how do you feel about in-game ads?

[mmntech]

I have mixed feelings on in-game ads. I think they do have a place in sports games as they add to the realism. I wouldn't mind discrete product placements either, like seeing a can of coke on a desk. However, it the ads are blatantly in your face or featured at inappropriate times, that's when it bothers me. I think that's what really soured me off Burnout Legend, seeking the Burger King ads all over the place. No way I'm going to fork over $70 for that. It's the equivalent of buying a movie on DVD and then getting interrupted every 10 minutes by a string of commercials as if it were on TV. If the games get cheaper as a result of advertising, I might be more willing to put up with it. That's just not happening though.

 

[gorcorps]

Originally posted by: mmntech
I have mixed feelings on in-game ads. I think they do have a place in sports games as they add to the realism. I wouldn't mind discrete product placements either, like seeing a can of coke on a desk. However, it the ads are blatantly in your face or featured at inappropriate times, that's when it bothers me. I think that's what really soured me off Burnout Legend, seeking the Burger King ads all over the place. No way I'm going to fork over $70 for that. It's the equivalent of buying a movie on DVD and then getting interrupted every 10 minutes by a string of commercials as if it were on TV. If the games get cheaper as a result of advertising, I might be more willing to put up with it. That's just not happening though.

Actually I think Burnout did it fine. There's billboards all over the place, just like on real roads. And I'm usually focused on other stuff so the billboards don't bother me.

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: gorcorps

Originally posted by: mmntech
I have mixed feelings on in-game ads. I think they do have a place in sports games as they add to the realism. I wouldn't mind discrete product placements either, like seeing a can of coke on a desk. However, it the ads are blatantly in your face or featured at inappropriate times, that's when it bothers me. I think that's what really soured me off Burnout Legend, seeking the Burger King ads all over the place. No way I'm going to fork over $70 for that. It's the equivalent of buying a movie on DVD and then getting interrupted every 10 minutes by a string of commercials as if it were on TV. If the games get cheaper as a result of advertising, I might be more willing to put up with it. That's just not happening though.

Actually I think Burnout did it fine. There's billboards all over the place, just like on real roads. And I'm usually focused on other stuff so the billboards don't bother me.

They also have the Gilette Fusion van riding around town, LOL.

 

[Razgriz]

Originally posted by: mugs
OK, let's not turn this into a discussion of the ethics of downloading TV shows. The OP is obviously very passionate about not viewing ads, regardless of the fact that those ads pay for so much of the content he consumes. Personally, I'm not so anti-ad. Ads can be entertaining and informative. One of the reasons I've never complained about the ads on the 360's dash is that they sometimes make me aware of content I otherwise wouldn't have known about. I don't watch live TV anymore either, so I've found that there are things that flew under my radar that I would have known about if I watched live TV. District 9? WTF is that?

I don't have a problem with all ads, just ads in my video games that I can't simply turn off/fast forward/get away from. I just see it as a slippery slope, eventually ads will become more prolific until everyone just accepts it as the 'norm'. It's interesting cuz the folks on Ars are more against this than everyone here, but I can see both sides, I'm not a blind anti-ad fanatic even if I came off as lol.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer

Originally posted by: mugs
They don't bother me. I think they should be well-integrated and unobtrusive.

This. If I'm playing NBA 2K 10, for example, and there are ads along the court for Gatorade or the halftime show is brought to you by Nike, I have no problem with that.

Now, if in Final Fantasy XIII, I'm running along and see billboards for Coca Cola, we got a problem there...

^^

what he said.

Exactly, it completely depends on the game.


Red Bull ad in UFC Undisputed - Makes sense to me.

Red Bull ad in BlazBlue - You'll never see my money again.

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: Razgriz

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer

Originally posted by: Razgriz
Don't watch TV anymore, so that argument doesn't apply to me. One of the reasons I torrent/hulu my TV shows now is because of the ridiculous amount of advertising. There's no telling where in-game advertising is heading, it could very well be getting to that point. Of course, us the gamers give a little, and the developers/publisher will find an opportunity to take a mile.

