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Full-Motion Ads Come to Videogames

Posted by Hemos on from the the-joy-of-games dept.

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "'Advertising in videogames, dominated in the past by static ads such as billboards and signposts, is beginning to look more like TV commercials,' according to the Wall Street Journal. Massive, the company that brought still ads to videogames last year, is now introducing full-motion ads to PC-based games (not yet console titles). Massive CEO Mitchell Davis 'says Hollywood movie studios have shown particular interest in running 15-second movie trailers in online games.' Also of note: 'One problem with the full-motion ads is that gamers can easily avoid watching them. The full-motion ads start playing when a player moves near the ad spot on the screen -- and stop playing when the player moves away. As a result, gamers may see only a few seconds of the 15-second ads. Massive says it won't charge advertisers unless the full ad has been viewed.'"

25 of 486 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, that will work real well... by It+doesn't+come+easy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Player: "Oops, time out while I take 15 seconds to watch this ad..."

    Game Narrator: "As you stand in the same spot for 1.3 seconds, the demon from hell rips your head off and tosses your mangled body over the nearby cliff. Alas, you find yourself dead at the bottom of the ravine. Better luck next time."

    --
    The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
    1. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by TimElliott · · Score: 5, Funny

      But did he save the 15% on car insurance?

    2. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by lukewarmfusion · · Score: 5, Funny

      Like real estate, outdoor advertising is about location. Who would put a billboard next to a demon-guarded ravine?

      Customers are no good to you when they're mangled and decapitated.

    3. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by bentcd · · Score: 5, Funny

      Who would put a billboard next to a demon-guarded ravine?
      An undertaker?
      Customers are no good to you when they're mangled and decapitated.
      The undertaker begs to differ :-)

      --
      sigs are hazardous to your health
    4. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by Golias · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Sears Craftsman Flashbombs"

      That would probably be the first time a "lifetime warranty" would actually make me less confident about using a product.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    5. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
      or:

      Game Narrator: "For watching this ad you get XXX"

      and gamers will really flock to watch ads

    6. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by Deathlizard · · Score: 4, Funny

      On my mud, after you would have got your head ripped off, you would have to have your deity raise you from the dead. that sounds normal until you realize that all of the deity's were named after fast food characters.

      So after your head got ripped off, you would type resurrect and the next thing you would see is something like "Mayor McCheese resurrects you in his temple" which of course looked like the inside of a McDonalds.

      We also had Dave Thomas, Harland Sanders, The Taco Bell Chihuahua, Ronald McDonald, Long John Silver, The Burger King and The Dairy Queen as deity's. Apprently, I was ahead of my time and was doing it for free when I should have charged for it.

      --
      In Soviet Russia, Trojan exploits YOU!
    7. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      Well... I'll make sure to have my +5 Demon Slayer's Sword of AT&T handy to slay that beast while my Trojan(TM) shield will protect me.

    8. Re:Yeah, that will work real well... by Forager · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, but might get to stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

      --
      student of animation and the fine arts
  2. reminds me of that futurama episode by Some_Llama · · Score: 5, Funny

    Leela: "Didn't you have ads in the 20th century?"

    Fry: "Well sure, but not in our games! Only on tv and radio...and in magazines...and movies. And at ball games, on buses, and milk cartons, and t-shirts, and bananas, and written on the sky. But not in games! No sirree."

    Chalk one up for marketing progress!!!

    1. Re:reminds me of that futurama episode by sprag · · Score: 4, Funny

      damn you're fast...I was looking up that quote.

      Bender: Quit squawking fleshwad nobody's forcing you to buy anything.

      Amy: Yeah. I mean we all have commercials in our dreams but you don't see us running of to buy brand name merchandise at low low prices.

  3. Re:And they know this how? by banglogic · · Score: 2, Funny

    And they know this how? Sounds like adware/spyware on my PC -- again.

    Oh no! Adware/Spyware on my console now!? Argh!

    --
    Bang Logic - Serious Small Business Services
  4. Yeah Yeah it was coming by hobotron · · Score: 5, Funny


    Fine. Whatever. Put ads in if you want, because you were going to anyway, nothing stopped you in the movies, but if my character needs a god damn Pizza-Hut ray gun to quash the evil Ceasar overlords Im going to personally shit in your Director of Marketing's coffee.

    --
    There is truth in humor.
  5. More like this... by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Funny
    Why do video ads? Text ads are the way to go...


    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

    > WHAT IS A GRUE?

    Sponsored Link
    GRUE
    Browse a huge selection now! Find exactly what you want today.
    www.eBay.com

    Monster - Official Site
    Post Jobs & Search Qualified. Resumes. Find the Right Employees!
    www.Monster.com
    -----------------

    The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth. Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.

    >


    The new spelling of Text Adventure Game is Text Ad Venture.
    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  6. Hooray! by drafalski · · Score: 3, Funny

    This will no doubt mean lower video game prices now that publishers will be drawing ad revenue, right?

  7. Fitting ads into game theme difficult... by It+doesn't+come+easy · · Score: 3, Funny

    As you drive your combat skimmer across the sand dunes on Alberon VI, you notice a full motion billboard next to the bombed out ruins of the enemy's headquarters..."Get a free Experian credit report with a free 30-day credit monitoring trial."

    --
    The NSA: The only part of the US government that actually listens.
  8. Possible fix by Spy+der+Mann · · Score: 5, Funny

    Alas, you find yourself dead at the bottom of the ravine. Better luck next time."

    (As the screen shows the floor and your blood's dripping, you manage to see an announcement in a nearby wall:

    "Headache? Take advil."

  9. Re:Unless the game is free.... by Durandal64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Unfortunately, even commercial game makers must have adds in their games. The ability to add and multiply numbers is just too important to programming to toss out. If you don't like adds, I suggest never using any computer software ever again.

    Or did you mean "ads"?

  10. Re:Unless the game is free.... by wed128 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I love a little ADD in my games...hey look, a squirrel!

  11. Re:This is great! by killmenow · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...then, the consumer ultimately gets another iteration of a game that they may have enjoyed.
    Unfortunately, reality invades the dream world you describe and produces Doom 4 instead.
  12. Re:Note to game developers/publishers by imsoclever · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got 7 but I always make stupid mistakes

  13. Re:Suspension of disbelief? by Phyvo · · Score: 2, Funny

    The Sims? "Now, not only can you play a game where you actually have to use the bathroom, but you have a new 'TV meter' which makes sure you get your daily dose of TV and ads during the day! Or else you die from... uh... cultural isolation."

  14. Shoot 'em by rmjohnso · · Score: 2, Funny

    I always loved the games where you can shoot and leave damage to just about anything in the environment. If I can blow up the ad, I might not mind it too much.

    Or even better...

    In UT2004:
    Sales man in a suit walks up: "Are you tired of paying too much for car insurance on your Scorpion?"

    Player whips out sniper rifle...
    Announcer: "HEAD SHOT!"

    --
    "Extremism in the pursuit of liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." --Barry Goldwater
  15. Re:Ummm, wherever they want by kindbud · · Score: 2, Funny

    You have no right to privacy on other people's property.

    Funny, I usually play games in the privacy of my home, rather than at the publisher's premises.

    --
    Edith Keeler Must Die
  16. Red vs Blue by Alpha_Traveller · · Score: 3, Funny

    OOOOOhhh.... I CAN'T WAIT for their take on this to show up in Red vs Blue.

    "Sarge?"

    "Yeah!"

    "Is that you up on that billboard?"

    "Yeah!"

    "What are you doing to that donkey?"

    --
    "Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important." (Lisa Hoffman)