Gaming adverts becoming a big business - bit-tech.net Forums

WilHarris · 24th Mar 2006, 12:20

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/03..._big_business/

Gunsmith · 24th Mar 2006, 12:24

hmm interesting, things like roadside billboards such as those in nfsu2 make the game more believable but the airwaves gum thing in Chaos Theory is certainly not the way to go.

sgtpeppa · 24th Mar 2006, 12:45

I couldn't help but laugh at the huge Airwaves blimp in Chaos Theory, completely took away from it all. The occasional Axe advert (an advert for an American product in my UK bought game!) on rooftop billboards didn't get on my nerves too much (except I kept dying by it).

Racing and sports games are fair enough though.

FIBRE+ · 24th Mar 2006, 12:45

It was bound to happen eventually, theres plenty of examples of it in current and past games. It's a large open market and a very large platform, TBH im suprised it had not been done sooner, just look at the time and money people spend on computer games...

Yer it is kinda crappy but so long as the extra dosh is put back into developing games, its done tastefully and doesnt make my game take longer to load etc... then I can live with it

DriftCarl · 24th Mar 2006, 12:56

I dont mind/notice most advertising in current games.

I imagine most advertising companies will have common sense about placing which adverts in which games. just like websites, you wouldnt put an advert for tampons on a bob the builder website. so I am hoping that advertising agencies will put adverts of interest into appropriate games.

I definatly hope they DO NOT put adverts in MMORPG's that I pay a subscription for, our subscription pays for the service and development so tehre is no need(unless they are too greedy) to seek advertising, and in most MMORPG's modern advertising wouldnt fit in them.

I would say that advertising would work in games that are set in the present day or the future, or maybe the recent past. Definatly not on "other world" type games like star wars or something.

It might even spur some completly free MMORPG's paid for by advertising alone.

Drexial · 24th Mar 2006, 13:02

the thing that anoys the hell out of me with these things, even in NFS, is that we are paying for the game. in most situationjs online we pay for some services to remove adds from the sites. when you buy a book, do you want there to be adds on every ten pages. if they are collecting that much revenue from manufactures, there should be no reason that we still pay $50 for a game. they can try and say that it costs more now to make games then it did 10 years ago. i dont elive this. computers are cheeper then ever. when your a gone production company your already bringing in either free parts or being paid by nVidea to let people know what the game was made on. i fully belive in word of mouth advertising. i mean how many comercials for computer parts are there, but we already know about parts before they are even sold. so it not like any of us need comercials for this, why would we need it for anything else.

the comercials that confuse me the most are the ones for armed forces... who the hell doesnt know that the army exists.... i dont think they need to spend the 100,000 million or so they do spend on advertising a year.

kosch · 24th Mar 2006, 13:05

They already do this in Anarchy Online infact the only sent out a questionaire the other day for users to find out what they thought about in-game adverts and brand awareness.

I much prefer in universe ingame adverts if you know what I mean. Adverts generated for the fictional companies inside the game.

Come on down to big Al's Meson depot now!

otispunkmeyer · 24th Mar 2006, 13:40

this is good in someways, maybe annoying in others

in game like GTA it would add some realism to city aspect of the games, you could be going down the high street jus like you would in normal life ans see big biil boards for nike, ford, bmw etc

splinter cell CT already had some subtle adverts in it, one level where you come in via the roof, you descend into a cubicle and the computers there run Athlon 64 screen savers.

MightyMouse · 24th Mar 2006, 13:49

I wouldent mind haveing adds in a game, if it was done in the "right" way.
Like instead of haveing a game like today where they tell you to meet them at McBurger, they just say McDonalds. I mean, why not just use real stores instead of makeing all theese fictional ones that sound exactly like the real ones.
Ofcourse this wouldent work in, lets say WoW or other fantacy games that arn't set in our world.

webbyman · 24th Mar 2006, 15:35

i don't mind products being in the game...
e.g in Grand theft Auto theres a billboard with 'Bold' washing powder, and theres people wearing nike clothes e.c.t.

...but watching adverts before playing would P*ss the hell out of me, i wouldn't stand for it :P intos annoy the hell out of me when i want to just play the f**king game.. now adverts that next level.

Cabe · 24th Mar 2006, 15:58

Product placement (like in the movies) wouldnt be a big issue, I would however dislike commercial TV style "ad breaks", where they are intrusive to the game.

I_Slider_I · 24th Mar 2006, 16:24

If compter game advertising takes hold we could see developers choosing to remove all fees to attract a larger audience for the advertisments.

acidfire · 24th Mar 2006, 16:36

There's two times this has actually spoiled the mood of the game.

This first was planetside. After a long break from it I felt the urge to start playing again so filled up my subscription for the month and jumped back in, i was utterly disappointed/annoyed with the in-game ads. I'm paying a subscription to look at ads that probably generate more than the subscriptions? But I guess thats sony for you.

