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British Intelligence Inserts Job Ads Into Games

Posted by Zonk on from the be-all-the-sam-fisher-you-can-be dept.

eldavojohn writes "Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is taking a new approach to attracting new recruits. 'The monthlong ad campaign, which starts at the end of October, is being run by GCHQ, the recruitment firm TMP Worldwide and Microsoft-owned in-game ad agency Massive Inc. Ads headed 'Careers in British Intelligence' will appear as billboards in scenes in Splinter Cell and other games including Need for Speed Carbon and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars when they are played on computers and Microsoft Xbox consoles in Britain.'"

44 comments

  1. do it for the britishisms! by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 1

    I thought she was a sandwich, till she went spare on me hand!

    1. Re:do it for the britishisms! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      As a Brit, I have to ask... WTF is that supposed to mean?

    2. Re:do it for the britishisms! by megaditto · · Score: 1

      sandwich: Peanut butter and jelly -- Machiavelli
      spare tire: -- quagmire
      hand: job -- lynch mob

      --
      Obama likes poor people so much, he wants to make more of them.
    3. Re:do it for the britishisms! by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 1

      "I thought she was a sandwich, till she went spare on me hand": Ringo explains to John what transpired at the vending machine in the corner. To go spare means "go berserk"; Ahme had just tried to bite Ringo's ring off! There's a secondary meaning: a girl "going spare" is one who's sexually enthusiastic or available. A deliberate double entendre is entirely possible, especially in light of a long-standing music-hall tradition of having such lines delivered with complete innocence by a straight man (like Ringo).
  2. ObPennyArcade: Looking for agent W007 by nweaver · · Score: 0

    I guess they are looking for L337 AG3NTZ to be W007

    --
    Test your net with Netalyzr
  3. Too late, unfortunately. by splutty · · Score: 1

    Since the perfect game for this would most definitely have been the 'I, Spy' series obviously.

    The idea has merit, though, since you're bound to attract a younger audience with an aggressive streak who loves blowing up enemies and.... uhm.... Maybe not.

    Have they really thought this through?

    --
    Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
  4. Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by ObiWanStevobi · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When we are getting peppered with ads during games, I fell pretty cheated that there wasn't a discount on the price. It's bullshit. If you are going to flood the game with ads, make it cheaper or free! For example, Yaris for Xbox live or the Burger King games. Although I must say that Burger Kings presence in Fight Night was sickening. Especially when I had to pay $60 to get "the King" as a trainer fighting in a BK themed ring!

    I don't mind the concept of ads in games if it discounts the game. But I can't stand being charged full price for a game when the studio was paid to force gamers to sit through a commercial.

    1. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Fx.Dr · · Score: 1

      ...make it cheaper or free! For example, Yaris for Xbox live...

      And that game was worth every penny.

    2. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by WED+Fan · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      When we are getting peppered with ads during games, I fell pretty cheated that there wasn't a discount on the price.

      You live in a free society, where you enjoy rights and freedoms your ancestors could only dream of, some even gave their lives for you. And you complain that an advertisement from a government (yours or an ally of yours) for people to help keep you free, doesn't reduce the cost of your video game?

      Look up "perspective" and "petty" and "whiney assed ingrate", then post again.

      --
      Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong fix.
    3. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Tim+C · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You're right. Given that (as a UK citizen) my taxes will be paying for the adverts, they should be paying me to play the game.

      --
      It's official. Most of you are morons.
    4. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by legoman666 · · Score: 1

      I've always felt that seeing advertisement in games that are for real companies makes it more realistic. Like seeing billboards for mc Donalds or something while driving on the street in a racing game.

    5. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by oliverthered · · Score: 2, Insightful

      isn't that part of the problem, 'most' people see games as a bit of escapism.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    6. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Pantero+Blanco · · Score: 2, Insightful

      As peoples' lives get easier, they'll start to complain and fight over things that aren't as important. This is what allows their lives to keep getting easier. Go read Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom if you want something of an extreme example.

      At any rate, the GP post isn't complaining that the price of (and the presence of advertisements in) the game is a violation of his civil liberties or a crime against humanity. He isn't threatening the companies involved, or even picketing their offices. He's basically just saying it annoys him. I'm certain you've payed to see a crappy movie before and complained about it.

      Companies take note of actions and products that make customers unhappy, and (if they're smart) they adjust their actions and products.

