In-game advertising
puzl
The Old Firm Join Date: 2003-02-26 Member: 14029Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
The Old Firm Join Date: 2003-02-26 Member: 14029Retired Developer, NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators, Constellation
<div class="IPBDescription">Coming to a steam game near you!</div>Not totally unexpected really, but csnation have information on Valve's plans to place adds in game servers. Do you think this is a good thing, or a bad thing? Do you think it will detract from the overall enjoyment of the game?
<a href="http://www.csnation.net/articles.php/interview_231/" target="_blank">http://www.csnation.net/articles.php/interview_231/</a>
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<b>CS-Nation:</b> When might we expect to see in-game advertising in CS1.6?
<b>Doug Lombardi</b>: We’re still pinning down the exact date, but folks can expect to start seeing them appear early next year. We will let folks know once we’ve pinpointed the time and date.
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<a href="http://www.csnation.net/articles.php/interview_231/" target="_blank">http://www.csnation.net/articles.php/interview_231/</a>
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<b>CS-Nation:</b> When might we expect to see in-game advertising in CS1.6?
<b>Doug Lombardi</b>: We’re still pinning down the exact date, but folks can expect to start seeing them appear early next year. We will let folks know once we’ve pinpointed the time and date.
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Comments
*shrugs* not surprised at all, we live in a consumer society after all.
In an existing product is probably a dummy test-run and as they said, the most played game in the world because it will appeal to all advertisers with such a large amount of people seeing their adverts.
Kouju_San: EA is for BF2142, not BF2. The BF2142 ads have not yet been fully implemented. Also they got blocked in Australia because they breached the anti-spyware act <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tounge.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":p" border="0" alt="tounge.gif" />
SWAT 4 had a really scarey example of ingame ads, you pay for the game, the next patch that fixed bugs in the product you've paid for, and also put in dynamic ads in the game. Now that just makes me feel like the consumer has no space left in todays world.
First you pay for the product, since the product is faulty (ie why it needs a patch) you also get your face stuffed with ads to help the company keep their stock expectations up? I mean, right now it's the big companies and distributors that have or are planing to use ingame advertisement. And they're not exactly going bankkrupt, they're out to making more profit. If it was a smaller distributor/company (like UWE) that can't get their ends met, then i could possibly consider allowing ingame advertisement ingame. But that's also a stretch.
SWAT 4 is a extreme example as they actually count how long you watch the ads ingame, what ads etc.
<a href="http://nationalcheeseemporium.org/" target="_blank">http://nationalcheeseemporium.org/</a> you can read more about it here.
But personally i won't stand for ads in games, if it helps keep the game <b>free</b> then yes, but nothing else.
Man advertising is everywhere. I get text messages about timeshares on my cell phone, spam email about enlarging myself, credit card offers and surveys in the mail, tv commercials, banners on websites, subliminal (some not so sublime) advertisment in the movies, and bill boards when I drive. To enter my video games, my personal time, the one last un######d resource in the entertainment industry is just unspeakable. If they want to pimp out adverts let them do it in racing games or baseball, no one plays them. If they do this unspeakable thing and it becomes a trend, I swear to god almighty I will pick up that damned book that's been sitting next my computer for months. Pick it up, read it and you won't hear from me again.
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Is it really that difficult to ignore a few ads? They'll probably be pretty easy to block, anyway.
Just like torture. Torture exists because it works. If everyone stopped giving out any informations at all when tortured, torture would disappear overnight.
Just like guns. Guns exist because they work. If everyone stopped dying when shot, guns would disappear overnight.
I'm sorry, but I just don't buy it. Advertisement exists because it works. It's impossible to just ignore advertisement - the only thing you can do is actively resist it by never buying anything that's advertised for. The upside of that is that you will have lots of money because you will never buy anything except food, and maybe (cheap) clothes. The downside is that you can't buy anything for that money except more food.
<!--quoteo(post=1586158:date=Dec 9 2006, 05:15 AM:name=Zydeco)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Zydeco @ Dec 9 2006, 05:15 AM) [snapback]1586158[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
POST ABOUT ADS AND SWAT FOUR STUFF
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This. I was very disappointed with Irrational for doing something like this, disappointed enough for me to not play it again out of disappointment.
If I remember correctly, BF2142 also counts the amount of time you spend looking at ads. Not sure though.
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Is it really that difficult to ignore a few ads? They'll probably be pretty easy to block, anyway.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Whilst they most likely will be easy to block, we shouldn't have to. Doing so will most likely breach some EULA somewhere. Although this may sound a bit out there and "paranoid", I can see this being a problem in the future when corporates realise everyone's blocking their ads, so they get a law passed making doing so a crime due to "lost profits". Sue a few people as examples, put some stories with a heavy spin on the news and everybody's singing "The workman deserves his pay" like they are with file sharing at the moment (Not that I share any information with anyone at all. >_> ... <_< ), with big "crackdowns" on ad removers.
