Ads in video games set to rise

[undergroundtech]

Personally I think this idea sux.
Do you think all the useless advertising could be the reason why guys spend less & less time watching TV and now they think they have found a new audience by advertising in my video games that I already have to pay $50.00 a game.

Quote:
Advertising in video games is a lucrative playing ground for companies hoping to reach a captive audience who spend hours in front of titles.
A quarter of US gamers have cut the time spent watching TV and a fifth more intended to, according to a recent survey.

You can read about it here:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3727044.stm

[silenze]

I'm climbing a clocktower if/when that happens.

It's kind of sickening... we're human beings, not a science experiment... commercials are one of the major reasons people turn From TV...

[Kattikawn]

In Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow agent Sam Fisher has to work out how to use his Sony Ericsson P900 smartphone to progress.

That is *so* gay. Advertisers just don't seem to get that people are starting to get sick of having ads crammed down their throats. It wasn't enough that commercials started taking up more and more of tv airtime. They had to start inserting them into the programs themselves, popping up in the bottom of the screen and completely distracting the audience from the program.

How intrusive advertising has become is part of the reason I switched out of the graphic design major. I just can't reconcile contributing to the garbage that invades people's lives nowadays and the stupid techniques used to manipulate people into buying that crap.

Forcefed advertising is one of my pet peeves. :x

[silenze]

One of the biggest things.... games are an escape from reality just as movies are... when we're bombarded with tons of ads.... do they seriously think we're still going to play the games? .........

Contrast: Internet Explorer..... faults/holes/issues = ads being crammed down our throats (spyware/adware) -- so what have the majority done? Installed applications to try and prevent this... as well as popups. Many have just bailed on Internet Explorer entirely, or use it to a limited extent... I can see sort of the same thing happening in this situation. Or people turning to games not ad-supported... (example here; firefox).

Break out the board games!!!

[Trunks]

Risk or monopoly anyone?

[Kattikawn]

I'm thinking Parcheesi.

[Caj Darkmoon]

Cheese to go with that?

Honestly people, you can't expect a large entertainment industry to avoid advertisements forever. And 'force-fed advertising'? Have you ever asked to be advertised to? All advertising is 'force-fed' as you put it. Seriously people, thicken up the skin a little bit.

[knight3080]

Heh I am waiting for the day when they start beaming the ads into our dreams like they did in Futurama :roll:

[Kattikawn]

Cheese to go with that?

Honestly people, you can't expect a large entertainment industry to avoid advertisements forever. And 'force-fed advertising'? Have you ever asked to be advertised to? All advertising is 'force-fed' as you put it. Seriously people, thicken up the skin a little bit.

Yes, but some are much worse than others and it pushes the boundaries more and more every year. Want to skip those ads with your tivo? We'll put em right on top of the program. They had to pass a *law* to prevent people from soliciting to you in your home over the telephone. Yes, it's force fed and right in your face from the time you wake up in the morning.

[Caj Darkmoon]

Cheese to go with that?

Honestly people, you can't expect a large entertainment industry to avoid advertisements forever. And 'force-fed advertising'? Have you ever asked to be advertised to? All advertising is 'force-fed' as you put it. Seriously people, thicken up the skin a little bit.

Yes, but some are much worse than others and it pushes the boundaries more and more every year. Want to skip those ads with your tivo? We'll put em right on top of the program. They had to pass a *law* to prevent people from soliciting to you in your home over the telephone. Yes, it's force fed and right in your face from the time you wake up in the morning.

You're right, they passed a law preventing phone solicitation. Looks like a good sign to me that the government is trying to protect us from it. But so what? You can't handle an advertisement for mountain dew in the latest episode of Survivor? Is it too hard to see an ad behind homeplate while watching a baseball game? It's how companies get information out there. If you don't pay attention to it, there's nothing to bother you.

[undergroundtech]

I don't watch Survivor, but it is how the local TV channels pay for their services. You don't get commercials in pay-per-view events and video games should be no different, since it is YOU paying for the product & not the advertisers. If it were the other way around, I doubt I would mind playing free video games brought to you by Miller Genuine Draft or Viagra.

However, since it's being payed for by myself & millions of other gamers, I will give serious thought before I send $50 of my hard earned dollars, just to see ads that I can watch on TV for free.

Also Caj, did you read the part about them also including tracking software with there ads, (I guess ur OK with that too)?

[silenze]

Cheese to go with that?

Honestly people, you can't expect a large entertainment industry to avoid advertisements forever. And 'force-fed advertising'? Have you ever asked to be advertised to? All advertising is 'force-fed' as you put it. Seriously people, thicken up the skin a little bit.

