http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2008/10/15/obama_xbox360/ I know we can't discuss the political aspect of this (so don't!), but it brings up an interesting question: how do you feel about advertisements in video games in general? On one hand, for some games it's going to lend a "realistic" feel to have billboards from real companies. On the other hand, a lot of us play games to get completely away from the real world and might not want to be bombarded with ads in our gaming lives. There's also the possibility of in-game ads paying for server upkeep, though, and therefore making a game free-to-play. I don't know the specifics of "Burnout Paradise", but I'm going to guess the game features other ads. Is there some obvious benefit to the gamer that the game is being partially subsidized by advertising?
The one thing that has been great for Burnout is that all the patches and DLC have been free. If that is the case then I am all for it. Although our last bastion of freedom away from advertising is going, going, gone...
To supply realism for the game I see no issue with real world advertising as long as it is done with consideration to the gamers. Basically I don't want to be driving or what ever I am doing in that game and have a random giant "pop up" while I am playing. Keep it to the billboards or sound clips and they should be ok. How ever if I ever see advertising for real world products in MMOs, I am going to be pissed.
MMOs are looking into a couple different models for advertising in games, from inobtrusive to very in your face. It will be interesting to see what players are willing to put up with, as well as what companies might offer to get more viewershp.
I played a mmo once called 9 Dragons, activision had these random pop ups come out of no where trying to sell you shit. Pissed me off to no end.
Maybe in GW2 I can buy Coca-Cola from merchants instead of generic "ale"? I personally don't care if: ii) it doesn't take away from experiencing the game in the setting it's meant to be played in (i.e. advertising cars in a middle-age setting) ii) it doesn't affect my gameplay
burn out, if i recall, is a racing game of some sort, so, say, track side billboards with real adds are ok but i wouldnt expect to see them in a fantasy or scifi based game
I don't buy games with ads. Especially political ads. You don't see magazines with political ads, do you? What a joke. If a game needs ads to make money, it should fail.
i dont mind adds in games if they keep the cost of the game down and are just kinda part of the background, like in racing games you have the banners, hellgate london you have the posters and stuff on the walls but i would have a problem if they did that with wow or warhammer just cause im paying for the game then a monthly fee
What if you got a free or discounted subscription to WAR or WoW or whatever for viewing an ad each time you logged in? Anyway, there are a lot of companies looking at a lot of different revenue models now so expect to see some things coming down the road. And while some people hate them, other people are willing to put up with these sorts of things if it makes their gaming more affordable. Kind of like ads on a website so you don't have to pay subscriptions.
My take on this subject is that ads should be used to add realism to games that are based on real world. Its kinda like the dodge trucks on billboards in Crackdown, it fits. If i saw an ad for redbull on the side of a flag in wow, it would break the feel of the game. I understand people have business models. They just need to make them mesh with the game such that it doesn't detract from the experience.
If it would make an MMO free and they could pull it off in a tasteful way... I think ads would be acceptable.
I don't mind seeing ads in a game where they would be in real life. Examples: billboards along roads, ads on the sidelines in sports games. If the ad does not fit the environment than it can distract greatly from the game. For example, if Fallout 3 were to have brand new shiny ads, it would ruin the immersion of the game world. But if they were decayed and looked like they had gone through a nuclear war it might even add to the realism. Ultimately the developer has to be careful about where and when they are placed. And if they are there they had better reduce the price of the game, otherwise its just plain bad.
For me it depends on three things: 1 - How annoying the adds are. The more annoying, the less I'll tolerate them. 2 - Quality of the game compared to other games of a similar price. The more annoying the adds are, the better the game needs to be in comparison. If adds were added to an existing game, then the other games include the game before it had the adds inserted. 3 - Extra costs created by the adds. For instance if the game rotates adds, they better not use much bandwidth.
Grendels cave had banners adds in game that if you gave the company a click through you could unlock buffs and rewards. relatively unobtrusive and they gave you benefits as well as kept the game free.
I tune out ads as much as I tune out lyrics in electronic music, as long as it's not obnoxious I just see it as an intended piece of whatever art I am currently experiencing. If I don't like it, I leave.
This sounds rather silly to me, for a few reasons. 1) I do see magazines with political ads. 2) How do you know if there are ads/political ads in the game before you buy it? You'd be banking on some pretty well-informed clerks, which is a gamble at best; unless you're researching every potential purchase thoroughly in advance, which maybe you do. 3) The games probably *don't* need ads to make money, just more money. And everybody wants mo' money. Personally I don't like the ads in the driving games, but I don't really play them (my husband does), so it doesn't bother me much. I draw a very firm line at popups. Anything that is directly interrupting my gameplay won't get any further monetary support from me. Otherwise, as others said, depending on how "well integrated" it is in the particular game's environment, I can see it working... and a lot of people putting up with it.
I read reviews of the game, duh. So developers who stuff ads into a game and charge the same price should make money off my expense? Regardless, I've never heard of a decent game that runs ads in it, so I'm pretty safe. I don't buy subpar games.
Open your eyes, man. This whole forum exists to share opinions. I thought about the topic a bit more and decided that animated ads and audio ads would also be over the line for me. I find both of these far too distracting.