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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 wild_pointer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      or:

      Game Narrator: "For watching this ad you get XXX gold added to your profile"

      and gamers will flock to watch ads

    5. 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.

  2. Privacy by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >>Massive says it won't charge advertisers unless the full ad has been viewed.'"

    And how do they intend to track this? This is pretty scary. I kind of thought that the purpose of gaming servers was to facilitate gaming and interaction between players...not to monitor their activity.

    Where does one draw the line as to what is and isn't monitored?

    wbs.

    --
    Huh?
    1. Re:Privacy by Winkhorst · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Bottom Line: I am not going to buy a game I learn contains advertisements. I no longer watch TV. Do these bozos think I will make an exception for their pathetic little games? If their games aren't good enough to make a profit the old way, they aren't worth playing. These damned advertisers need to learn that it's the quality of their product that drives sales, not how many times they tell me how wonderful it is. I am perfectly capable of determining whether their product is wonderful all by myself. Did I mention how much I hate these folks?

      --
      "Is this Winkhorst a nova criminal?" "No just a technical sergeant wanted for interrogation."
  3. kind of ridiculous by glassjaw+rocks · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So, basically what you're saying is that the 40 gb hard drive I have now will be filled up with advertisements? And furthermore, shouldn't I be able to have a game that's free of advertisements, seeing as I allready paid $49.95 for the game?

    --
    -gjr
  4. Gaming died years ago by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's true. :-(

  5. Unless the game is free.... by Kenja · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unless the game is free, there should be no adds. If there are adds in the game and there was no warning on the box I would look into a law suit. I'm 90% sure there are disclosure laws that cover this kind of thing. And of course if there is a warning on the box that the game has adds in it, I wont be buying it.

    --

    "Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
  6. 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!!!

  7. This is great! by sgant · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So this means all our games now will be free...right? Like our commercial TV is free cause we watch all the ads.

    And just like going to the movies is now free cause of all the ads in the beginning...right?

    /Sarcasm mode terminated.

    This is bullshit. If the consumer isn't getting any benefits out of it I guess I'll avoid the privilege of paying for something that throws advertisements at me.

    --

    "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
    1. Re:This is great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, this is a way for big game studios to add pennies to their stock price while further pushing more CRAP into games. Advertisers will not bother with small companies. Well, not unless you want to see payday loans and herbal viagra ads in your games.

  8. Best idea evar by Monkelectric · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Massive says it won't charge advertisers unless the full ad has been viewed.

    And I wont pay for games which have advertisements. *period*. I play games to *GET AWAY* from the bullshit that i the modern world.

    --

    Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley

  9. 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.
  10. Perfect by superultra · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Putting more ads before movies has been working great for that industry.

  11. Idea for ads in games by confusion · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think they've got it all wrong... No one is going to stop and watch an ad whilest someone is shooting at them or chasing them with a chainsaw or something like that...

    No, I think the characters need to be dressed in outfits like those worn by nascar drivers, full of ads. You can pick your character as the marlboro man, Mrs. exxon mobile, and the Amazon queen.

    Next, to do the movie ads correctly, they need to be displayed on the torso of your opponent, especially if it's a game where you have to work on a big opponent for a while. Then, everyone is stuck watching them.

    See, that wasn't hard.

    Jerry
    http://www.cyvin.org/

  12. 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.

  13. Re:Suspension of disbelief? by KDR_11k · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "suspension of disbelief" is not profitable.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  14. 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."

  15. Alienation by Renraku · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What a good way to alienate your gamers.

    I mean, what if you were playing World of Warcraft, and there was a big sign for Coca Cola in the middle of Orgrimmar, that captured your screen and furthur reduced FPS as you approached it. You'd probably avoid Orgrimmar. Also, since that's a vital city to play as the Horde, you'd probably end up quitting. gg.

    --
    Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
  16. Obligatory Bill Hicks by Thaelon · · Score: 5, Insightful
    In the immortal words of the great Bill Hicks:
    By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. No, this is not a joke: kill yourself . . . I know what the marketing people are thinking now too: 'Oh. He's going for that anti-marketing dollar. That's a good market.' Oh man, I am not doing that, you fucking evil scumbags.

    I couldn't agree more.

    From TFA:
    We know the 17 to 34 audience, the male audience, is elusive and quite difficult to reach through traditional broadcast. ... It is incumbent upon us to find ways to reach them," says Gerry Rich, president of world-wide marketing for Paramount Pictures.

    Fuck you Gerry Rich. It's not incumbent on you to reach me. I want you to leave me the fuck alone and keep your god damn ads out of my face. I will never pay for any video game that I know beforehand has full motion ads in it.
    --

    Question everything

  17. Did we skip product placement? by Matimus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The adds before a movie bother me a little, but if they tried to insert an add in the middle it would really upset me. It seems like this is what they are trying to do with video games. What they could do though is use more product placement. There are plenty of fake branded soda machines in Doom 3 and Halflife that could certainly have been Coke or Pepsi machines. I wouldn't have minded, really. If done correctly I think we can find a happy medium.

    --
    GENERATION 25: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation. Social exper
  18. that would be ideal by SethJohnson · · Score: 5, Insightful



    Have the advertisers pay for some UT2k4 servers, then set the respawn to 15 seconds, and play adverts after you're gibbed!

    This is how I would like to see advertizers get involved in the gaming industry. If they bring value to the table, consumers will appreciate their involvement. Sadly, these greedheads aren't looking to support gamers by hosting servers and providing bandwidth. They want to exploit gamers as a captive audience for their solicitations. No different from commercials in movie theaters. Advertizers are instead creating a hostile relationship with consumers.

    Support gaming through sponsorship = goodwill generated
    Exploit captive audience = irritating

    Stop invasive commercials in movie theaters.

    Seth

    --
    $5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!