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The Good and Bad of In-Game Ads
Dyslexia writes "MLG takes a look at the emerging trend of in-game advertising and explores the ways in which it can prove to be both good and bad for the industry and consumers." From the article: "When done in a way that isn't consistent with the themes or purpose of a game, advertising can go terribly wrong--in extreme cases even crippling the gameplay, at which point it has gone too far. Advertising that draws the player out of the experience of their game rather than immerses them further into it walks a thin line and the benefits start to get outweighed by the detractions. The recent Counter-Strike debacle is an excellent example of in-game advertising going terribly wrong."
If I have to pay for the game and I find out it has advertising within the game, it gets returned, simple as that. If the game is free, then fine advertise all you want.
In my personal experience, the more subtle the ad, the more effective I believe it is. Advertising a big out-of-place SUBWAY COUNTER-STRIKE SPECIAL on the side of an office building in my mind ruins the gaming experience. Putting in a Pepsi machine in the office break room and having Pepsi products dump out when someone blasts the thing is probably far more effective.
No, I really won't have to "get used to it." If I don't want advertising in my games, I won't buy the games with in-game ads. In games like Super Monkey Ball, the "DOLE" stickers on the bananas are fine; in Half-Life I could stand to see name-brand soda machines or even cars (although I would not like to be forced to drive a HummerTM to beat a level). So I'm not all that offended by it, yet, but I am a discriminating consumer of video games, and I'm not going to pay for something with tacky disruptive ads.
Bizarrely enough, I downloaded -- for free! -- user-created content for SimCity 4, including a Starbuck'sTM, a McDonald'sTM, a Home DepotTM, a PetCoTM, and so forth, so that my cities would look more realistic. Any of those companies could sue for trademark infringement, especially if the SimArchitect uses the Golden Arches or the corporate building style (which is usually trademarked). But they're too smart for that, I hope. They know that I laugh my ass off when I see a Starbuck'sTM pop up on all four corners of the same block, and they probably understand that it doesn't hurt their brand.
If a certain game sells for $50 with no advertising, it could also be sold for $43 with in-game ads and still gross the same amount, since ad-revenue compensates for lower sales margins. But if it was sold for $43, it would probably sell more copies, which could lead to higher rates to charge Subway and whoever else wants facetime. This could be extrapolated to the point where the only price you pay is for the store to carry it, say only $12-15; the advertising would pay for the rest.
I don't think this will happen, because I don't think the advertising money is big enough yet. The developers would have to devote time to think of how to do it right, so it fits seamlessly into the game world, as mentioned above... Mazda's in the streets of your FPS, even if they get blown up, maybe even actually going into Radio Shack for some CounterStrike or SplinterCell in-game accessories. But even game-reality shattering products could be modified and included, say in WoW you might see posters for "Mountain Dew: Winner for the 3rd Consecutive Best Orc Beverage Contest." It's corny, stupid and might make you laugh, but that's the point.
I already wasted karma on this discussion, but I need to reply since the marketroids and clones are dominating this discussion.
In game advertising is fucking evil. Why the fuck would anyone want to see ads in a game. Urban setting - need billboards to give it that gritty hopeless edge? Racing game player needs something to look at while turning left? You dont need fucking bullshit advertising to make a game. Games are played for entertainment, for relaxation, to get away from all of the bullshit in real life. Advertising is all about generating and cultivating desire, turning simple gimmicks into wants and wants into needs. You dont need some ad to suddenly popup and tell you that your life is shit because you dont have some shiny new fucking product, you are too fat and smelly, you have too much hair or not enough, maybe you need a date or a mail order bride. Graphics card too slow to move at all when this 500MB texture is loaded - time for an upgrade.
Anything portrayed as advertising in games should be value added content. Show me something original, something enjoyable, a satirical billboard ala the onion or like the 50's style government propaganda in fallout or doom3's Super Turbo Turkey Puncher.
Anyone who says that real advertisements make a game more enjoyable are probably the same people who pay for fucking cable tv and watch the home shopping network.
I wont play any fucking games with ads. I wont play if you give the game away for free. My spare time is worth way too much.
Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three piece suite on hire purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose your future. Choose life.
We have the best government that money can buy.
I love gaming. I've got a launch-day Dreamcast, PS2, XBox, Gamecube, and 360. I play the hell out of them. I spend over $5000 a year on videogames, but if this advertising trend continues, that number will drop to $0.
I hate advertising, especially captive audience advertising. I refuse to pay for the privilege of receiving someone's brand message. I don't go to the movies anymore, because I can't stand the advertising in front of films. I bought a TiVO when I subscribed to pay television, so I could skip ads. I stopped watching series on HBO when I found out that they received paid product placement for shows like The Sopranos and Six Feet Under. I use adblock and other proxy tools to block banner advertising, and if a site finds a way to put a banner on my screen anyway, I never return to the site.
To get to the topic at hand, I should say that I have no problem paying $60 for a game, or even $50. Only the written word gives me better entertainment value. At even 10 hours (a short game), I'm paying $6 / hour for entertainment (well, plus the amortized cost of the console, but over 5 years of hard play time this is basically negligible). That's a fine bargain.
I should amend this statement: I have no problem paying $10 extra for a new game if the costs of development are recouped through consumer purchases. Paying $10 more for Tony Hawk American Wasteland on the 360, a game that is so buggy that some of the in-game missions cannot completed, is an insult. Finding the game stuffed full of advertising for cell phones and energy drinks is such an affront that I am left feeling violated.
This trend continues across other games. Need For Speed: Most Wanted is an EA game, and everyone knows EA would whore their own mothers if they thought it increased the bottom line, so it's not totally unexpected that the game features branding for cell phones and other various non-automotive sponsorship at every turn. I got this one from a friend for $20, and even then I feel a little used after I finish a play session. Even Microsoft gets in on the act. Travelodge advertises in Project Gotham Racing 3. The Samsung logo is emblazoned on the menu system for Perfect Dark Zero. What do shitty motels have to do with road racing? What do cheap Korean electronics have to do with cyberpunk mercenary spies? Not a goddamn thing, that's what, and I resent their presence in the game.
I wouldn't mind the advertising barrage in gaming so much if it helped keep the cost of the product down. I know that development costs are skyrocketing and I'm not unsympathetic, but charging $10 more for a game while stuffing it full of advertising is a naked cash grab, and I resent it. It's tempting to say that publishers can't have it both ways, but that's not true. They can have it both ways, because I'm a fairly typical high-income gamer, and I'm nowhere near pissed enough to stop buying their products. Yet. I'm still playing every game I've listed in this post, and odds are good I'll be playing their sequels in a year or two.
So let's say this: I don't want publishers to have it both ways, but I still bend over, hold my ass open, and take it. I resent them for it, and it builds ill will in me toward them, and over time it disenfranchises me with the hobby as a whole. I'm a lifetime gamer with lots of disposable income, and this commodification and packaging of my eyeballs is slowly turning me off on the entire experience. I can't be the only one.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
People are really, really pissed about this apparently.
I just buy games to have fun. If there are ads, I ignore them -- I'm not so damn uptight that seeing a graphic is going to ruin my enjoyment.
Sometimes, ads make me feel a little more into the game. Not often, no. But it happens. I'm not playing games as an escape, I'm playing games as simple recreation.
If you let something like that get you as incredibly upset as some people here are, I really think you might want to step away from games altogether for a little while. Seriously, if an ad for shaving cream is enough to make you think about the real world and how much you hate it, figure out a way to make that better.
Lighten up. Petty shit can't bother you unless you let it.
I don't go to the movie theater anymore. I can see the movie at home without sitting through 20 minutes of commercials. I know the commercial didn't kill the movies outright but it was one of the 1000 cuts that was killing me slowly. I don't read a newspaper, too much adds and not enough real news. I don't watch broadcast TV much because I don't want to watch commercials. I have HBO and a Playstation. I guess I know what's next to be dropped. Maybe I'll read more books.
Hey you're right! Books don't have ads yet! I think I see an opportunity to make some money!
I often don't like the choices people make, but I like the fact that people make choices. That's why I'm a conservative.