News Intel splashes out on in-game advertising

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/07/06/Intel_splashes_out_on_in-game_advertising/

 

If it's done tastefully in the form of product placement where appropriate then I don't mind, If the games are plastered with banners and posters then I will refuse to purchase the game untill a crack of some sort is released to dissable this new feature.

 

personally i dont mind subtle advertising in games such as posters in walls but there was a horrible bit in splinter cell: pandora tommorow (or chaos theory, cant remember) where there was a pointless clip where he shows off a packet of airwaves and sticks one in his mouth... i cant stand that sort of thing...

as for intel owning an in game advertising company... most gamers would probably be viewing this advertising whilst playing with AMD processors... lol

 

I agree with the above tbh. If its done in a sensible manner its not too bad, for instance maybe a can of coke or 2 on a desk in CS would work well.
But the product and its placement has to really be in keeping with the theme of the game.

 

It would be ok if it was seemlessly implimented into the game. To give an example, what if intel advertisments were put in a more modern game, like half-life 2. They could create a sign/banner and have the intel logo on it but instead its bent, aged, bullet holes in it to give it a dated look. Then when your running around in city-17 and see that old advertisment of intel, you go, wow intel old... i must be in a futuristic setting. I think that if properly implimented and not redundant, advertising can give a game a more realistic experience. Though, dont go putting an intel advertisment in a game like oblivion, thats like taking 4 yrs of work and then throwing it on the ground and shooting it a few... wait, not a few but around 46 times, just to be sure that it dies.

 

If the price is lower, fine. If the price is the same, no way!

Simple.

 

Agreed! I'll pay to play a game, I wont if I'm plasterd with pointles adds!
especially if they're completly out of place.

 

The production cost of games is rising exponentially as the level of detail (graphics, sound, voice acting etc) we expect of them rises (apparently the first Ghost recon game took 30 people to produce, the latest one 150 people for instance), so expecting them to drop prices is probably quite unrealistic.

I'm quite against blatant adverts in games, especially when they go counter to the games world.
An intel billboard or a PC store with intel PC's and ads in a window in a fairly modern day city would be fine, but a billboard on the side of a fantasy building or a more obvious intel ad (a character saying "we couldn't win this war without out intel PC's!" perhaps) is completely unnacceptable to me.

Anarchy online is probably a good example of how not to do it, with ads on every other wall for products that have very little to do with a highly degraded far-future colony.

 

The _ONLY_ time i think in game advertising is acceptable is if the game is free, as in beer, or if it is very cheap to buy, ie the IGA has subsidised the cost of the game.

At any other time i think it is bang out of order. Why pay £35-£40 for a game only to find it full of adverts? We are forced to sit though far too much unwanted marketing on a daily basis, so why should we have to put up with it in games we use to relax and get away from the real world?

 

As long as i can shoot it, blow it up, drive over it and other violant methods to destroy the in-game adds. I'm ok with it

 

i want this and dont make it so that i am playing a scary FPS and then it stops for a comercial about intel and then returns to the game every 10 minutes.

 

Like most people here, I don't mind if product placements are unobtrusive and help keep the price of games down.
I got annoyed watching XMen3 because of all the blatant product placement shots throughout the movie (OK, the crap storyline annoyed me as well, but you get the gist) - if you can notice the product placements then they're too obvious.

 

basically what everyone eles has said. If its done well enough that it doesnt affect the gameplayers enjoyment of the game then yes fine. I just dont want to be bombarded with popups or adverts or keep having to click to bypass anything put in there.

 

just rename it, the return of the ADS!!!! then it will have some logic being bombarded by ads.

 

The whole thing stinks. Completely shatters my immersion (at least recent attempts at it have. Good work Splinter Cell). Would be nice to see a price reduction on next-gen titles though...

 

Surely a game is more immersive and atmospheric if it conforms to reality more? Correct product placement strengthens one of the few factors that games are missing- an evident material link between virtual and real world. Anything which makes the surroundings of a game more familiar and comparable to our world is surely making the game better?

<A88>

 

One example of how to use ads in games is tony hawks pro skater 3. It somehow seemed natural. However, the ads have to fit in totally, so you hardly notice them.

 

I'd rather have a ad or banner on a wall here and there, than wait 5 minutes because of the intro's and ads in the beginning of the game... That really bugs me... Intro's are cool to watch, once... After that they are a PITA

How cool would it be... in BF2/COD/whatever "Intel Inside" formed through bullet holes on a wall

 

agree to this one, it makes games more realistic, just look around you how many things have brands on it?.... .....right
but it shouldnt be over the top like; complete walls filled with BUY THIS OR THAT!

 

I can see how it works for games set in modern times, and even slightly into the future... an old scuffed up Intel advert, for example, in a post-apocalyptic setting. However, what about other games? How would you advertise in, say, Oblivion? Or Titan Quest? Or Thief 3?

You've just closed a gate to Oblivion, and you're met with a 'Buy Intel!' ad on the wall of th nearest tavern...

And while it would be nice to see prices drop if ads are included in game... it ain't gonna happen. One word: greed.