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Ways to Improve In-Game Advertising 86

Posted by Zonk from the take-it-out dept.
ches_grin writes "At a recent conference, Microsoft's Kevin Browne discussed the 5 most important ways to improve in-game advertising, contrasting the ideal with the current state-of-affairs in the industry." From the article: "Estimations of the growth of the in-game ad market have been varied. Microsoft's internal estimates put in-game advertising at about $1 billion per year by 2010. The Yankee group recently pegged revenues at $732 million in the same timeframe. Microsoft estimates that 2005 brought in $56 million in in-game ad revenue."
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Ways to Improve In-Game Advertising More

Ways to Improve In-Game Advertising

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  • Ah! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Monkelectric ( 546685 ) <[moc.cirtceleknom] [ta] [todhsals]> on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:37AM (#15523825)
    Sounds like a perfect way to convince me to stop buying games.

    I'm pretty much done with DVDs -- when every dvd you buy now has advertisements on it. Even BBC box sets!

    So in short, thanks for pointint out how to ruin another avenue of entertainment for consumers.

    • Re:Ah! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by CastrTroy ( 595695 )
      Yeah, DVDs are getting pretty bad. I rented a movie last week and it had an advertisement for a car. I really couldn't believe it. It's almost as bad as watching that downloading is stealing trailers before every movie, ON A MOVIE I BOUGHT. Here's a clue. People who download movies don't buy them, and will never see that ad. Instead, people who buy these movies have to sit through this crap. Imagine if every time you put your favourite CD in, the first track told you about how wrong it is to copy mus

      • People who download movies don't buy them, and will never see that ad.

        You're on crack.

        I download movies. I also buy them.

        And, incidentally, I have never copied a movie and deliberately removed the copyright notice, even back in the days when everything was on VHS. Typically I copy full DVDs, not just the movie, because I want menus. (On some discs, the menus are the only way to enable multiple subtitle overlays, e.g. white rabbit mode in the matrix plus subtitles.) Many others have done the same t

      • It's almost as bad as watching that downloading is stealing trailers before every movie, ON A MOVIE I BOUGHT. Here's a clue. People who download movies don't buy them, and will never see that ad

        Fascinating.
         
        One of the arguments used those who support piracy is that it encourages people to buy movies they've downloaded. Yet, here - you proclaim the opposite. (And in fact, this matches my personal experience.)
        • I wouldn't say that people who pirate buy nothing, or that they will buy everything they pirate and they like. I know some people who pirate anything and everything just to say they have it, and never buy anything, and then there are those who pirate a little bit, and still buy a some stuff, then there's those who never pirate, some who buy, and some who don't. There's lots of different kinds of people. Trying to fit everyone into one box doesn't work.

    • Re:Ah! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Necreia ( 954727 )
      In games ads are going to greatly restrict what type of games are made.

      Look at it like this-- If having contemporary setting games can generate revenue on billboards, vending machines, etc, then what motivation is it for a company (from financial standpoint) to make a game in an alien or 'old' setting?

      If a company can make another FPS set in LA to sell add space, or a fantasy setting game for whatever reason... the dollar is going to pick the first.

      I'm rather distraught with what is about to come.
      • Where there's a will, there's a way.

        Games such as Mafia (set 50 years ago) can still advertise products such as coke etc. the advertisers just have to be a little creative in chasing down the logo's that were used back then.

        Then you get the classic games 'Cool Spot' and another I think was called 'Zool' that werent 'reality' type games, but were FULL of advertising propaganda (7-Up and Chuppa Chupps respectively)

        And if there isn't a way to directly advertise, they can always have indirect advertising floati
        • That still doesn't provide for medieval settings though, such as what we see in fantasy RPGs. What type of advertising can they embed within a game such as WoW, or NWN, or Fable? My mind is filled with disturbing images such as the parody ads that were all over the place in the movie Shrek 2. If I ever pick up an RPG with that kind of advertising it in, unless parody is the central theme you can be sure that's the last game I ever buy from that publisher.