      On another note, the particular case this article is about bothers me largely because it's recruiting for the surveillance arm of British Intelligence that's going to appear, and that's just creepy.

    7. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by paeanblack · · Score: 4, Informative

      When we are getting peppered with ads during games, I fell pretty cheated that there wasn't a discount on the price

      Adjusted for inflation, games are cheaper now than they have ever been.
      Adjusted for inflation, games are more expensive to produce than they have ever been.
      Even accounting for industry growth and inflation, the per-unit production cost of games is higher than it has ever been.

      How, exactly, are you being cheated?

    8. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How, exactly, are you being cheated?

      I just am!!! /pout

    9. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by ObiWanStevobi · · Score: 1

      To a point. Although I enjoy the humourous fictional ones in GTA or some Baseball games much more. But take, for instance Burnout. When am I going to feel real racing a mobile Hardees resteraunt? Where will I see a Spike TV billboard every tenth of a mile? Or GRAW, Although it is cool to have realistic vehicles, since when is every vehicle on the streets of Mexico a new Dodge Ram? Not to mention the billboards.

      The standard release price for games is ~$60. Many spend top dollar developing games without overbearing ads in game Ex(Gears, Halo, Half Life, Etc. The have the same price tag as a game that was paid a lot to flood it with ads. Even to the point of annoyance. If they are going to make the game less enjoyable by saturating it with ads, they should at very least pass on the money they got from ad revenue in the form of cost savings on the game purchase. Some have done this. I think they all should.

    10. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by ObiWanStevobi · · Score: 1

      I'm talking about advertising in general, I don't care who is doing it. Don't worry about my support for goverment/military, I care so much about people protecting my freedom that I give them 35% of my salary each year. If only they would bother doing something useful with that money. Oh well.

    11. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by amohat · · Score: 1

      Because our income, adjusted for inflation, has not kept pace.

      Whatever, it is what it is.

      The real issue: Boxing and fast food? Show me a (dedicated) boxer that fucks with Burger King.

      Ads in games should contribute to the experience. Um, in a positive way. BK did not do that, it was a travesty. How about an athletics company? Nike would have been fine, for example.

      Yes, they are selling to the patrons, not the athletes, I get it. But wtf...I'd rather it be the goddamn Bud frogs...

    12. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I completely agree. And with most issues like this, I think the market will decide what levels of advertising are appropriate for the content you're playing for. Reviewers will make a note of obtrusive or inappropriate ads in their reviews, and gamers (if they feel the same way as us) will decide to simply NOT buy that particular game. Unless we're talking about contemporary sports games (which look weird *without* advertising) or substantially reduced game costs (e.g. Burger King), I'll pass on any game that clobbers me over the head with ads. My $60 is more than enough to pay for the game's development costs, thank you. And if not, then the developer needs to figure out how to sell more games or lower production costs.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    13. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by tubapro12 · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but show me a dedicated boxer who reads the ads in the middle of a fight.

    14. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by amohat · · Score: 1

      Well, a boxer would have great peripheral vision?

      I'm out, I concede!

    15. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by SharkyTech · · Score: 1

      Because other games can be bought for the same price without ads.

      --
      Give us this day our garlic bread and lead us not into vegetarianism but deliver us some pizza.
    16. Re:Where Burger King and Toyota got it right by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Adjusted for enjoyment, ads are shit.

  5. tf2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    shoulda made a deal to get some ads into tf2
    "So, you want to play a real spy?"....

    1. Re:tf2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The TF2 spy is french, though.

  6. Nothing new, really by stjobe · · Score: 3, Informative
    British intelligence agencies seem to have a fondness of peculiar recruitment techniques.

    In one, now well known instance, the ability to solve The Daily Telegraph crossword in under 12 minutes was used as a recruitment test.
    Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park
    --
    "Total destruction the only solution" - Bob Marley
    1. Re:Nothing new, really by maxume · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I wonder what an intelligence service would want with obsessive people skilled at holding and rapidly correlating large amounts of information in their heads.

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Nothing new, really by u38cg · · Score: 1

      They aren't they only ones. If you are serious about attracting great talent to your organisations, you have to be creative about where you look for it. Look at Google's recruitment campaigns, for example.

      --
      [FUCK BETA]
  7. Life imitates science fiction by mbrubeck · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sounds like they've been reading Halting State, the new sci-fi novel by Charles Stross involving gaming and British intelligence services.

