or art direction. Much more than I worry about having to put up with a Nike billboard in Grand Theft Auto 9: Albuquerque.
yeah, cos nVidia is better than ATi...
[/ QUOTE ]At least the nVidia ones can be skipped...