In-Game Advertising...Discuss.

[Golgatha]

I'm all for in-game advertising in games where it isn't out of place. I think advertising in Nascar games is completely relevent and billboards in a football stadium certainly don't look out of place either in my opinion.

However, I was a bit dismayed to learn that Battlefield 2142 will have in game advertising. The whole backstory revolves around an ice age with two main superpowers slugging it out for the world's last inhabitable lands. I'm pretty sure the last thing they're thinking on the battlefield is "hey, I would like to get a 0% introductory APR on a Visa card after I destroy the opposing forces trying to kill me!". Also, the game is presumably set in 2142, so I'm pretty sure recent companies adverts are going to be an eyesore and feel completely out of place.

Finally, the adverts for nVidia's and ATI's hardware (the way it's meant to be played) displayed before a game is loaded are just completely ridiculous. Those rank right up there with ads before theatre movies and unskipable "content" on DVDs.

This article got me to thinking about this subject BTW. Arstechnica.com

 

[mugs]

All of the advertising will be for Taco Bell. They will win the Franchise Wars, so all restaurants will be Taco Bell by then.

 

[So]

Agreed, if the ads are there in the part of real life that the game is emulating, fine otherwise, :| since I already paid for the game.

 

[Kirby]

I agree. When advertising comes in, I would guess that the company's would have a say in production. Developers would come to rely on the money and would sorta be at the mercy of companies. Just my $0.02.

 

[ArchCenturion]

Have you considered ignoring the ads? They are probably required to put in the adds so that they can have a larger budget to create a better game for you. Also you are not required to play the game.

 

[BeauJangles]

If it helps reduce the cost of the game and / or goes to supporting dedicated, high-quality servers then I can't really complain too much.

 

[Golgatha]

I think if in-game advertising becomes a real money maker, we're going to see less and less fantasy based games too.

 

[So]

Originally posted by: ArchCenturion
Have you considered ignoring the ads? They are probably required to put in the adds so that they can have a larger budget to create a better game for you. Also you are not required to play the game.

BS! Game companies have made plenty of profit selling their games for upwards of $50 new. Again, if there's some mitigating factor (i.e. it's a $15 bargain basement game) maybe I can understand. BF 2142 doesn't need the $$ for development. Period.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: So
Agreed, if the ads are there in the part of real life that the game is emulating, fine otherwise, :| since I already paid for the game.

Yep. It is one thing to see an ad on a billboard if you are driving down a street in a game. It is another to be hit with an ad during the middle of a D&Dish RPG....which is something that happened in a version of Dungeon Siege.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: So

Originally posted by: ArchCenturion
Have you considered ignoring the ads? They are probably required to put in the adds so that they can have a larger budget to create a better game for you. Also you are not required to play the game.

BS! Game companies have made plenty of profit selling their games for upwards of $50 new. Again, if there's some mitigating factor (i.e. it's a $15 bargain basement game) maybe I can understand. BF 2142 doesn't need the $$ for development. Period.

QFT! The only "good" I could see coming from in-game advertising, is that older versions of sports games' servers could be ad-supported for longer than the normal 2-3 years as long as there was still a significant number of people playing to support the servers.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Yep. It is one thing to see an ad on a billboard if you are driving down a street in a game. It is another to be hit with an ad during the middle of a D&Dish RPG....which is something that happened in a version of Dungeon Siege.

Yes, I saw this on Ars Technica. Immersion-breaking stupidity like this is enough to keep me from buying Dungeion Siege 2 even though I liked DS 1.

 

[Golgatha]

Personally, I also find repeats of in-game ads annoying to the point I just won't buy the game. I used to love the Need For Speed series from EA. I still did until NSF2 Underground. I tried it out on a friend's computer and saw nearly 50 ads on billboards during the race for BestBuy.com. I quit out of the race after roughly 2-3mins of this BS and have absolutely no desire to ever purchase that game.

 

[Sqube]

If it's appropriate and blends in, I don't mind that much.

If there are partially damaged billboards and faded murals on the walls for various companies, what would be so horrible and awful about that?

 

[purbeast0]

Well EA is the biggest sellout in the video game industry, so this is nothing that I would ever put past EA.

The place I first noticed it (and most blatent) was in Need For Speed Underground 2. i couldn't go 2 feet without seeing a Burger King or Best Buy.

 

[lokiju]

I hate product placement in movies and video games!