  8. license to kill by felipe171 · · Score: 0

    Join us and you will have a chance to kill innocent Brazilians and walk away with a slap on the wrist!

    1. Re:license to kill by hptux06 · · Score: 1

      They're not advertising for the Met police.

  9. When can I start? by Kohath · · Score: 1

    Do I get my license to kill on the first day? Are there Baccarat-related questions in the job interview?

    1. Re:When can I start? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Are there Baccarat-related questions in the job interview?

      Other than, what is the house edge (1.24%, 1.04%, and 14.44% depending on the bet), what baccarat questions could there be? It's an entirely deterministic game.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    2. Re:When can I start? by spaceyhackerlady · · Score: 1

      The spies who really act like James Bond don't last. They attract attention to themselves and get caught. The last thing a spy wants to do is attract attention.

      I'm reminded of the introductory speech in the first episode of Spy: the recruits wouldn't be doing any combat or firearms training, because if they ever needed such in real life, it would be too late anyway, and the chainsaw would probably already be warmed up.

      ...laura

  10. Somewhat misleading headline, don't you think? by Tim+C · · Score: 1

    "British Intelligence" isn't inserting anything anywhere; a government department has purchased advertising space in a game just like anyone else could.

    The headline makes it sound like something nefarious is going on, as though someone in MI5 is hacking the game (or servers or whatever) and surreptitiously planting the adverts without permission...

    Yes I know the summary is better, I'm just talking about the headline - something like "British Intelligence buys in-game advertising space" would be rather more accurate is all.

    --
    It's official. Most of you are morons.
    1. Re:Somewhat misleading headline, don't you think? by meringuoid · · Score: 1
      The headline makes it sound like something nefarious is going on, as though someone in MI5 is hacking the game (or servers or whatever) and surreptitiously planting the adverts without permission...

      No, unfortunately not. Nice idea, though...

      * goes away and cracks the advert server *
      * inserts copy of CV addressed to GCHQ *

      I wonder if they'd appreciate that?

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  11. Hmm... by Loosifur · · Score: 1

    I used to be really good at Goldeneye, and I'm not doing anything special right now...

    --
    This unbiased moderation brought to you by the Porcine Aviation Group!
    1. Re:Hmm... by Dachannien · · Score: 1

      You mean.... posting to Slashdot isn't special?

  12. Get them while they're young... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sickening how some parts of our governments want to censor these kind of games while other parts wants to use them for recruiting killers.

  13. Who'd a thunk by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    One might imagine that the land of Kim Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross might be a little more leery of posting their employment ads in a game called "DOUBLE AGENT".

    Or maybe it's just habit? :)

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:Who'd a thunk by hyades1 · · Score: 0

      At least they caught their traitors eventually. The way I heard it, somebody in the U.S. Commander in Chief's office was outing their agents as recently as a year or two ago (cough Rove cough). And one has to wonder whether suffering the embarrassment of finding a bunch of spies in your intelligence agencies is better or worse than assuming you have none because you're too stupid to catch them.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    2. Re:Who'd a thunk by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      Touch a nerve, much? If you RTFA. I don't think this story was about US intel agencies at all, whom (if they'd done something similar) I'd have made the same comment using names like Pollard, Hiss, etc.

      "At least they caught their traitors eventually."

      Philby, MacLean, Burgess, all died in Moscow. Blunt confessed to MI-5 himself, and Cairncross was only identified by Soviet defectors.

      Caught: are you sure it means what you think it means?

      --
      -Styopa
    3. Re:Who'd a thunk by hyades1 · · Score: 0

      Perhaps I should have said "recognized" or "detected" instead of "caught". Although I think at least one of those guys was traded for a couple of poor schmucks the Russkies caught off embassy grounds at an inopportune moment. By the way, I usually DO read the article, though I can't recall whether I did in this particular case. Allow me my own acronym: LU. As in "Lighten Up". Apply liberally to clean off old, dust-encrusted sarcasm/irony detectors. I've used it myself with some success.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
  14. You fail the interview by alienmole · · Score: 1

    You're thinking of the Punto Banco variety, a.k.a. North American baccarat. The other major two varieties, Banque and Chermin de Fer - the latter being James Bond's preferred game - involve player skill, and game theoretic principles apply.

    So British Intelligence's fiendishly clever baccarat-related questioning has already succeeded in weeding out a North American spy! It's off to the Tower with you!