----------

You're right, they passed a law preventing phone solicitation. Looks like a good sign to me that the government is trying to protect us from it. But so what? You can't handle an advertisement for mountain dew in the latest episode of Survivor? Is it too hard to see an ad behind homeplate while watching a baseball game? It's how companies get information out there. If you don't pay attention to it, there's nothing to bother you.

Billboard !=(not equal) 'force-fed' advertisement. :mrgreen:

[Kattikawn]

The billboard in the baseball game isn't peeling itself off the wall and stepping in front of the players, though.

And I wouldn't grace Survivor with a channel skim of the remote control. :roll: Watching that is asking for punishment to begin with.

There's a difference between the advertising that sits politely in the background in the case that you'll notice it and the advertising that does its very best to scream and wave its arms in an effort to completely distract you from what you're doing. Sure, you can play Splinter Cell, but to progress through the game, you have to tinker with the new Ericsson PQ8375u43FGD cell phone. As I said before, some are much worse than others, and they do their best to intrude on your enjoyment as much as possible.

[leezard]

Let em put adds in video games, maybe since they will be making money from another source games will stop going up in price

[Trunks]

As long as they don't interupt gameplay to tell me why I should buy this certain product that is probably out of date before I get to play the game anyway, I don't really mind. Having Sam try to figure out his ericcson is a bit much though, the guys brilliant how the hell wouldn't he know?

[undergroundtech]

Let em put adds in video games, maybe since they will be making money from another source games will stop going up in price

Actually, the prices have been steady for quite a while.
From what I have recently read though, you should look forward to game prices going up soon, not down.

[Beemer]

I wouldnt mind seeing a coke machine in a realistic game...... I think it would add to the realism, and at the same time it could serve as an advertisement. If it brings the price of the game down, I could stomache it. As long as it is not thrown at you.....

[XPTB]

I wouldnt mind seeing a coke machine in a realistic game...... I think it would add to the realism, and at the same time it could serve as an advertisement. If it brings the price of the game down, I could stomache it. As long as it is not thrown at you.....

I have to agree with beemer here. Realism is the main part of some video games. If you're running through vice city and see a billboard that is actually a real ad, im game... not big deal. The coke machine or Pepsi machine, not a problem.

As long as they don't put them in load screens and stupid crap like that, I won't bitch. The last thing I need is the next stage loading and letting me know I can save 20 bucks on a new LCD 19" monitor.

Also Undergrountech has a very good point. We pay for these things, just like you pay for XM radio which has no commercials. However we are paying for ads today. I pay for cable TV to get a crap load of ads. You pay for Internet and get ads CRAMMED down your throat. It's only a matter of time before Bootlegging gets way out of hand. I say if they start cramming ads in video games, im gonna get a mod chip and rent me some PS2 games :twisted: At least then I won't be paying much for my lame ads

[silenze]

I'm appalled with some of your responses to this....

Imagine one day when houses are computer controlled(like mr. bill gates' house)... just like they're talking about tracking in this article, they'll be tracking you in your home... watching what you drink, what you eat, what you do around the house, and flashing advertisements on the front of your fridge accordingly, or on your family portrait hanging on the wall...

It's not about the idea of ads in videogames, it's about the idea of having no privacy... always having some marketing fiend studying your moves without you knowing, just to flash an ad in your face that you *might* be interested in...

I wouldn't mind billboards or soda machines in games.... but I do mind someone monitoring what I'm doing on my private personal time, with something I used my money that I worked for to buy...

We're human beings, not science experiments, the government and large advertising company X, do not own us... like they seem to think they do.

It may sound like I'm freaking out about this or losing my mind..... but just imagine a world in which, the only way you can get privacy, is to sit in the dark using nothing electronic having to do with communication or entertainment... that's what this country is rapidly coming to.

On that note... if we ever lose cash, and everything goes to debit/credit, say goodbye to 100% of your freedom.

</1984 mode>

[Beemer]

But we ultimately control our houses. We have a firm grip on our own privacy. I dont think I would let something like that happen.....

::thinks of a cabin in the woods with a warm fire place::

[silenze]

::thinks of a cabin in the woods with a warm fire place::

I'm with you on that one :lol:

[XPTB]

this just in: Need for Speed Underground 2 is king of ads

While pimping my Escalade (yes Cadillac Escalade in a racing game) I drove past an actual Best Buy building after I had passed an Old Spice deodorant billboard.

Lets not forget the big Singular wireless logo up top that represents the Singular cell phone that i use to contact folks for races. This same Singular telephone told me about my tuner shop right next door to the Burger King.

I think they spent to much money on car licensing so they had to make that up in ads.

[Kattikawn]

Don't forget the Campbell's Soup ad too. [smilie=angry3.gif]

[siq]

I also want a cabin in the woods with a warm fireplace and a T1 line :)

[undergroundtech]

Well, I got a house in the woods with a warm fireplace, but no T1 line... Just dial-up :x