          But even if fantasy genre games were kept "clean"
    • Product placement is just one of the death throes of the entertainment industry. We are in a huge transition period that's going to change the whole picture of games, movies and music. The entry barrier is dropping to zero because of technology that lets dedicated amateurs produce media that's as good as what big studios can do. There will be a flood of very creative people who have never had an audience because of the narrow distribution channels enforced by the mechanics of business. The sheer volume of h

  • 1 Way to improve in game advertisements.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by caffeinatedOnline ( 926067 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:39AM (#15523833) Homepage
    1. Remove them

    'nuff said

    • Re:1 Way to improve in game advertisements.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by fallen1 ( 230220 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:44AM (#15523880) Homepage
      Well, I was going to say something along the same lines:

      DON'T PUT ADVERTISING IN ANY GAMES. PERIOD.

      That is the most effective way to deal with in-game advertising. You want to target my demographic? Then learn that my demographic DOESN'T WANT intrusive (or even non-intrusive) advertising in our ENTERTAINMENT. That is my down-time away from all the crap of the world. Why would I want to be subjected to the shit called advertising that spews forth from Madison Avenue, LA, or anywhere else in the world during that time?

      • My first, second, and twentieth reactions to the article all consisted of "DON'T!" when it comes to in-game ads.

        The only in-game advertising I would enjoy is the same style as used in Wayne's World. Sarcastic shilling is ok in my book. And I have to admit, I really loved capturing and dismantling the Energizer Bunny in Space Quest 4 (I think it was 4...was a long time ago). But those are the exceptions that prove the rule, which is that immersive ads in our entertainment are a bad thing.
      • "Then learn that my demographic DOESN'T WANT intrusive (or even non-intrusive) advertising in our ENTERTAINMENT."

        Actually.

        I don't mind non-intrusive advertising in games at all. In some cases it can even improve the gaming experience.

        The most recent example of this is the PGR3 Cadillac car pack. What a perfect way to advertise in a game. Free additional content that just happens to be in the form of Cadillac cars. The other example in PGR3 was the Lamborghini sponsored worldwide tournament. That thing was o
      • You want to target my demographic? Then learn that my demographic DOESN'T WANT intrusive (or even non-intrusive) advertising in our ENTERTAINMENT.


        You're assuming two things:
        1. That there is only one demographic which plays games.
        2. That you speak for them.

        People don't want adverts on TV, or in magazines or on the radio.

        But they still work.
      • I'm with you. We're definitely not alone in wanting corporate branding bullshit to go away; it just disgusts me that there are folks who look at every surface, every medium, anything human senses will ever encounter and imagine how to slap an ad on it.

        The problem is, at least to some extent, we'll put up with it, even in our games. Super Monkey Ball is so much fun that I forgive its blazen Dole endorsements. Maybe I'm selling out, or maybe I don't want to miss out on genuinely tasty gameplay just because
    • There's a potentially good PR move here, similar to the "Do no evil" Google promotion.

      Picture this: A company releases a statement that they will not advertise in video games. The statement is so weird to the mainstream media that they pick up on it and advertise the company for them, especially the company's new posture.

      Such promotions can backfire, but that usually happens to companies that pick broad/vague mottos (such as the Google example). The move would restrict the company from a very specific cha
    • Agreed. Considering consumers are paying $50 for a game these days (ignoring episodic content), I think we are entitled to not have to see intrusive advertisements. There shouldn't be a reason to implement them.

      However, playing games like Rainbow 6 wouldn't be bad if there were subtle ads in the environment. Pepsi or Coke machines modeled in an FPS environment is ok. Or a billboard advertising something in a level. A video that plays everytime I want to play my game isn't. Neon flashing lights are not ac
    • 1. Remove them
      Ahh, but therein lies the fun.
      In some games you can shoot the wall and leave holes and scars. So just allow shooting up the advertisement, or drawing funny pictures on it with bullit holes, or even taking down a whole billboard ad with your rocket launcher.

      Now that's the way to remove advertising. Tell the advertisers how you really feel about their ads.

