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Videogame or Ad? Hard to Tell
Business Week Online looks at the increasing appeal of videogames to advertisers. Specifically, as has been noted in the past, the ease with which product placement can slip into a game. From the article: "The Sims 2 Open for Business, the expansion pack in the popular Sims franchise that hits stores in March, allows players to launch virtual restaurants, stores, and other entrepreneurial ventures. But, oddly enough, they won't be able to interact with true-to-life financial services companies, or see any on-screen versions of objects, food, or clothing representing recognizable brands. Although the game's publisher, Electronic Arts, considered product placements and even wrote some into early storylines, the game's ad and design staffs decided against it."
If the game is supposed to be 'realistic' and set in a contemporary period, and the ads are where you expect them (i.e. they dont show up during loading periods, but on bus stops and billboards), they can positively contribute to the game experience.
If you're fragging and you see an ad for Preparation H right after you get a headshot, it's obviously a negative experience.
But considering the rising cost of video games I'm wondering whether they're just milking as much cash out of the game as possible. I mean, for $60 I shouldn't expect to see ads in my games.
Thrice before there has been product placement within the Sims (Dont have Sims 2); None of the instances were bundled with the game, but were available as downloadable content which had desirable stastics.
The first was the Pepsi Vending Machine, the second the McDonald's Food Kiosk, and the third a Intel-branded computer.
They were fairly well accepted and it was quite a good tradeoff: Receiving new content or a way to modify previous content in exchange for corporate branding. Better than pre-packaging the branding, placing a price-tag on the tools, etc.
It's certainly worth discussing.
I say: if a game is an ad or is used to primarily place products, make it freeware. If you charge for it, keep the ads out.
Nice to see EA ignoring possible revenue in favor of the consumer.
In exchange for a free gaming experience I am willing to suffer the Coke, Pepsi, and other ads, much like I do in "the real world," or in exchange for television programming free of additional charge. I would play more games if they didn't each cost so much. In fact, I suppose all of us (and many others) might play more by a margin large enough ... for advertising to be valuable enough ... for an ad supported gaming market, and an emergent Google of games?
Really? You think people would bother waiting days to download something instead of drive down to the local Wal-Mart or Best Buy and plop down $10 for a game that they can expect quality from? Or heck, take out the driving to the store, and just have a direct download (ala Steam, minus the technical issues). I don't know about you, but a few bucks and instant gratification with a good game vs waiting days or weeks, even if it's free, just seems like a no brainer. However, $60 for one semi-decent game that I'm done with in a week just doesn't seem reasonable.
If you think $60 is too expensive for a game, then do not buy it.
Buy it? No problem. Subscribe to it so that within a couple of months I've increased the their profit margins astronomically compared to a standalone game? Not interested.
Forced to watch ads on top of that? Quit gaming and hope I'm not in the minority...but I'll bet that in the long run, I'm not...
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson
I think Crazy Taxi (late 90's) already had product placement, where one had to drive to the KFC (or other fast food) or go to the GAP, among other things.
Advertising will never, ever remain a substitution for cost for long. Companies eventually see it as an opportunity for more income and -- up until the point where customers being leaving -- will steadily increase its presence. This helpful chart explains how every single "content"-based product has and will develop:
1) Product is conceived in some form, for free
2) Product gets commercialized, arrives on market for a high initial price
3) Product is offered with advertisements for a lessened price
4) Once people are used to #3, product is simply made to be ad-only and safe for future price increases
See also: cable tv, internet, dvd movies, software
"Electronic Arts, considered product placements and even wrote some into early storylines, the game's ad and design staffs decided against it."
t he-earth advertisers tried to make their way into games and other software that people use for profit. They want people to pay money for a product to view their advertising! What utter GREED! IMHO
Sim City has to be one of the most outstanding games ever made. Electronic Arts has to be one of the most outsanding game makers ever organized.
AND i knew
that it would be-a matter of time- before the slim-ball--bottom-feeding--pond-scum--scurage-of-
I will continue to support Electronic Arts by buying their products. Why? Because they make a good product and they make good business decisions.
This has been another valuable and informative opinion from:
Catahoula!
