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The Box of Empty Promises
Grimwell.com has a feature up discussing the content selling that publishers like Sony Online and Microsoft have been announcing of late. Xbox Live micro-sales and the purchasing of in-game items in Everquest II may have an adverse affect on the playing field for the average gamer. From the article: "Games are becoming too much about money. Thats a real no brainer statement and I know it. The video gaming industry is where the money is at these days, besting Hollywood and the record industry without even trying. Nor have they really built up a public industry equivalent to the machines that grind out more traditional forms of entertainment. Oh, that's coming, and EA is quickly becoming the MGM of the old film studio system, but the public recognition of the machine that drives the gaming industry is nothing when compared to film, television, and radio."
The Cell Processor doesn't count?
Doug
As for TV, broadcasters (including cablecasters and narrowcasters) are allowed 16 minutes of commercials per hour. So, by the time you factor in the opening and closing credits, yes, about 40-42 minutes of content.
I remember learning about scriptwriting from old Star Trek books I had when I was a teen ("Making of Star Trek" and "Trouble With Tribbles"), and learning that when Trek was made, 8 minutes (or less?) per hour were allowed for commercials. Somehow the fact that over 25% of airtime is no longer about storytelling and about selling products to make women think they have to be malnourished to look sexy just seems wrong.
I've got no problem with product placement. If it gets back to the way they used to advertise (I forgot the show, but I remember an early detective show that was sponsored by a tobacco company where the detective would always drop in to a shop and talk about the virtues of a good smoke for a bit in each episode) where the advertisment is "sneaked in" as a part of the script, I have an issue with that.
What do you mean "what happened to them?" They've only been around for like half a year, and they work great.
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