Advertising IN a game...

[Dark Jaguar]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/04/08/...93166.html

This is just insane... Video games soon as big an advertising medium as television? We PAY for our video games! We don't WANT commericals popping up when we pause the game!

[OB1]

C'est la vie, mon ami.

[Great Rumbler]

Why don't they just skip the middle-man and just beam the commercials straight to our brain?

[OB1]

Or into our dreams, like in Futurama.

[Dark Jaguar]

I'll put that RF shielding plate in my NES into my skull before I allow that to happen!

Also, I have no idea what that meant OB1. What, is that some sort of non-English language? What's with whowever speaks that language? They only speak it because they are jerks I bet!

[alien space marine]

they already have some advertisements in some sports games.

:shiggy2:

imagine that in your brain

[Great Rumbler]

It means "That's life, my friend".

[OB1]

Yes, it's a common saying.

[Dark Jaguar]

Where? Maybe in English, but never once have I EVER heard that phrase in whatever language that is.

And no, that's not "life", it's wrong. TV is free, so of course commercials are to be expected. We PAY the ENTIRE price of the games we get, so putting commercials in THOSE is COMPLETELY wrong. Don't say you side with the companies on this.

[Great Rumbler]

Cable and satelite tv used to be commercial free, that was the main draw, but now look at it.

[geoboy]

WELCOM TO TEH CAPITOLIZM!!!!

[OB1]

Where? Maybe in English, but never once have I EVER heard that phrase in whatever language that is.

I'd think that's just because you live in Oklahoma (no offence intended, but you have to admit that it's not the most cultured state in the country), but GR knew the saying so that can't be it.

And no, that's not "life", it's wrong. TV is free, so of course commercials are to be expected. We PAY the ENTIRE price of the games we get, so putting commercials in THOSE is COMPLETELY wrong. Don't say you side with the companies on this.

Of course not. I said "that's life" because it's typical and expected in this society. I hate it, but there's nothing we can do.

[Dark Jaguar]

Sure there is. When it gets too commercial, stop buying. I won't buy a Zelda game with Link drinking Sprite all the time. If they went that far, the game won't be good anyway.

Ya know, your judgementalism is pretty high. We know foreign phrases here, like Carpe Diem, and Yvan Eht Nioj!

[OB1]

Join the Navy, eh? You've never heard "C'est La Vie..." before (or could even tell that's it's French), so I mean, you know...

Good luck with your anti-commercial revolution, by the way.

[Dark Jaguar]

I just can't imagine how you can be so casual about this. It's like you are looking FORWARD to when Mario starts using magic Fruit Loops.

[Great Rumbler]

over 50 percent of "heavy" gamers like games to feature real products for added authenticity.

This has to be one of the signs of the Apocalypse.

[Dark Jaguar]

I have a feelling that's a lie, you know like, "People LIKE to get our mail" from a spammer.

[alien space marine]

soon enough there will be advertisements on rolls of toilet papper.


:nodding:

[Weltall]

I like when games feature advertisements for the sake of realism, but they don't have to be REAL ads to portray this realism. Take Shenmue, there are ads all over town, because you would see ads all over town, but (this is an assumption) they are not for real products. I prefer that if there are ads, they at least seem real, and not just silly, general things you would never see (like, signs advertising COLA, instead of a fictional Jinbirabi Cola).

[OB1]

I just can't imagine how you can be so casual about this. It's like you are looking FORWARD to when Mario starts using magic Fruit Loops.

*sigh* So very naive, you are. Did you just wake up to the world a few days ago? This is how our society is, and there's not a damn thing you or I can do about it.

[A Black Falcon]

I am sure that toilet-paper advertising has been tried before... :D

And advertising in games isn't new. It's happened many times. Ever heard of a "liscenced game"? ...

Okay, how about the game starring Skittles (Darkened Skye), or those two old Cheetos games, or the one or two with the 7-Up dot, etc, etc... and those are just the most blatant examples... how about those ads in some games? I highly doubt that the Dickies, Slim Jim, etc. ads in Rush 2049 were put there from the goodness of Midway's hearts!

It's the way the world is. Live with it.

[Dark Jaguar]

I get what you mean Weltall, and it's no biggy there. Also, I played the 7up game ABF, so I'm aware that some games are nothing BUT advertisements. Yo Noid! and the like are easy to recognize for what they are and the entire point is right there. No biggy because there's nothing to degrade. I'm talking about the actual problem here. The threat is that advertising will soon become very widespread in games, as in ACTUALLY DIMINISHING THE GAME ITSELF in the process. I'm talking stuff like an Obey Your Thirst meter in the next Battlefield game. Like this:



OB1, this is just like spam, only this time it's spam you are PAYING FOR. It's a DEFECT in future games if it gets like this. We SHOULD complain about defects! You do it all the time! Why is this the ONE exception for you? What, do you plan on putting ridiculous numbers of ads in your games?

[A Black Falcon]

I want sports games to have the actual ads on the fields that the real stadiums do that season...

[Great Rumbler]

Ach, mein thirsten!

[OB1]

I get what you mean Weltall, and it's no biggy there. Also, I played the 7up game ABF, so I'm aware that some games are nothing BUT advertisements. Yo Noid! and the like are easy to recognize for what they are and the entire point is right there. No biggy because there's nothing to degrade. I'm talking about the actual problem here. The threat is that advertising will soon become very widespread in games, as in ACTUALLY DIMINISHING THE GAME ITSELF in the process. I'm talking stuff like an Obey Your Thirst meter in the next Battlefield game. Like this:



OB1, this is just like spam, only this time it's spam you are PAYING FOR. It's a DEFECT in future games if it gets like this. We SHOULD complain about defects! You do it all the time! Why is this the ONE exception for you? What, do you plan on putting ridiculous numbers of ads in your games?