Then there's Enter the Matrix. Yea it was cool getting some of the story for the movies, and you'd think with the backing of the movies they wouldn't need in game ads right? wrong. There are ads for samsung phones and cadillacs everywhere, and it really seems to take away from it.

I agree that in certain places, especially big city games like gta, that its very fitting for game, but at the same time I love the ones that spoof real life ads, they give you the chance to laugh alittle and its good to see some developers have a sense of humor.

Down with ingame ads!

Drexial · 25th Mar 2006, 01:18

i like that GTA has adverts for things in teh game, not real life products. but the thing that everyone seems to be missing, that it doesnt matter how many adds are in a game, we are still payng $50 a peice on the game. its not lowering the costs at all.

iff game prices started dropping because of it i'd almost be ok with it. but advertising of all kinds is agrivating. billboards are the worst in my oppinion. in alot of states neon lights are illegal on the undersides of cars. but a GIANT add ont eh sides of steets is ok? they are there for people driving. so why is that legal? cause its big buisness. pop ups are anoying, side bars are ok, but in most cases those adds mean free viewing of a website. in that way im ok with it. there could probly be half as many TV adds and the stations would still be able to pay for tehir shows. i dont know how it is in europe, but i know Japan only has one add break per half hour if im not mistaken. that im fine with.

Confused Fishcake · 25th Mar 2006, 07:28

I really hope they go down the path of putting video ads at the start of games, because they are so easy to remove, I will never buy a game with ads in it.

Breach · 25th Mar 2006, 10:12

Ditto. Everywhere I turn I am bombarded with ads for sub-par products, on the radio, tv, billboards, they even have the balls to call my home and pitch thier bs. When I play a game, the last thing I want to see is another god damn ad. If developers cant turn a profit from thier games without selling themselves out to ad agencies, maybe they should rethink thier strategies of creating the same regurgitated crap over and over and expecting it to sell, which is why PC gaming is in the sorry state it is in. I can think of a number of titles that are widley sucessful without ad revenue.

But, I have no problem with keeping my money. This is just like paying for a DVD and being forced to watch all of the previews and coke commercials first. I paid for the film, not to be force fed ads. And i feel the same way about games.

Ok, rant over. It just makes me sick that people out there who have no idea about gaming think that this is a positive thing for the end consumers. Well, i say screw you.

Neogumbercules · 25th Mar 2006, 17:56

The day I have to watch a commercial every time I load up a game is the day I stop playing computer games.

ou7blaze · 25th Mar 2006, 19:45

Wouldn't mind it too much if it was in-game and suited the game context if it was a game startup or intro ad then hell ****en no, some crap cinemas in Hong Kong start off with ads that just annoys me.

Etacovda · 26th Mar 2006, 16:58

anyone remember superfrog,,,,?

chemo · 26th Mar 2006, 17:02

i think advertising could make games cheaper to joe public, if done in the right way and they werent just making extra money from it. it would help with piracy etc and overall be a good thing i think, as long as it wasnt too in your face

24th Mar 2006, 12:20	#1
WilHarris Just another nobody Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Oxford Posts: 2,671	Gaming adverts becoming a big business http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/03..._big_business/

24th Mar 2006, 12:45	#4
FIBRE+ Ultramodder Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Oxford Posts: 1,306	It was bound to happen eventually, theres plenty of examples of it in current and past games. It's a large open market and a very large platform, TBH im suprised it had not been done sooner, just look at the time and money people spend on computer games... Yer it is kinda crappy but so long as the extra dosh is put back into developing games, its done tastefully and doesnt make my game take longer to load etc... then I can live with it __________________ ++ASUS SLI Premium \| X2 3800 @ 2.6ghz \| XP-120 \| 2GB Mushkin \| 8800 GT \| XFI Music \| Seagate 320GB \ Samsung F1 1TB \| 520W Corsair HX \| 23" Dell S2309W ++ ++Zotac 9300 Mini ITX \| Intel E5200 \| Scythe Shuriken \| 2GB Corsair \| 8600 GTS (Passive) \| WD Black 2.5" 320GB \ Samsung F2 Eco 1TB \| Corsair VX 450W \| 42" Panasonic Viera++ ++Canon 400D \| Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 \| Canon 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 \| Sandisk Extreme III 4GB++My Ebay++

24th Mar 2006, 13:05	#7
kosch Trango in the Mango Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cambridge, UK Posts: 192	They already do this in Anarchy Online infact the only sent out a questionaire the other day for users to find out what they thought about in-game adverts and brand awareness. I much prefer in universe ingame adverts if you know what I mean. Adverts generated for the fictional companies inside the game. Come on down to big Al's Meson depot now! __________________ [b]Really needs updating! - http://www.kosch.co.uk/