I always notice it and it annoys the hell out of me, whereas a friend or my SO might not even catch that they just saw a "product placement" which is what the advertising companies want IMO.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Personally, I also find repeats of in-game ads annoying to the point I just won't buy the game. I used to love the Need For Speed series from EA. I still did until NSF2 Underground. I tried it out on a friend's computer and saw nearly 50 ads on billboards during the race for BestBuy.com. I quit out of the race after roughly 2-3mins of this BS and have absolutely no desire to ever purchase that game.

lol wow, I didn't see your post before I posted. I was the same way. I didn't play the game more than 10 minutes ever.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
Well EA is the biggest sellout in the video game industry, so this is nothing that I would ever put past EA.

The place I first noticed it (and most blatent) was in Need For Speed Underground 2. i couldn't go 2 feet without seeing a Burger King or Best Buy.

Heh...what about the Burger King "King" showing up in Fight Night Round 3. :laugh:

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: Golgatha
Personally, I also find repeats of in-game ads annoying to the point I just won't buy the game. I used to love the Need For Speed series from EA. I still did until NSF2 Underground. I tried it out on a friend's computer and saw nearly 50 ads on billboards during the race for BestBuy.com. I quit out of the race after roughly 2-3mins of this BS and have absolutely no desire to ever purchase that game.

lol wow, I didn't see your post before I posted. I was the same way. I didn't play the game more than 10 minutes ever.

Yeah, makes perfect sense to alienate your fan base for a pitance more on the bottom line. Way to go EA!

 

[TomKazansky]

EA executives are douchebags, but there's nothing we can do much about it.

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Don't worry, you won't be missing much if you don't play bf 2142 because of the advertising... I have the beta, and in my opinion... it's pretty bad, the two legged walkers are way overpowered... it's about equal to vietnam... 2 and 1942 are the only ones worth playing...

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp
Don't worry, you won't be missing much if you don't play bf 2142 because of the advertising... I have the beta, and in my opinion... it's pretty bad, the two legged walkers are way overpowered... it's about equal to vietnam... 2 and 1942 are the only ones worth playing...

Funny thing is, I'd have never purchased even BF2 if everyone and their brother didn't migrate over to it from Desert Combat. BF 1942 was a fun game too.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp
Don't worry, you won't be missing much if you don't play bf 2142 because of the advertising... I have the beta, and in my opinion... it's pretty bad, the two legged walkers are way overpowered... it's about equal to vietnam... 2 and 1942 are the only ones worth playing...

Funny thing is, I'd have never purchased even BF2 if everyone and their brother didn't migrate over to it from Desert Combat. BF 1942 was a fun game too.

I enjoyed BF2 but the constant "We're releasing a patch. No, we aren't releasing a patch. Ok, we released the patch. Wait, uninstall the patch because it is missed up. Give us a couple of more months for the patch." act got tiresome. I haven't played it in almost a year.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Sqube
If it's appropriate and blends in, I don't mind that much.

If there are partially damaged billboards and faded murals on the walls for various companies, what would be so horrible and awful about that?

Now that is an interesting thought. Fully deformable shells of long-ago abandoned Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. on the landscape you're fighting in. Now that would be contextually relevent and add to the reality of the game.

 

[ViRGE]

If anyone can screw this up, it's EA. An example of advertising in BF2142(I shamelessly stole this from another forum):

They've got to be <profanity>kidding.

Looking back at your spawn point, first thing you see is a huge billboard:
http://img487.imageshack.us/img487/8902/image00004yu8.jpg

Okay big deal you say, then you go a little further
http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/8956/image00005yk7.jpg

One every what 100 feet yeah ... okay I guess.
WRONG!
How about one every 5 <profanity> feet!
http://img397.imageshack.us/img397/7046/image00006cc1.jpg

and incase you missed the last 10 HUGE ASS BILLBOARDS how about a few more!
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/897/image00007kb4.jpg

<maternal fornacaters>

 

[QurazyQuisp]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: QurazyQuisp
Don't worry, you won't be missing much if you don't play bf 2142 because of the advertising... I have the beta, and in my opinion... it's pretty bad, the two legged walkers are way overpowered... it's about equal to vietnam... 2 and 1942 are the only ones worth playing...

Funny thing is, I'd have never purchased even BF2 if everyone and their brother didn't migrate over to it from Desert Combat. BF 1942 was a fun game too.

Desert Combat was amazing... I got hooked.