Ads in Games: Thoughts, Rants, Etc.?

[GC_Scott]

In Fight Night Rd. 3 (EA) you can "hire" the Burger King as your fighter's cornerman (he gives your stat ratings a heart boost, making it easier to get up from knockdowns). And every time I put an opponent on the canvas, the announcer tells me that this particular knockdown is "brought to you by Dodge."

At Sony's keynote a few weeks ago at the Game Developer's Conference, Phil Harrison announced that in the future Sony will be researching/investigating/participating in in-game ads. Which presumably means that this unspoken, dirty little secret of the medium is no longer a secret. Indeed, it seems like we're on the cusp of a full-on in-game media blitz.

Am I the only one who feels like screaming every time I'm force-fed product plugs after spending $60 on a game?

Thoughts? Rants? Anyone else find in-game product plugs lately?

-jones

[Sajon]

Originally Posted by GC_Scott

Thoughts? Rants?

I think it's fucking sick.


-Matt

[nout]

I couldn't care less.

I don't get influenced easily by commercials to begin with and ignoring commercials has become a second nature.
I am even starting to doubt if commercials have any influence at all, it is mostly annoying, I honestly never bought anything because of a commercial.

That said, it would make games a lot more realistic, when for instance in Splinter Cell a soft drinks machine would be a Coca Cola or Pepsi machine.

[jwe8k]

I have no problem with ads in some contexts. If it's a racing game and there are real ads on the cars, that's fine with me. Or if it's a baseball game and there are ads on the walls like in real baseball games, great. If in GTA you see a Burger King instead of a made up chain, that's fine. If the announcer in a game says that "this halftime report brought to you by Chik-Fil-A", whatever. All these things are realistic and don't detract from the experience.

What I don't like is ads not belonging in the context of the game. The Burger King in your corner? WTF? If ads pop up in a Mario game or in Halo, that's not right. There's no place for ads in those worlds.

[Chi Kong Lui]

I don't even mind the King so much because its a bit of an easter egg/unlockable. I find deporable is how they put the freakin' car right next to the ringside and the laser lights in the background are projecting Dodge logos on the audience. I don't think I've seen either of these at any sports venues.

Having the Everlast/Armour gear is great and I don't even mind the occasional sponsorship announcement or event. But Dodge golves and sneakers? When you go to your trophy room and there's a video ad of the Dodge Calibur (none of the other trophies have anything like it) as a "reward", I think they've gone too far.

I think EA thought they could get away with a lot given the context of a sports event, but they made it more into a realtiy show than sports venue. Its the one major blot on a otherwise amazing game.

Chi

[technomancy]

My thoughts on it is that if you're going to subject me to advertising, making money off of my eyeballs, then what's in it for me?

It's strictly a case of "what have you done for me lately"? You want to throw ten minutes of ads and trailers before a movie AND still raise the ticket price? Well screw you, I'll wait for the DVD. You're broadcasting the game for free over the air? I'll tolerate your ads. You want to put ads all over your game and still charge 59.99? Screw you, I'm not falling for that.

You want to display ads but allow users to play the game for free if you do? Sure! Those ads break the fantasy (Deuce Bigalow on some billboard on a distant futuristic planet)? I'm not interested in your game.

And so on and so on.

[Kin Korn Karn]

Well, for those of you who like realism in a game, this should be right up your alley. Applying this to sports games makes them not unlike their real counterparts. Especially in money-hungry leagues.

[jwe8k]

Originally Posted by technomancy

(Deuce Bigalow on some billboard on a distant futuristic planet)? I'm not interested in your game.

Please tell me you made up that example. That's not really from a game, is it?

[technomancy]

Originally Posted by jwe8k

Please tell me you made up that example. That's not really from a game, is it?

Of course it is.
Anarcy Online: Now with more Motley Crue
http://www.grimwell.com/?action=fullnews&id=265

Planetside: Brought to you by Deuce Bigalow
http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?...ns_planetside/

How's that for a realistic game?

And, worst of all, they've added full motion video... into central hubs in an MMO. Not only is that obnoxious, but it also ABSOLUTELY DEMOLISHES system performance.
http://www.secretlair.com/index.php?...narchy_online/

Ads like that I do not support (and I say this as someone that makes annoying ads for a living).

[Mike Doolittle]

Since when are in-game ads anything new? They've been doing it sports games for years.

They've done in movies for ages just through product positioning, and games have been slowly following suit.

As long as it's not like, "Wow Mr. Bond, what kind of pants are those?" "Well, my dear, now that you mentioned it, they're...." etc. etc.

Ads for McDonald's on the boot-up of the latest Elder Scrolls games would be similarly unwelcome.

[technomancy]

Originally Posted by littledoc

Since when are in-game ads anything new? They've been doing it sports games for years.

They've done in movies for ages just through product positioning, and games have been slowly following suit.

It's not just product placement in games, it's actual ads that track your habits, your views and your downloads live and stream content to you, whether you want it or not. That's a whole other game.

[Zanbatou]

I can't remember ever being annoyed by product placement in movies. It just doesn't register with me. So as long its handled as well as it tends to be in movies, I don't really care.

However, I've also not watched any broadcast television in over a year because I can't stand the commercials. So if repetitive time-wasting ads ever become prevalent, even if they're just during load screens, I'll drop gaming in a second.

[Daniel Weissenberger]

You know, this wouldn't be such an issue if they'd just tailor the ads to the game's settings - why not an ad bragging that Sprite is the #1 soft-drink of choice among post-apocalyptic mutants in this unsettling dystopian future? Or that the new Alien Deuce Bigalow film is showing on a distant alien planet?

[Adelleda]

To be fair, if the advertisments were just say, on billboards in the city areas of Syphon filter games, then it wouldn't really be an issue.

But it's slowly getting out of controll. We'll soob be at the point where games say;

"Would you like to save?"

player: "yes"

"Please wait....And why not enjoy a nice, cold coca cola while you do."

[Chi Kong Lui]

Before people weight in fully, you should play Fight Night Rd 3. That game really takes it to whole new insidious level.

It was fun in Crazy Taxi, I wasn't that distracted in NFS, but its really boldly in-your-face/gameplay in Fight Night.

Chi