24th Mar 2006, 13:40	#8
otispunkmeyer Multimodder Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Middlesbrough UK Posts: 142	this is good in someways, maybe annoying in others in game like GTA it would add some realism to city aspect of the games, you could be going down the high street jus like you would in normal life ans see big biil boards for nike, ford, bmw etc splinter cell CT already had some subtle adverts in it, one level where you come in via the roof, you descend into a cubicle and the computers there run Athlon 64 screen savers. __________________ The Otispunkmeyer Mac Attack: Apple MacBook Pro 15.4 inch, 1440x900 glossy LED back lit display, 2.4Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR2 667, 160GB 5400RPM SATA HDD, 8x super multi drive, Nvidia Gefore 8600GT 256MB GDDR3, JBL Radial, Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20.1" WS display, Apple wired aluminium keyboard, Apple wireless mighty mouse.

24th Mar 2006, 15:58	#11
Cabe Hypermodder Join Date: May 2002 Location: I'll tell ya next time I go out... Posts: 707	Product placement (like in the movies) wouldnt be a big issue, I would however dislike commercial TV style "ad breaks", where they are intrusive to the game. __________________ [hal]"I cant let you do that Dave....."[/hal] "Out the 100 Base-T port, past the Router, off the Bridge, through the Firewall..... Nothing but Net."

24th Mar 2006, 12:24	#2
Gunsmith my supersonic radar will help me! Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,439	hmm interesting, things like roadside billboards such as those in nfsu2 make the game more believable but the airwaves gum thing in Chaos Theory is certainly not the way to go.

24th Mar 2006, 12:45	#3
sgtpeppa Minimodder Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 21	I couldn't help but laugh at the huge Airwaves blimp in Chaos Theory, completely took away from it all. The occasional Axe advert (an advert for an American product in my UK bought game!) on rooftop billboards didn't get on my nerves too much (except I kept dying by it). Racing and sports games are fair enough though.

24th Mar 2006, 12:56	#5
DriftCarl Multimodder Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 201	I dont mind/notice most advertising in current games. I imagine most advertising companies will have common sense about placing which adverts in which games. just like websites, you wouldnt put an advert for tampons on a bob the builder website. so I am hoping that advertising agencies will put adverts of interest into appropriate games. I definatly hope they DO NOT put adverts in MMORPG's that I pay a subscription for, our subscription pays for the service and development so tehre is no need(unless they are too greedy) to seek advertising, and in most MMORPG's modern advertising wouldnt fit in them. I would say that advertising would work in games that are set in the present day or the future, or maybe the recent past. Definatly not on "other world" type games like star wars or something. It might even spur some completly free MMORPG's paid for by advertising alone.

24th Mar 2006, 13:02	#6
Drexial Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 297	the thing that anoys the hell out of me with these things, even in NFS, is that we are paying for the game. in most situationjs online we pay for some services to remove adds from the sites. when you buy a book, do you want there to be adds on every ten pages. if they are collecting that much revenue from manufactures, there should be no reason that we still pay $50 for a game. they can try and say that it costs more now to make games then it did 10 years ago. i dont elive this. computers are cheeper then ever. when your a gone production company your already bringing in either free parts or being paid by nVidea to let people know what the game was made on. i fully belive in word of mouth advertising. i mean how many comercials for computer parts are there, but we already know about parts before they are even sold. so it not like any of us need comercials for this, why would we need it for anything else. the comercials that confuse me the most are the ones for armed forces... who the hell doesnt know that the army exists.... i dont think they need to spend the 100,000 million or so they do spend on advertising a year.

24th Mar 2006, 13:49	#9
MightyMouse What's a Dremel? Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 19	I wouldent mind haveing adds in a game, if it was done in the "right" way. Like instead of haveing a game like today where they tell you to meet them at McBurger, they just say McDonalds. I mean, why not just use real stores instead of makeing all theese fictional ones that sound exactly like the real ones. Ofcourse this wouldent work in, lets say WoW or other fantacy games that arn't set in our world.

24th Mar 2006, 15:35	#10
webbyman Hax. Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Uk Posts: 2,758	i don't mind products being in the game... e.g in Grand theft Auto theres a billboard with 'Bold' washing powder, and theres people wearing nike clothes e.c.t. ...but watching adverts before playing would Pss the hell out of me, i wouldn't stand for it :P intos annoy the hell out of me when i want to just play the f*king game.. now adverts that next level.

24th Mar 2006, 16:24	#12
I_Slider_I Multimodder Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: The Park Posts: 88	If compter game advertising takes hold we could see developers choosing to remove all fees to attract a larger audience for the advertisments.

