A comment/thought about in-game/dash advertisements

[AG-wolf]

this is not meant to start [yet another] console war; this is an objective comparison. All of you people chomping on the bit to say your piece about The Other Machine need to swallow your bias for a minute.

Hopefully you read the bold-face beginning of this thread. Yes I am talking about the 360. The reason I bring it up is because a fair number of the people on this board either vehemently hate the machine, or if nothing else they do not acknowledge it as a viable contender.

Let me begin by saying, advertisement has been everywhere for years. No less apparent in the gaming industry. Yo Noid! for NES? Cool Spot on the Genesis? Mountain Dew was all over the place in Jet Moto AND in Rush 2 (N64 game, not only were there adverts for MtDew, you had to collect MD cans as special items and it even made the sound of a can being poured into a glass :P)... we know Wipeout and Wipeout XL had their own ads. The Burnout series has had billboard ads... Even Burger King had 3 games made where their mascot was the main character, and one game's objective was literally to GIVE people Burger King products.

All of these are examples, though, where the advertising either substantiates the game, or integrates seemlessly/logically. Nobody gripes about them, nobody says it detracts... it is the most effective advertising, actually, because people don't even think twice about them- not only are they part of the aesthetics, they work subconsciously and unobtrusively.

With this latest generation of videogames, the trend continues. On all three platforms, we still see games with advertising in them, or licensing, etc... but all the while, it has tried to remain integrated, if not (ironically) integral in some rare cases.

This is where the 360 comes in--
For advertizing outside of game content, they have approached it very well...

Most blatant "Hey look at this product" ads are merely a couple panels in the dashboard that pass by as you access whatever content/category you're looking for.
-they do not hinder load time of games or dashboard content
-they do not get in the way

Aside from general adverts just "existing" statically, Microsoft has actually teamed up with their advertising partners to make a lot of the stuff interactive. There are contests that you can win prizes from if you download a gamer icon of a certain product (Frito-Lay, Mt. Dew, Kia/Hyndai have done this on a number of occasions), Frito-Lay sponsors independent game development contests where people can compete to make a new game and they provide the Doritos brand licensing to fund/distribute it.

Microsoft also advertises its own games in either the static ad panels or in a "promotion" panel; they'll discount certain Xbox Live Arcade titles if you happen to have a Gold Live account... this both encourages game sales and adds to some of the benefits of paying for live each year. Their servers also keep track of purchase patterns and actually cater some of the games they advertise according to where your consumer profile fits... I've actually bought a couple games that I otherwise wouldn't have thought twice about if I hadn't seen an advert for it in the dashboard. And since every game has a playable demo (as opposed to a simple "preview video," if anything at all like on the PS3), I figured I'd give it a shot, and wound up buying it.


Basically, what I'm getting at is the fact that advertising in-game or in-dash can be unobtrusive, inviting, and even helpful if it's done properly. I haven't played any other PS3 games really, but Wipeout HD was the sole reason I got the console in the first place. If I'm gonna see completely irrelevant advertisements at loading screens that are going to slow down (read: hinder) my gaming experience and mar my original purchase, I'm gonna be pissed off. I shouldn't have to suffer (term used relatively) just because of Sony's short-sightedness. If anything, their attempt at gaining revenue backfires on me because I am less interested in whatever the hell is being shoved in my face right before I'm ready to race.

[ProblemSolver]

There are of course better ways to do advertising, right, but this would require
some sort of intelligence. :blarg


... If I'm gonna see completely irrelevant advertisements at loading screens that are going to slow down (read: hinder) my gaming experience and mar my original purchase, I'm gonna be pissed off. I shouldn't have to suffer (term used relatively) just because of Sony's short-sightedness. If anything, their attempt at gaining revenue backfires on me because I am less interested in whatever the hell is being shoved in my face right before I'm ready to race.

Same over here.

I'm just interested what SLs QA department understands about quality assurance?
I think they got that wrong.

[Koleax]

I also own a 360 and have said good things about XBL on this forum, which are not relevant to this thread. I'm no MS fan. I owned a Mac through the mid-90s, when it wasn't even cool! But you have to admit, MS wouldn't pull this in-game advertising BS.

Can you imagine them doing this to Rez HD or Portal: Still Alive? Unthinkable. The creators would rather pull their content. What about UNO or something equally brainless? I still find that hard to imagine.


Wipeout HD was the sole reason I got the console in the first place.
Same here. I figured RR7, fl0w, and Flower might be cool, but they're not essential. If there's no DLC that removes ads, or they do not fix this another way, I'll probably sell my PS3 in a matter of months.

[Vartazian]

Nothing smells better then a good cup of Over-reaction in the morning...

I really dont mind the adds since I turn to my lappy inbetween races. Thats my Take on it at least.

[infoxicated]

To my mind, the games industry is going through the same phase as the movie industry when they put unskippable notices, adverts, and trailers at the front of DVD's. The only people they had any affect on was the people who had paid good money for the DVD in the first place.

Anyone who pirated it just ripped that **** out, so there were no FBI warnings about copyright for the very people who were breaking the copyright law.

The games industry is all about creating multiple revenue streams right now, and has been for the last five years or more. If you can make a game that you can sell extra content for, sell merchandise for, and - even better - sell advertising to be displayed to your captive audience, then you've hit the jackpot as a publisher.

