Interactive In-Game Billboards Coming

GameDaily is carrying the news that in-game advert company Massive, Inc. is planning to launch interactive in-game billboards. They cite free-but-for-ads MMOG Anarchy Online specifically, but one imagines this technology will be seen in other titles they're licensed for. From the article: "Last week, Funcom and Massive announced a new sort of billboard ad in Anarchy Online. Called 'interactive advertisement technology' this new feature will allow players to do more than just passively look at an ad. Instead, players can interact with the ad and see a more detailed model of the Toyota Yaris, for example."

Comments

Great. Just great.

[BlackCobra43]

As if we WEREN'T exposed to enough advertising as it is. I'm eagerly awaiting DreamVision(tm) ads for Lightspeed Briefs.

Argh, my brain.

[digitrev]

Interactiviy = good ads? Where did they get this from? When's the last time you punched that monkey? Or zapped the target? With those kind of ads, it just means they'll be more pervasive and invasive. There's a reason I have adblock. It's so I don't have to watch your crappy ads. Bah.

Re:Argh, my brain.

[Quiet_Desperation]

When's the last time you punched that monkey?

Why just last ni- oh, wait, you said *punched*. Never mind.

Cool, but..

[Brothernone]

will the chicks they put in theese ads be better detailed "models" too?

Eh..

[Anonymous Coward]

1) As long as the ads don't destroy my immersion (Ads for a new Toyota would destroy any immersion in a fantasy genra game like WOW or Dark Age of Camelot, for example) However, I'm not sure what kind of ads would really fit certain genres. I doubt there are enough local RenFests or uber real life Runed Sword of Magma Destruction sword replicas to sustain an ad campaign for DAoC..

and

2) In a perfect world such ads should be used to supplement the cost of the game to the end user like a TRUE trade off. I stopped going to movie theaters when I was assaulted with TV ads *AND* the cost of movie tickets, popcorn, etc all went up.

I read that NCSoft (City of Heroes) was supposed to be releasing 4 'free' MMORPGs where you only had to pay for the higher end content. I wouldn't be against seeing ads in those games simply because they are used to offset the cost to the customer and not the game company trying to squeeze both ends.

Article tagline...

[Anonymous Coward]

"Ever seen an ad in a subway station and wished that you could interface with it in some way?"

Yes, I wish I could make it go away.

let me wreck them.

[Turn-X Alphonse]

I hope they don't make them so you can't damage them, I think one of the highlights of ingame advertising is if they allowed you to defile it. Take the McDonald's logo and turn it into a giant pair of eyes of a guy peering over a wall for example. It'd be something intresting and would make me look at it to see what people did to trash it.

If companies make something untouchable we'll ignore it, if we can play around with it and have some fun then we'll do so and draw people's attenction to it. Yet I know they won't do this because companies will whine if the full advert isn't shown 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Maybe one day someone will release a Jet Set Radio MMORPG and they'll let us spray whatever we like and generally have fun just kicking around to cool music. That's the sort of game advertising would work for, but again as I said above companies don't care what works, they use the shotgun effect instead.

Deja Vu?

[Firefly1]

I'll have to RTFA later, but from the summary I get the impression that these 'interactive billboards' are not that much different from (parts of) certain websites, such as the aircraft gallery over on the Ace Combat Zero offical website. Worth reiterating at this point are established issues regarding static ingame ads and product placements - that is, they must not be annoyingly intrusive and must fit the gameworld. I can think of very few games where these interactive billboards make any sense... on the other tendril, some multiplayer games (the upcoming Saints' Row, for instance) have virtual lobbies where one could in theory place such a thing with a minimum of impact on the game experience.

Darn.

[\\]

I was hoping "interactive" meant I could blow up or otherwise destroy advertising billboards in-game. :(

Gimme a billboard in an FPS

[phorm]

I'll just wait until my victims are in front of the billboard advertising Subway burgers and then blow them into kibbles. A few well placed meaty chunkss and perhaps a little arterial spray near the picture of some dude chomping on a sub should add to the overall effect of the ad, no? If that doesn't get your attention, perhaps pile up a few dismembered heads near the ad for McDonalds chicken nuggets.

It gets worse...

[d3ac0n]

We have these ads in Planetside. Not only are they disruptive and annoying (They have included ads with SOUND! ARGH!) They are non-destructible. I have seen fights in buildings where an entire wall is COATED in bulletholes and blast marks, but the damn advert and it's frame are squeaky clean!

Fortunately, there is a way to block them, at least for now. You can modify your HOSTS file in Windows and blackhole the advert servers. This kills off the ad generating process that normally starts with the game, and the ad panels in-game will display a pre-fab neutral background.

You can find full blocking directions on my blog , http://wearyman.blogspot.com/

I think that we as gamers need to ensure that we block ads for any pay to play game. Freebie games like AO, ads are OK, it's how the company stays profitable. But for Pay2play games, As we are already paying a subscription fee so the company can make thier profits, there is no reason to subject ourselves to this type of insult.

Block the ads, and then MAKE SURE the game company KNOWS you are blocking the ads either via e-mail or the game forums. If enough of us make the small effort to prevent the ads, the companies will drop them as unprofitable, and we can get back to pure ad-free gaming.