In exchange for a free gaming experience I am willing to suffer the Coke, Pepsi, and other ads, much like I do in "the real world,"
And are you willing to have their ad server placed on your computer? Or maybe a "Sony-type-Root-Kit"? How about some more of tracking devices and spyware that advertisers love so much? Do you actually think all you are going to do is put up with a flashing ad here and there?
We do not have root-kits in "the real world" and you can avoid their advertising should you choose to do so in RL.
I say: "No Thanks" to that crap on my computer which i paid for.
===
This has been another valuable and informative opinion from:
Catahoula!
Any racing game with licensed cars automatically has product placement in the literal sense -- proudly featuring real-world vehicles. More than that, the manufacturers often demand that their cars not be shown heavily damaged or working poorly, so games with licensed cars often have only superficial damage that doesn't affect handling, and the damage is usually limited to smashed windshields and scratched paint.
This form of product placement is considered a good thing, just because people want those cars anyway so the game lets them pretend to drive them.
Unwanted product placement is often jarring and annoying. Who wants to see a Sim drinking a tiny soda can with a 1024x1024 Pepsi texture applied onto it? Less obtrusive product placement would be advertising video games; for example, in The Sims, they can show real games being played on the sim-computer, which in fact I think they already do IIRC, though more as an in-joke.
~CGameProgrammer( );
Why would you want to slip in product placement, when you can build a whole original game around your product? http://www.classicgaming.cc/classics/tapper/ Subliminal messages are so passé.
I'd probably drink Budweiser today if I drank anything with less than 7% alcohol.
C.
I prefer to anticipate, embrace, and positively influence the implementation gaps into which proven technology will flow. While pointing out potential pitfalls is a part of that process, I'm less enthused about the value of doomsday, slippery slope, and "keep that new thing away from me" style arguments.
whats with this troll shit?
This has been another valuable and informative opinion from:
Catahoula!
What I liked about Anarchy Online was the ads. They made the game feel alot more realistic, and I actually wished that they had a better variety. The thing that made these ads acceptable, though, was that they were absolutely as unobtrusive as it gets. They were just billboard throughout the world. Maybe if they did this in other games that were a big, modern world (Planetscape) or a TV Show tye of thing (Unreal Tournament), I'd be happy.
EA? Turning down an opportunity to sell-out and stick ads into a game and make more money? I'm...shocked.
Well, I personally cannot stand advertisements.
There are more and more of them around, all of them trying to get your attention.
To most people I know, this is irritating but not particularly terrible. One gets used to it and filters them out.
Well, I don't have a TV. Don't want one. Thus perhaps I'm not so used to adverts. And can't filter them out so easily.
The idea of letting me pay for a game (typically 45 Euro: ca $55) and then putting adverts into it? Ugh. They tried that in "Driver 3", and it immediately jaded me enough to drop the game (which was pretty poor on the PC anyway).
Thus my statement: I have plenty of games which I rather like, no matter how old they are. I have MAME. I do a lot of programming (highly enjoyable). And I will not buy any game at all which irritates me - either by overblown copyprotection (HL2) or advertisements (even small ones).
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
EA's Need for Speed has lots of product placement.
Stuff like one car considered to be better than another (and drives better), or "better" cars are unlocked as the player progresses through the game (although a "better" car is actually the same as the player's previous car).
And there are lots of ads in NFS Underground 2 and NFS Most Wanted. Like Cingular, Burger King, Axe, Old Spice, AutoZone etc.
Well to be fair, running an MMPORG is much more complicated than just making the content. There's ongoing costs (huge numbers of servers need admins, power, buildings, bandwidth, etc.).
They have real celebrities so why not have real brands.
"He's a real midnight golfer"
Granted, but it's still got to be a cash grab. After all, Blizzard can support Diablo II with an annual patch/upgrade (chintzy as it is) after 5 yrs. w/o subscription fees, despite apparently abandoning the franchise at Blizzcon. Either they've found a way to make money off it, or (more likely) the expense of maintaining is less than we would think. Subscriptions would only account for the creation of new content (token expense to "plug it in" to the existing game), which doesn't justify charging me the price of the game all over again, several times a year. Sorry, I'll spend my money elsewhere...and so will other casual gamers once the novelty of MMORPG wears off...
When all of your wishes have been granted, many of your dreams will be destroyed - Marilyn Manson