[abukii]

...as a publisher and as a dev. What a lot of people miss, is that SL has to run and maintain there own servers. That costs money. Money they probably cant continue to dish out. So if we want at least a half way decent online experience, I say let the game have adverts. Right now, its SONY related stuff so, right on. Chances are the game was created with "slots" for advertising. They are being filled now. As for adverts in general, I hate them, but as I stated above, if it helps the company then so be it. But all are good points. Its the glorious question of, "Should RL adverts be in a fictitious setting?"
The answer will always vary.

[AG-wolf]

Nothing smells better then a good cup of Over-reaction in the morning...How is this over reacting?
& @ abukii, too here...

I am aware that they have many costs and expenses to cover.

I'm not complaining about the ads existence in general, my issue is the method in which they are presented. My entire post is explaining the fact that I acknowledge ads have been in games for ages, but 9 times out of 10, they are seamless. They don't affect the gameplay or experience in any particularly negative way.

If Sony is going to try and beef up advertising presence in their games and dashboard, they should do it more intelligently and appropriately; rather than just slapping ads on loading screens without bug-testing them or figuring out how to target the audience properly.

While griping about these ads may seem trivial or unnecessary, I view the scenario as a hint of things to come. Sony is detached from their customer base so much that they don't even put foresight and second thought into the ad campaigns they're trying to push for revenue. They don't see the advertising and the games experience as needing to coexist... it's like putting sugar in cold coffee- sure there's sugar in it, but it certainly doesn't do the job it's supposed to and they sure as hell don't mix well. Microsoft and other companies understand the coffee needs to be hot for the sugar to mix and be effective, and similarly their customers expect the coffee to be hot.


Anyone who pirated [a dvd] just ripped that **** out, so there were no FBI warnings about copyright for the very people who were breaking the copyright law.I used to work in a video store for 3 years a little while back, and I actually got into this discussion with people on more than once occasion. The consensus was that buying a pirated movie from a street corner, or copying them yourself and cutting out all that stuff, resulted in a more consumer-friendly product. A number of people even said they don't do pirated movies so much for the difference in cost- they'd like to own the official thing, but they hated being controlled through 10 minutes of FBI warning and advertisements that they can't skip before reaching the title menu. We had some subscription to an industry insider magazine (yes the movie rental industry was surprisingly organized) and it even had a couple articles on the subject.

[infoxicated]

I think even the movie publishers and distributers would agree that it was a mistake to do that with DVD's, as I've yet to own a Blu-Ray that pulls the same stunt and if I did it would be going back for a refund.

[Lance]

I've noticed that all of the DVDs I've bought since last year allow me to skip right through the preview adverts. They may have been like that earlier, but I hadn't bought any during the time I had almost no income. If there's an advert that doesn't interfere with my experience, I might even actually watch it sometime if it looks like it might be entertaining, but if it's loud and annoying or delays my getting to what I paid for, then I don't want to buy the item it's been placed in, and it makes me resentful of the company that pushed it on me. I've really come to despise Sony in the last few years; I used to love the company for it's hardware innovation, but that innovation has declined in almost direct proportion to their obsession with exploiting media content to the maximum. They don't have to antagonise us and do themselves damage this way, yet they do. I wish that they would again be run by people of keen intelligence and judgement, as they once were. I miss their excellence.

[ProblemSolver]

To my mind, the games industry is going through the same phase as the movie industry when they put unskippable notices, adverts, and trailers at the front of DVD's.
The day adverts have spread all over the games industry, I'm done. Time to move
on. Ads do nothing for games, never have, never will be.


... I used to love the company for it's hardware innovation.... I wish that they would again be run by people of keen intelligence and judgement, as they once were. I miss their excellence.
I'm with you. Is it save to say; those were the days?

[mdhay]

@AG-Wolf: Couldn't Sony not be doing it that way because there would be those occasional MS fanboys who would start to bitch about it? Sony sort of do advertising, on the what's new section. But that isn't intrusive at all.:)

[yeldar2097]

If it's gonna move/blow your head off with pure sonic abrasiveness then at least make it interesting, well thought-out and preferably intelligent. Also, selling me something I already have via said object just annoys me. Bit of variety never hurt neither.

If it's going to be billboard-esque or otherwise then variation doesn't matter so much.

Either way make them stylish.

Try not to stuff them into things that didn't already have ads (unless they're REALLY subtle or REALLY stylish (a la red-bull 2097 :lol))

Fulfil these criteria and I'm cool with it :+

[Lance]

I'm with you. Is it save to say; those were the days?

Some things about old days were very good, and others were very bad. There has never been a Golden Age. Dammit.

[AG-wolf]

@AG-Wolf: Couldn't Sony not be doing it that way because there would be those occasional MS fanboys who would start to bitch about it?No, considering the amount of PS3 fanboys who are pissed off at this, I'm pretty sure this has nothing to do with antagonizing the competition.


Sony sort of do advertising, on the what's new section. But that isn't intrusive at all.:)I've had the "what's new" section freeze twice on me before, and also cause delay in my attempts to view the PSN store or load a game if any of the ads didn't connect immediately.

[Vartazian]

How is this over reacting?


My Comment about Over reacting was more directed at Koleax for his "Getting rid of his PS3" Over some adds.

Sorry for the confusion.

[Koleax]

But not sorry for expressly considering my opinions to be illegitimate?

[Vartazian]

Not Illegitimate. Just in poor taste.

[Lance]

Stop now.