    • Re:1 Way to improve in game advertisements.... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by 88NoSoup4U88 ( 721233 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:39AM (#15524412)
      I don't necesarily want ads removed from games: But since it's an extra source of revenue for the developers, I -do- want to see this reflected in a lower price for the game... But I guess I won't.

      On another note: I hope that when (PC's) first-person shooter ads are really setting off, that server-owners would -also- see a small compensation for their servers acting as a platform to serve those ads: Once again my hopes here are also not likely to become true.
      • Well, hopefully at the very least it will be a case similar to many (most?) FPS's currently out, where custom maps may be created. It would be trivial to make maps very similar to 'official' maps, or even the normal fully-custom maps, without ads. I know for instance that on DoD:S custom servers that have decent download rates and good policing are VERY popular.

  • Tips and tricks (Score:5, Funny)

    by Rob T Firefly ( 844560 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:44AM (#15523881) Homepage Journal
    Mr. Browne later detailed an extensive, detailed list of methods for successfully polishing a turd.
  • Just look at what the wonders of in game ads do to an old classic. I'm getting hungry just looking a the glock.

    http://joystiq.com/2006/01/11/in-game-ads-infiltra te-counter-strike/ [joystiq.com]

  • Get rid of it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Wootzor von Leetenha ( 938602 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:52AM (#15523940)
    Or, if they must be in games... Make it so you can blow them up. The only thing I hate about web ads is when they pop over content I'm interested in reading. It happens all the time when I visit my local newspaper's page. So, if I see an advertisement, I don't mind, simply because I'm used to seeing ads EVERYWHERE. But if it pauses the game and I can't get by it until I've stared at an advertisement for two minutes, that game's coming out of my computer. Also, they should only be in modern games. If I'm playing World of Warcraft, and see an ad for "Microsoft Windows Vista", it'll ruin the game. If it's a near future game, make the ads at least near-futurish. Like in Back to the Future II. If I'm playing a WWII shooter, based in France, give me old time Pepsi ads in French. I don't care if Pepsi wasn't being sold in France before or during WWII... historical accuracy of a minute detail like that doesn't matter to me. And have it be a blown up billboard or a bullet filled sign on the side of a building. Don't distract me from my immersion. If I leave 1943 France because I see an ad for a 2007 Monte Carlo SS, I won't be happy. That is all.

  • Like Broadcast TV versus HBO back in the day (Score:4, Interesting)

    by 246o1 ( 914193 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @10:55AM (#15523969)
    Make any games with ads free. And make any games you pay for free from ads.

    This, however, is not going to happen. A good, and maybe very slightly possible, way to let the market decide would be to label any games with ads, so I can avoid them.
  • IMO it's fine to have ads in *free* (as in beer) games. It's fine to have ingame shops carry real life names and logos. It's fine to have items with real life product names in a game *if* it fits in the theme of the game. In a modern day setting it's fine to have a billboard about coke or cars. A comedy set in the middle ages or in the distant future might get away with a billboard for coke.

    But please don't place interrupting or out-of-place adds in the games we buy. Those companies who do this are warned
    • Given the proper systems and environment in-game advertising could be amazing. Say you're playing a modern day MMO (CoH/Cov or Matrix Online). What if you walk past a movie theater and instead of some static imagery on the side of old movie posters you actually saw new posters with release dates. And what if by clicking on those adds you could open a web browser (either in game via a PDA/laptop, or out of the game waiting for you to come look at it) that would take you to either the movie's home page, or to
      • "Say you're playing a modern day MMO (CoH/Cov or Matrix Online). What if you walk past a movie theater and instead of some static imagery on the side of old movie posters you actually saw new posters with release dates. And what if by clicking on those adds you could open a web browser (either in game via a PDA/laptop, or out of the game waiting for you to come look at it) that would take you to either the movie's home page, or to holywood.com for show time listings in your area. That to me would be great."
        • "What would be great to me is if I wanted to know what new movies were out I would look it up myself online, or watch the ads that show on TV, Buses, Newspapers, Radio, magazines, morning shows, etc..."