I see. So instead, you steal the content.

:thumbsdown:

You've already made your own point. There is no telling where in-game advertising is going. Presently, it's not going in the direction of being completely in-your-face, and when it does, then the battle lines will be drawn. Until then, relax. Those animated ads on the 360 Dashboard that you can only see if you scroll to that area aren't hurting anyone. Madden NFL Halftime brought to you by PowerAde is not a big deal.

so you consider OTA broadcasting stealing? It's free after all. am I stealing if I DVR the content and skip the ads, or record it via HTPC to watch later on?

If you make a copy, then you've stolen IP. (This message brought to you by the MAFIAA)

 

[Injury]

I feel like that if I buy an xbox 360, and I buy the game to play, and I buy the subscription to xbox live... if there is advertising in game why am I not getting the check? Resources I've bought and paid for are being used for profit by someone else. I wonder how many game companies would skip advertising altogether if they were required to disclose that there were in game ads on the front of the package, easily visible before you tear the plastic off. I just got done playing Mercenaries 2, which had in game ads. It would put things on the billboards around town.. I mostly saw ads for GI Joe The Movie or Final Destination. I really didn't pay much attention to them, but it did annoy me that I didn't get the opportunity to opt-out of having ads streamed to my equipment on a game I've paid for. While the cost is negligible, it's still using bandwidth and processing power. Not like I'd see either of these godawful movies anyway.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Golgatha

Originally posted by: purbeast0

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer

Originally posted by: mugs
They don't bother me. I think they should be well-integrated and unobtrusive.

This. If I'm playing NBA 2K 10, for example, and there are ads along the court for Gatorade or the halftime show is brought to you by Nike, I have no problem with that.

Now, if in Final Fantasy XIII, I'm running along and see billboards for Coca Cola, we got a problem there...

^^

what he said.

Exactly, it completely depends on the game.


Red Bull ad in UFC Undisputed - Makes sense to me.

Red Bull ad in BlazBlue - You'll never see my money again.

All this

 

[Ackmed]

Im much more annoyed with commercials at movie theaters. In game adds dont bother me too much. As long as they arent bright, annoyingly over bearing.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: Ackmed
Im much more annoyed with commercials at movie theaters. In game adds dont bother me too much. As long as they arent bright, annoyingly over bearing.

Depends on what you are referring to as 'ads' in the movie theater. I'd rather watch trailers than hear the latest boy band or country rock song while they show slides of local ads and stupid quizzes.

As odd as it sounds to hear myself say this, it's all about targeting the ads correctly IMO. Ads for games and movies that would most likely appeal to gamers on the Xbox 360 dashboard, not really a problem. I actually watch quite a few trailers and download demos all the time from the Xbox dashboard.

I think of actual in game ads and product placement more like sponsorship on a race car than I do an active advertisement. Ads on TV/radio (and some web sites) interrupt what I actually want to do and get on my nerves. A passive logo slapped on something really doesn't bother me. Of course, it needs to be in context.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I think ads can add to the immersion in many respects. Games based on near-future human civilization could have ads for present day companies in interesting ways (think Taco Bell and Demolition Man). Any number of present-day shooter games could have Coke machines as part of the destructible environment. Billboards in Racing games and GTA style games are obvious, but completely non-intrusive. And I'd find it hard to believe any developer could litter a game with more ads than I see walking down a city street anyway.

As other have said. It should be tasteful....and varied. Seeing the same billboard copied and pasted a few hundred times is just lazy. Find enough advertising partners so the scenery remains diverse.

Obviously, any such ads would have no place in games like Elder Scrolls or Starwars.

 

[coldmeat]

I don't mind them usually. What I don't like is ads like in GH3 where a whole stage was a Pontiac truck.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

I think in-game ads should = cheaper games.

If I'm paying $60 for a game, I'm totally against it. If I'm paying $40, I'm more inclined to be okay with it. If I'm paying $30, please, put billboards for Old Spice in Oblivion for all I care.