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<img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" />
<!--QuoteBegin-lolfighter+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lolfighter)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Advertising exists because it works. If everyone stopped responding to advertisements, they would disappear overnight.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What's even more worrying is the amount of money they pour into it. If it didn't work, somebody would have realised they're losing billions of dollars.
[...]If I remember correctly, BF2142 also counts the amount of time you spend looking at ads. Not sure though.
Whilst they most likely will be easy to block, we shouldn't have to. Doing so will most likely breach some EULA somewhere. Although this may sound a bit out there and "paranoid", I can see this being a problem in the future when corporates realise everyone's blocking their ads, so they get a law passed making doing so a crime due to "lost profits". Sue a few people as examples, put some stories with a heavy spin on the news and everybody's singing "The workman deserves his pay" like they are with file sharing at the moment (Not that I share any information with anyone at all. >_> ... <_< ), with big "crackdowns" on ad removers.[...]
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Oh God, the horror. I hadn't even considered this. Wow. Even the thought of this sends shivers down my spine. Imagine if the next step is forbidding "manual ad removement," i.e. not looking at the ads when they appear. You will be contractually obligated to look at an ad for at least ten seconds if it is an image, or for the duration of the ad if it is animated. If there is annoying sound, ripping off your headphones in agony and frustration is a breach of contract and will result in the termination of your contract and the immediate automatic uninstallation of the software.
Oh God, the horror. I hadn't even considered this. Wow. Even the thought of this sends shivers down my spine. Imagine if the next step is forbidding "manual ad removement," i.e. not looking at the ads when they appear. You will be contractually obligated to look at an ad for at least ten seconds if it is an image, or for the duration of the ad if it is animated. If there is annoying sound, ripping off your headphones in agony and frustration is a breach of contract and will result in the termination of your contract and the immediate automatic uninstallation of the software.
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The point I was trying to make whilst that was an extreme example is that nothing good will come of this.
I doubt I'll notice in any other game, either. The only time I notice an ad is when it's loud and in your face, like stupid Flash ads or ads that fly across the screen. And even then, I don't even watch them, I just notice that they exist and promptly ignore them.
If I buy a product, it's not the ad that pushed me to buy it. It's because I did my research, read reviews, etc... and decided that that was the best choice for my needs. Having a few ads in video games isn't going to change this. Mostly because I'll be too busy playing the game to notice them at all.
Seems to me that ads in videogames are going to flop for that reason. People are too busy playing the game to notice them.
<!--quoteo(post=1586489:date=Dec 9 2006, 10:24 PM:name=lolfighter)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(lolfighter @ Dec 9 2006, 10:24 PM) [snapback]1586489[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Oh God, the horror. I hadn't even considered this. Wow. Even the thought of this sends shivers down my spine. Imagine if the next step is forbidding "manual ad removement," i.e. not looking at the ads when they appear. You will be contractually obligated to look at an ad for at least ten seconds if it is an image, or for the duration of the ad if it is animated. If there is annoying sound, ripping off your headphones in agony and frustration is a breach of contract and will result in the termination of your contract and the immediate automatic uninstallation of the software.
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If that's the case, then their sales figures will be pretty abysmal, and they might just end up rethinking their EULA so that more people actually buy the game.
Planetside has ingame ads too, on the NA servers. At least Sony can pretend that the revenue from those ads goes toward the continued development and improvement of the game (which would be a blatant lie).
If I buy a product, it's not the ad that pushed me to buy it. It's because I did my research, read reviews, etc... and decided that that was the best choice for my needs. Having a few ads in video games isn't going to change this. Mostly because I'll be too busy playing the game to notice them at all.
Seems to me that ads in videogames are going to flop for that reason. People are too busy playing the game to notice them.
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Whilst that may be what you want to do, there is no way of knowing whether you are affected by advertising subconsciously for low-priority products. The human mind is horribly weak, weaker than we'd like it to be.
IIRC, studies have suggested that IGA seems to work much better than other advertising methods upon game players. I'll have to double check that.
<!--QuoteBegin-possible scenario...?+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(possible scenario...?)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->"where is that sniper"
*looks around screen*
"...ohh Playboy ad..."
<headshot>
"aw...."<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Then I see no reason to be scared of it. If it helps pay for games, thats a plus, too. Something like Google Ads or whatever.
However, like mentioned before, I don't think things like McD's, tobacco and such should be advertised (or at least have limitations). They just add to the fattening of the youth. =/