          Most of the TV I watch is either premere channels (no commercials) or video on demand. I drive to work and listen to CDs. The only magazines I read are home improvement mags on the john. So I don't really see a whole lot of those advertisements.

          "I'm playing a game to slip into my little fantasy world, not be
      • Given the proper systems and environment in-game advertising could be amazing.

        Key word: could be. Unfortunately, the advertisers would ruin it.

        How? By destroying immersion.

        How? By insisting that the advertised product has a monopoly in the virtual world.

        Imagine a world where every soft drink was Coca-Cola. Where every drinks machine was a Coca-Cola machine. Where every billboard was an advert for Coca-Cola. Think that sounds realistic? Nope, me neither. Think Coca-Cola would let you sell advertising spac
    • Those companies who do this are warned that we will replace such adds with naked women
      Why is it alway naked women, why can't you put in naked men? Besides making *me* happy, it'll probably piss Wal-Mart off more.
  • In-game adverstising is here to stay. With a whole generation of people hooked onto Games and TiVO, much of the $$$$ and attention will move to in-game advertising. I think the goods visible in games will simply become more and more branded. The bot in front of you will soon be running with Nike shoes.

    Scrabble helper with little in-game advertising :) [wineverygame.com]

    • No, in-game advertising is NOT here to stay. We have a choice people. Sure, they might have tried putting in a few ads here and there, but it's not mainstream yet. If we, the PAYING CUSTOMERS clearly state that we don't want ads in games, that's the way it's going to be. I'm sure they'll twist and turn on a survey to say something like "85% of gamers don't mind advertising in games" but we got to fight this.

      Yes it's hard work but we can't sit on our fat asses and get shit thrown at us. If you buy a game and
  • 1. Dynamic and Flexible : Mostly static advertising
    2. Broad Reach : Requires unique integration title by title
    3. Accountable : Effectiveness is only measured by sell-thru
    4. Easy to Integrate : Game teams pushing back, resisting due to it being a lot of work to integrate
    5. Agencies Drive Value : Agencies have a very limited role

    1) This would make sense at the system level, not the advertising level. I don't want to hav

  • The only good kind... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by HiredMan ( 5546 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:00AM (#15524022) Journal
    This is only kind of acceptable in game advertising. [petsovernight.com]

    =tkk

  • Game Commercials (Score:3, Funny)

    by pallyincloth ( 945975 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:00AM (#15524026)
    I think the game should be paused every 10 minutes, at which point the user must watch 3 minutes of commercials before the game continues. (Much like the way Windows Vista is being designed.)

  • Dear advertisers / game creators (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Harald Paulsen ( 621759 ) * on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:03AM (#15524051) Homepage
    Don't put ads in the games I play. I play games to escape reality, and I pay for that priviledge. We have enough ads already. You've gone too far!

    Put ads in games and I will not buy them. I'll do my best to convince all my friends who also BUY (not copy) games to do the same.

    And while I have your attention:
    Get rid of the cd-check. They are only a annoyance to legitimate customers and it just feels wrong that I have to download a patch from a third party to be able to enjoy a game without having to eject whatever music cd (that I bought) I'm listening to.

    Last game bought: Hitman: Blood Money
    Last music bought: Global Chillout Lounge

  • He may have nailed it - (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mmalove ( 919245 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:06AM (#15524079)
    The number one thing on there was to make the advertisements dynamic instead of static. Now if marketing dorks look at that and say, ok, we need a goodyear blimp crossing the screen, they missed. On the other hand, if they lay down a frito lay factory in the middle of Grand Theft Auto, and allow you to BLOW IT UP, then you have something.

    Destructable advertisements. You take out your favorite franchises (DIE Walmart!!), they get name recognition. I could deal with this.

    Imagine you're playing BF 2, and wham, right in the middle of the map is a McDonalds. Bleh, wonder how much money EA got for that? Then you find you can blow the golden arches off with a tank round.

    What if your playing City Life, and actually get to BUY McDonalds? Not some cheap lookalike company conjured up to avoid copyright infringements. You get the burgers, the clown, the tube playgrounds out back - the whole nine yards.