Yes DJ, because I am not going to start a massive campaign against advertisements in game means that my games are going to be filled with ads. As a matter of fact, I'm working on an M&M level right now.

[Great Rumbler]

You should make a game that is a gigantic advertisement for your videogame company.

OB1: And at the end you have to fight the CEO, Mr. Coleman, who shoots out firey office memos and attacks you with staplers! And after you beat him you get to view a commercial urging you to buy more games produced by that company AND to even buy that company's stock! And on top of that while the credits are rolling you can sit back and view commercials for all the sponsors who helped to fund this great game!

[Dark Jaguar]

OB1, you focused on a joke rather than anything considered a point eh?

A game that's just one advertisement for the company that made it...

Hmm...

Hey Mario, ever heard of such a thing?

[lazyfatbum]

Yunno, television exists because of commercials. All that TV shows try to do is keep you interested between commercials.

Ads in video games is nothing new and it will never catch on to the point of blatent advertizing, such as an actual break from gameplay to see an ad. What will happen is that we'll see huge ad campaigns over networked games. I heard that Coke wants to make a server for PC games, it's supposed to be cheap and easy to use but you're thrown in to Coke ad hell.

[Dark Jaguar]

Blizzard already uses the lobby to advertise it's own games via banners at the top of the screen. No biggy there...

Yeah, there's no reason they should do something like that, considering the money is made off the actual product directly rather than advertising.

I just remembered something though. During King's Quest 2, when you peek into a certain hole, you see the most horrifying thing in all creation (in-game description), a PLUG! You are then bombarded with a 30 second or so ad for Space Quest. It would have been horrifying if it wasn't so hilarious.

[lazyfatbum]

Luigi's Mansion dropped a plug for Pikmin too. But the idea there is welcomed, promos and teasers for upcoming games from the company that made the game you're currently playing can be a very good thing (if you like the game you're currently playing). But by golly, if I took a whole SECOND from my busy coach potatoing time to watch a promo for a video game before loading my save file I better NOT see anyone telling me that they saved alot of money on their car insurance by using Clorox 2 on whites and colors (mama keeps whites bright like the sunshine), along with the tag line of "I'm lovin it" with the visual image of a well built gay man with no clothes eating FUCKING CHICKEN MCNUGGITS WHILE I HEAR A RAP MIX OF ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONGS FROM THE SIXTIES TO MAKE PEOPLE WANT A BREAKFAST BAR. Which are totally against nature "It's cereal and milk.... in a bar!" How about no.

[alien space marine]

How effective are advertisements? I have never bought anything because I thought the funny sex jokes of their ad was funny.

[A Black Falcon]

There's a guy in Monkey Island I who has a whole speech that is an advertisement for LOOM... :)

[Great Rumbler]

*Pick up the Badge*

Guybrush: I don't want people asking me about Grim Fandango.

[Dark Jaguar]

Yep lazy, that's fine because it's an ad for a game, which I'm obviously interested in because I'm playing the thing. Better yet, it's completely your choice to view it or not. The day a mcnugget of any sort forcefully infiltrates it's way onto my screen during play though is the day I send the fiery flames of heck (HECK I say!) to forcefully infiltrate the tender flesh of some ad executive's genitals. I don't care which one...

[Great Rumbler]

The day a mcnugget of any sort forcefully infiltrates it's way onto my screen during play though is the day I send the fiery flames of heck (HECK I say!) to forcefully infiltrate the tender flesh of some ad executive's genitals. I don't care which one...

[Geno]

Ads in games? As long as it doesn't interrupt gameplay, I could possibly tolerate it. In GTA, for example, there are billboards for Rockstar Games, which is fine. Radio advertisements are okay too. However, it'd be pretty stupid to have Mario walking around in Nikes with a shirt that says Polo across it throughout the entire game. The minute they start adding popups to video games, I'm going pure old school.

[lazyfatbum]

You wont have to worry about Nintendo doing it. I may sound like a fanboy but if we were destined to get ads in our video games then it would happen on a Playstation or XBox before it happened on a Nintendo system. The Gameboy market though would be the perfect candidate for ads; it's the only 'social' system because you take it outside.

[Geno]

It's true, Nintendo's the least likely of the first parties to put ads in games.

[alien space marine]

I hope they never have penis enlargement ads! I hate when I get those in my email box.

[Geno]

That would be frightening. I doubt they would have that in video games though, even if they were M-rated games. They better not.

[OB1]

I think that'd be hilarious. Imagine getting that kind of spam in your mailbox in Animal Crossing Online.

[alien space marine]

:shake:

[OB1]

:nodding:

[alien space marine]

You have Penis envy! No doubt about it!

[OB1]

[alien space marine]

[Great Rumbler]

[alien space marine]

:nono:

[EdenMaster]

Haven't you people ever played Crazy Taxi? There are spots in there for KFC, Pizza Hut, Fila, and Levi's to name a few. Ads in games are already around. They're not imposing or anything but they're there. Instances like Crazy Taxi I can tolerate, even if other games if the context matches (like billboards in driving games).

That I can tolerate. Now if I see commercials during games or product placement in my inventory, I'm not going to be a happy gamer.

[Geno]

What EdenMaster said. I have no problem with real places being featured in a realistic game; it doesn't interrupt gameplay.

In fact, if they add a feature to a game, like they have with DVDs, where you can (optionally, of course) select to view the previews and ads on the menu, I won't be bothered then either. I just don't want commercials to play at random during the game. (Except maybe radio commercials, like in GTA, which don't interrupt gameplay and can easily be turned off, even though GTA's commercials are fictional.)