Slashdot Mirror
Online Gaming Ad Network Launches
Wynken de Word writes "'In a move that could open a new vista of possibilities for advertisers, New York-based Massive Inc. today announces the launch of the first ad-serving network for video games. The company said it has so far signed game publishers UbiSoft, Atari, Universal and Konami as partners in its system, which enables marketing messages to be projected into the digital fabric of their online games.' AdAge.com has the article (reg req.)." If you don't feel like registering for AdAge, just read the press release or see the company website.
So this means that instead of paying $50 to Valve so I can play play Counter Strike over Steam or $50 to Ubi (+15/mo) to play one of their MMORPGs, I'm going to get it for free - or at the worst, a significant discount, right?
Or does this just mean that in addition to spending $50 for the game and $20/mo for the service and $50/yr for expansion packs, you're also going to have the added bullshit of being bombarded with advertising in one of the few places you can go to escape those very things?
Why not just have my boss appear in the video game that I'm playing at 2am on a Saturday morning (during MY time) telling me that I need to join some conference meeting?
Great, the one place i go to get away from advertising and commercials is video games, now it seems it's going to be just as bad as sitting at home watching TV. I think ill just watch all the visions in my head. (thanks to the 70's i get 15 psychadellic stations in 34 blazing colors)
-DrMyke
"mmmmmmmmm, doughnuts" - H.J.Simpson; super genius
Great, now our video card drivers will have to have ad blocking code in them to filter out the lame ads.
Alrighty, I'm not a big fan of online games as it is, and am heavily against the subscription-based ones. I can't say I'm fond of stuff like Evercrack where you shell out quite a bit of money for the game, the expansion pack, and then are expected to subscribe for online play.
;-)
If in some way they can forego a subscription fee and simply subject its players to advertising, I'm all for it. In a sense, I do think it's pretty cool seeing ads for stuff -- hell, you see it when you're watching sports (so if it's in the game, why not put it in THE game
As long as it's tolerable and affects my bank account positively, go for it. If it doesn't affect pricing significantly, then screw 'em.
What these game companies should do is sell ad-subsidized games. Full price: No ads. Super discount price: Ads galore. Much like Eudora or Opera.
I go to the movies for fun and excitement and escape from the real world.
;)
When's the last time you were at a movie?!? Didn't you notice all the product placement in them?
Or, perhaps you believe all "super spies" use full GUI interfaces on PowerBooks to hack government networks is pure fantasy... err... hmmm... maybe you have a point.
Diplomacy is the art of saying, "Nice doggie!" until you can find a rock.
Are you ashamed of your sword? Does it embarass you when an opponent laughs at the size of it? There is a solution! In no time at all, you can be wielding a massive zweihander, slaying tons of opponents. You'll be the toast of the party.
Because sometimes you need a bigger hunk of....steel.
I like it.....
as long as you can blow them up with missiles.
This is just an extension of us being viewed as consumers. We're no more than sheep to be fleeced as often as possible. And this is done by bombarding us with advertising as often as possible in whatever environments possible. What ever happened to the vendor supplying "value added" and counting that (the inprovement in there reputation) as advertising? I guess some clown in a corporate boardroom can't pocket that or claim it on the quarterly statement to get the mutual funds to buy more of their stock.
"Like fire and fusion, government is a dangerous servant and a terrible master."~RAH