    Companies play their cards right in the video game market, and it could work for everyone. If they treat video games like TV shows (stale static pictures on boxes) - they will do more to turn kids away from video games than a whole congress of Jack Thompsons.
  • The infamous CounterSubway incident is a perfect example of what not to do.

    Remember all those drink cans in Half-Life 2? Would you have cared if half of them were Coca-Cola?

    Wouldn't it just add to the surreal atmosphere of a post-apocalyptic game if you were to see a dusty billboard advertising something common today?
  • Simple! REMOVE IT. Instant improvement.

  • The stated 5 ways and comments (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Aceticon ( 140883 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:20AM (#15524210)
    From TFA

    (The Ideal : The Reality)
    1. Dynamic and Flexible : Mostly static advertising
    2. Broad Reach : Requires unique integration title by title
    3. Accountable : Effectiveness is only measured by sell-thru
    4. Easy to Integrate : Game teams pushing back, resisting due to it being a lot of work to integrate
    5. Agencies Drive Value : Agencies have a very limited role



    The whole thing completly bypasses the issue of what will consumers (you know, those people that actually buy - or not - the games) accept or not as advertising in a game. The stated 5 Ways to Improve In-Game Advertising all have to do with how game makers can make it easier for ad-agencies to sell adverts in games - all the while ignoring the important side-effect that adverts in a game have in the profitability of that game: how much will sales of a game decrease because of the quantity/type of adverts in that game.

    Here's a couple of points coming from a gamer:
    - If your game is situated in a present time scenario, adverts are actually a good thing as long as they are present in the same places and forms as they would be in comparable real life situations. Thus, for example, a football (soccer for you americans) simulator should have adverts around the playing fields, just like they have in real life - in this situation adverts give depth and realism to the game.
    - If your game is not situatied in a present-time/real-life-like scenario don't do in-game adverts. If you really, really want to make money from adverts, get companies to sponsor official mods and extensions for the game and make those available for free from a website while avertising (in that website) for the company that sponsored the mod/extension.
    - Just follow the example of TV - in pay-TV, at most you'll see some product placement in those movies/series whose story takes place in a real-life-like present-day environment, never, for example, in science fiction movies. Free TV goes a step further an has adverts before and after each block of free content. Notice how pay-TV is way lighter on adverts than free TV - that's because most people are not willing to pay for seing adverts (at least not where i live): keep that in mind.
    • I agree with your suggestions. I think if I found a Coke ad in Final Fantasy XII, I'd start beating people with the game box. Yet Top Spin is covered with ads (I don't think my charactor has any clothes without brand logos) yet I love that game. I think the only question those looking to put ads in a game need to ask is "Does the ad fit in the gameworld?". Unless the game is free, then the only question is how annoying are the ads.
    • "If your game is not situatied in a present-time/real-life-like scenario don't do in-game adverts. If you really, really want to make money from adverts, get companies to sponsor official mods and extensions for the game and make those available for free from a website while avertising (in that website) for the company that sponsored the mod/extension."

      Dude, that's an awesome idea! Collect pepsi twist off caps to unlock a limited run item in game.

      -Rick

  • Be careful what you wish for. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by InThane ( 2300 ) on Tuesday June 13, 2006 @11:26AM (#15524289) Homepage Journal
    I've seen it bandied around that companies should avoid placing advertisements that breaks immersion in the gameworld - for example, just about any advertising in a fantasy realm would break immersion, and thus should not be included in a game.

    Since game development companies want to maximize cash flow, and advertising is a way for them to increase their cash flow (especially if they have dynamic ads that can be updated after the game is initially launched) I believe you'll see a move away from games where ads aren't easily insertable into the game - in other words, a reduction in the number of fantasy, apocolyptic, and otherwise "non-advertising friendly" games with good production values.

    I hate the idea of in-game advertising as much as anybody else. I also hate what I fear this trend will do to the games I enjoy...
  • Is some marketing or PR firm trying to use /. as an unpaid focus group? Don't tell 'em squat, people. Or lie.