24th Mar 2006, 16:36	#13
acidfire Supermodder Join Date: May 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 254	There's two times this has actually spoiled the mood of the game. This first was planetside. After a long break from it I felt the urge to start playing again so filled up my subscription for the month and jumped back in, i was utterly disappointed/annoyed with the in-game ads. I'm paying a subscription to look at ads that probably generate more than the subscriptions? But I guess thats sony for you. Then there's Enter the Matrix. Yea it was cool getting some of the story for the movies, and you'd think with the backing of the movies they wouldn't need in game ads right? wrong. There are ads for samsung phones and cadillacs everywhere, and it really seems to take away from it. I agree that in certain places, especially big city games like gta, that its very fitting for game, but at the same time I love the ones that spoof real life ads, they give you the chance to laugh alittle and its good to see some developers have a sense of humor. Down with ingame ads! __________________ "And when he gets to heaven, To St. Peter he will tell; One more soldier reporting sir, I served my time in hell. "

25th Mar 2006, 01:18	#14
Drexial Supermodder Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 297	i like that GTA has adverts for things in teh game, not real life products. but the thing that everyone seems to be missing, that it doesnt matter how many adds are in a game, we are still payng $50 a peice on the game. its not lowering the costs at all. iff game prices started dropping because of it i'd almost be ok with it. but advertising of all kinds is agrivating. billboards are the worst in my oppinion. in alot of states neon lights are illegal on the undersides of cars. but a GIANT add ont eh sides of steets is ok? they are there for people driving. so why is that legal? cause its big buisness. pop ups are anoying, side bars are ok, but in most cases those adds mean free viewing of a website. in that way im ok with it. there could probly be half as many TV adds and the stations would still be able to pay for tehir shows. i dont know how it is in europe, but i know Japan only has one add break per half hour if im not mistaken. that im fine with.

25th Mar 2006, 07:28	#15
Confused Fishcake Hypermodder Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Hertford, UK Posts: 684	I really hope they go down the path of putting video ads at the start of games, because they are so easy to remove, I will never buy a game with ads in it. __________________ My Laptop: Inspiron 1501: Turion64 X2 TL-52 @ 1.6GHz, 1GB DDR2, 120GB SATA HD, 256Mb ATI 1150, 15.4" widescreen lcd, 8x DVD+/-RW, running Gentoo amd64. My Server #1: Pentium III @ 500MHz, 192MB DDR, 290GB in total, running headless Gentoo x86. My Server #2: Athlon 4 @ 1.7 GHz, 128MB DDR, 40GB, running headless Gentoo x86.

25th Mar 2006, 10:12	#16
Breach Supermodder Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: WA Posts: 354	Ditto. Everywhere I turn I am bombarded with ads for sub-par products, on the radio, tv, billboards, they even have the balls to call my home and pitch thier bs. When I play a game, the last thing I want to see is another god damn ad. If developers cant turn a profit from thier games without selling themselves out to ad agencies, maybe they should rethink thier strategies of creating the same regurgitated crap over and over and expecting it to sell, which is why PC gaming is in the sorry state it is in. I can think of a number of titles that are widley sucessful without ad revenue. But, I have no problem with keeping my money. This is just like paying for a DVD and being forced to watch all of the previews and coke commercials first. I paid for the film, not to be force fed ads. And i feel the same way about games. Ok, rant over. It just makes me sick that people out there who have no idea about gaming think that this is a positive thing for the end consumers. Well, i say screw you. __________________ Project :: SSC (Super Sport Computer)

25th Mar 2006, 17:56	#17
Neogumbercules Ultramodder Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,495	The day I have to watch a commercial every time I load up a game is the day I stop playing computer games. __________________ Abit AB9 Pro, Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 CPU, 2GB Corsair DDR2 6400, nVidia 8800GT, Seagate 160 GB HDD.

25th Mar 2006, 19:45	#18
ou7blaze sensational. Join Date: May 2003 Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong. Posts: 2,625	Wouldn't mind it too much if it was in-game and suited the game context if it was a game startup or intro ad then hell **en no, some crap cinemas in Hong Kong start off with ads that just annoys me. __________________ █▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓█▓▒▒▓ Originally Posted by Greeneyedguy** advice to all u masturbators... its a good idea to keep a pringles can with the bottom cut out next to u so u can put it over ur wang when ur parents come and tell em u were enjoyong some delicious low-fat potato chips...

26th Mar 2006, 16:58	#19
Etacovda Supermodder Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: New Zealand Posts: 306	anyone remember superfrog,,,,?

26th Mar 2006, 17:02	#20
chemo True Jungle Brother Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 2,639	i think advertising could make games cheaper to joe public, if done in the right way and they werent just making extra money from it. it would help with piracy etc and overall be a good thing i think, as long as it wasnt too in your face __________________ Don't hate the Geek, Hate the code!