How much is a DLC that would remove ads worth?

[Koleax]

This idea is crazy. Let me be the first to acknowledge that. However, I feel forced into this position. It is completely improper to insert television-style ads into a game a year after its release. It is multifariously wrong -- aesthetically, socially, morally, and perhaps even legally in some places.

These ads are purely about money, since they are not inside the tracks and do not affect the aesthetics or even affect gameplay at all, beyond delaying it. So, I assume the only way Sony is going to remove them is with money, which raises the question, "how much?"

I don't mean to ask this question of you, the players, necessarily. What we are willing and able to pay may not even approach what Sony can make through advertising. So, part of my question is, "how much does Sony make from each of us by advertising?"

I seriously doubt it's that much, no where near $10 per person per year. I admit to guessing at that number, but also overestimating. It might even be less than a dollar, depending on how people respond. But, Sony will probably keep the ads in regardless, since sales have already peaked for them and don't have many future sales to lose.

Still, there has to be some price they're willing to take from a consumer that makes them think, "alright, we'll take the ads out for that." I wonder what it is.

Does SL's accountant visit this forum?

[IH8YOU]

When this game was launched, I balked at the price (or lack thereof) - and knew it was "too cheap" then. (to sustain the franchise, and/or generate a profit)

I'll pony up $60.00USD to be able to go online with 1.26 again - ad free, and with the game that biased racing over combat.

I'll pony up $30.00USD for a commercial-free version of what we have now.

[SaturnReturn]

I think it's worth saving a lot of face, preventing the destruction of a long standing flagship franchise by association with such practices, and potentially avoiding loss of customers, fans and future profit, and hence they should offer it for free, ASAP. They probably won't, and if they did it might be too late. I do feel they're onto a loser with this one.

EDIT: Just to clarify that a bit further. WipEout HD was supposed to be (from what I can tell) at the forefront of the technology and demonstrate that digital download games don't have to be 'low budget', simple games. Aside from some perhaps slightly unfortunate updates, I think it's achieved what it's set out to do, up until now. It's fine that they want to establish a way forward for digital game distribution, but with the addition of the adverts, I think they've taken a showpiece and turned it into a sideshow. I think all the hard work on this game up until now is ruined by addition of the adverts, and is probably going to become one of, if not the major thing that people remember this game for. I can't help but think that's going to be far more costly to Sony, SL and the WipEout series than any revenue from these adverts could make up for.

[DawnFireDragoon]

well said saturn.

[AG-wolf]

I'll pay $100 to get a new wipeout game with the handling and engine physics of XL, 64, and 3 combined.

I've paid my $430.00 to play Wipeout HD- I won't pay any more money into a company that has become so detached from its once loyal consumer base that they actually expect people to respect them after all the BS they have pulled in this console generation.

if they're gonna do ads, the next DLC pack should be free. If we buy the next DLC pack, no ads.

bear in mind, people, these ads more than likely also provide income to cover your wonderful "free" Playstation Network connectivity

[IH8YOU]

Let me interject - bringing back XL / 2097 - I will drop $100.00 for that alone, at the drop of a hat.

God how I miss thee, 2097.

[DrMannevond]

Amen!

[Koleax]

Originally Posted by SaturnReturn

WipEout HD was supposed to be (from what I can tell) at the forefront of the technology and demonstrate that digital download games don't have to be 'low budget', simple games.

I don't know. I never got that impression. Like IH8YOU I balked at the price and literally thought, "were they trying to make this a low-budget game?" Even considering the distribution costs they were able to cut by offering it online, it seemed like someone somewhere screwed up.

Worst-case scenario for me is that it was their original plan to use the low price point to lure a large amount cheap-game-buying customers into a good game's installed base, then later expose them to ads for other cheap games. You see, that works as a sort of substitute for physical degradation of a game. Instead of relying on the product to wear, tear, and eventually be thrown away or forgotten, they can now introduce ads that will have the double effect of making the game obsolete and introducing the player to new ones. It makes sense from a marketer's perspective and is completely awful.

Maybe all they intended was to gently remind customers playing a year-old game that there are new games out there they should be playing. In that case, maybe they do not want my money for this hypothetical DLC at any price. They would rather I just stopped playing the game and bought a new one. That would hurt me the most.

Edit: As long as we're talking XL, make it a hi-res port of 2097 and let me use my bluetooth keyboard.

[AG-wolf]

the problem with "bringing back xl/2097" is they can't just run it in high-res and make everything work the way it used to... Well it CAN be done, ePSXe has the ability to render stuff in higher resolution; but if a free emulator can pull it off better than the blurry stretched and NON-upscaled output the PS3 "manages," I certainly wouldnt pay $100 for it.

They need to analyze everything it was that made the old games so good, and work from there. Sure Pulse and HD have loopy tracks, AG ships that go fast, and weapons... but the physics of hurtling those machines down hills and around corners was what made it exhilarating; coming through a tight s-turn segment in a Qirex, scraping the entire edge of a banking corner in Icaras. Everything was tight, intuitive... The first three games had amazing acceleration, momentum, and speed physics too... Pure, Pulse, and HD threw all of that out the window. Collision/bumping/scraping were perfected in the first games as well- fairly balanced in their forgiveness and punishment; yet now if you so much as breathe on a wall, your ship sticks to it like a magnet and the other people on the track are gone.

i got distracted as i was typing, so im gonna stop

[ProblemSolver]

Originally Posted by AG-wolf

... bear in mind, people, these ads more than likely also provide income to cover your wonderful "free" Playstation Network connectivity

Well, we don't need any dedicated servers from Sony to play WipEout HD online,
seriously. We don't need them, the leaderboard isn't working at all and anything
else is just crap. The level-system isn't worth a thing, neither are the badges.
Sorry, but that's the truth.

So I would be very pleased if they would decouple WipEout HD from the PSN
if they claim that their PC-386 consume too much resources to maintain some
small data sets.

Originally Posted by Koleax

... Worst-case scenario for me is that it was their original plan to use the low price point to lure a large amount cheap-game-buying customers into a good game's installed base, then later expose them to ads for other cheap games. You see, that works as a sort of substitute for physical degradation of a game. Instead of relying on the product to wear, tear, and eventually be thrown away or forgotten, they can now introduce ads that will have the double effect of making the game obsolete and introducing the player to new ones. It makes sense from a marketer's perspective and is completely awful. ...

Might be true. What I don't like is simply the fact that today there is no
stopping from ruin anything. They simply just don't care because there are
enough fools out there willing to buy anything.

Ads have taken over TV and ads will takeover Gaming. TV is dead, Cinema is
dead, and Gaming is next in line. I think we have about two or three years
until serious gaming / game-development is trashed altogether. The quality
of today's games are far behind of what we had in the past. Only a few games
can hold the former quality standard, but they will vanish quite soon.

I don't know, but WipEout HD might be the last Wipeout with such a quality.
And if you think about it, WipEout HD can be considered as the closure of all
previous Wipout games, i.e. I strongly believe that WipEout HD is the last
game of what we know as Wipeout.