    Personally, I love in game advertising. The more the better. And it doesn't have to make sense in context. Just throw in product placement anywhere. Level 45 Druids drinking Coca Cola, love it! Barbarians in Hummers, oooh! Scary! Moto Razr communicators in Star Trek, Ginsu brand light sabers, Met Life insurance policies on your characters, bring it on! Right everybody?
    • Is some marketing or PR firm trying to use /. as an unpaid focus group?
      I was thinking the same thing.

      Don't tell 'em squat, people. Or lie.
      Or, since these firms are trolling for ideas, provide them with the type that advocate shunning [slashdot.org] in-game advertising.

      Appealing to someone else's greater goal is the first step to having them adopt yours over the short term.
  • I am for in game adds (if they lower the cost of gaming), but the have to be done well, this is exactly how to ruin them. Decoding the marketing speak his points are:

    1 very intrusive: subtle
    2 stick them anywere: but some effort into placing them at logical points.
    3 invade your privacy: measure ROI without destroying privacy.
    4 dup. of point 2.
    5 marketing executives place ads (seemingly at random to us lesser mortals): games developers carefully integrate adverts into the games environment without destroying
  • Gran Turismo series is a good example. Do you want to be driving past billboards for mock companies, in a car with fake sponsors, on circuits with changed names and layouts?

    I agree that WoW would be ruined by a quest to return the Flame Grilled Whopper Recipe, and that BF1942 can do without the latest Nissan Micra advert, but some games are improved by the added realism. If these ads generate revenue to continue to develop quality games then that'll be a good thing too. Just don't make them intrusive or a

  • 5 ways? (Score:2)

    by Tom ( 822 )
    Hm, five ways? Let's see...

    1. Get rid of them
    2. Remove them
    3. Disable them
    4. Block them
    5. ???

    There are very few games where in-game ads are appropriate and don't distract from the game itself. Some sports games might qualify, but only if your goal is to simulate not only the game but the entire stadion atmosphere as well. The only genre I can really think of where ads are part of the game are Cyberpunk games where the theme practically requires every available surface to be covered in ads, so there could ju
    • Pay-TV with ads? I think that's been tried and found to be a horrible failure.

      Looked at your cable bill lately?
    • > Some sports games might qualify, but only if your goal is to simulate not only the game but the entire stadion atmosphere as well.

      This is what drove me away from "professional" sports in the first place.
  • As a quite avid gamer playing a variety of games especially mmo's and rpg games (both single and online) I find ingame advertising for out of game products to be intrusive and quite offensive as they break the immersion factor of the game for me personally.

    Take for one example one of the small scale MMORPG's I used to play the game is set some several hundred years in the future after a couple of nuclear wars. So what do you expect to see on the billboards inside the main cities but Alienware adverts!
  • Is the reason I've watched less than 24 hours of television in the past year. Put this in my games and I'll be hitting the library.
    • If enough people start hitting the library, you'll start to find ads in books. The greedy parasites won't be satisfied until they can beam advertisements directly into your brain. Can't we make it legal to hunt marketroids for sport?
  • I do not understand how to possibly put ads in many games without breaking those games. This is especially true for games where the settings is completely different from the real world. Imagine playing World of Warcraft, and then suddenly seeing a big ad for Coca Cola outside Ogrimmar... that would break immersion. I could see something like that in GTA, though.
  • The reason these stories on Slashdot are useless is because all of the slashbots here will be screaming "I don't want ads!". Well, tough shit. Advertising is part of our world and culture and they are coming to video games whether you want them to or not. Sure, there will be some smart companies that manage to avoid it, but rather than bitch and moan about how you don't want the ads, why not try to think of ways that they may actually become a value-add to the game?

    Someone in here posted a suggestion of

    • Advertising is part of our world and culture and they are coming to video games whether you want them to or not.

      Unless we stop buying them. Seriously, why is it acceptable to expect people to pay to watch advertising? Sure, I'll play free games with advertising, like candystand.com games, but I am NOT paying $50 or $60 for the latest RPG just to see "Cournel" the NPC selling "K'ntuckee Fried Gryphon wings". I don't think it's funny, I don't think it's cute; I want my games to be as immersive as possible

      • "Unless we stop buying them."

        Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that while you will stop buying them, enough of the market will not and will thus perpetuate the status quo. And as for not liking my suggestion for integrating it less intrusively into the game, well, lets see you do better!

        • Unfortunately, the reality of the situation is that while you will stop buying them, enough of the market will not and will thus perpetuate the status quo. And as for not liking my suggestion for integrating it less intrusively into the game, well, lets see you do better!

          It's not your fault I think your suggestion sucks; I'm pretty sure any advertising in fantasy games would suck because it will break the atmosphere. You made a good go of it though, but where you went wrong was in assuming ads are needed

    • The reason these stories on Slashdot are useless is because all of the slashbots here will be screaming "I don't want ads!". Well, tough shit. Advertising is part of our world and culture and they are coming to video games whether you want them to or not.

      Delete "on Slashdot" and replace "slashbots" with "family-values groups" and "advertising" with "sex and nudity", and it'd be just as true, that is, sure, its part of our world and culture, and, sure, people want to put it in games, but, you know what, p

    • "Well, tough shit. Advertising is part of our world and culture and they are coming to video games whether you want them to or not."

      Well lets see, part of our world? your right! But of course so is cancer, AIDS, Polution, WAR, Famine, the disparity between the rich and poor, dictators, terrorism, pattent trolls, etc... BUT funnily enough, people still try and fix those PROBLEMS. I keep telling them "well tough shit, its part of our world and always will be so you better bloody well get used to it!"

      For some
      • "But of course so is cancer, AIDS, Polution, WAR, Famine, the disparity between the rich and poor, dictators, terrorism, pattent trolls, etc... BUT funnily enough, people still try and fix those PROBLEMS."

        Because believe it or not a large number of people are perfectly fine in advertising and realize the necessity for it in the business world. And BTW, most of the examples you give are things that people pretty much unanimously agree are bad. Good luck finding someone who thinks AIDS is a good thing. Adve

    • Re:Article (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Some_Llama ( 763766 )
      "why not try to think of ways that they may actually become a value-add to the game?"

      Because (obviously from user comments) the majority of us DON'T WANT ADS!!!!!

      I personally think (not you, maybe) that the pro-ad posters are actually industry shills ("oh in game ads are great, i love how you can order a pizza in game, now if only I could order from HOME DEPOT life would be perfect"... oh please).

      We have all seen how pervasive ads are nowadays, when TV first started there were like 5 minutes of commercials
    • The reason these stories on Slashdot are useless is because all of the slashbots here will be screaming "I don't want ads!". Well, tough shit. Advertising is part of our world and culture and they are coming to video games whether you want them to or not.

      There are 3 ways to avoid advertising. Here they are:

      1) Die. Seriously. Then your problems with advertising will be all over for good. The drawback is that it is permanent [depending on your beliefs in an afterlife.... :) ].

      2) Live 'off the grid' on publ
  • Most game patches now are made primarily availilbe from services like GameSpy, where registration and ads are plentiful. I would happily _Opt In_ to see in game ads, to have a _fast_ patch server access, rather than logging into GameSpy and seeing crap load more ads, to patch a buggy rushed out the door game. If publishers are going to give me ads, I want something in return.
  • This game had "decent" in-game advertising. Computers you "hacked" into had an AMD or Nokia screensaver. As long as it doesn't disrupt the flow of the game, using signs and such isn't that bad.

    Now, it would be good if in-game advertising lowered game prices. But i guess they are using it to "recover from piracy loses"
  • Don't. Plain and simple.
  • In first person shooters set in a futuristic earth you could perhaps have a laser gun made by Ruger or Beretta. Or perhaps if your FPS got down to 2 or 3 and holds like that have a friendly graphic reminder that the game would work better with an upgraded video card/processor/memory depending on what your system specs are. I feel that advertising in games could be benificial to gamers and developers alike and it's perfectly acceptable. We get advertised at when we are driving down the road, when we walk th

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