WipEout HD Patch 2.10 Incoming

[blackwiggle]

They would want to sort any change of level differences between the ad's and the actual game volume real quick.

Otherwise I can see a class action being taken against SONY for blown surround set up's /TV's etc.

I had my suspicions,I wondered why Colin Berry from SL had sheepishly visited the forum on the 28th [same day the blog went up],I suppose it was to see the reaction from forum members about the news.
Seems we are not quite as in touch as a group as we used to be regarding all things wipeout.

[KIGO1987]

If these in game adverts pay the bills for Studio Liverpool, i guess its doing it job then.

[karsten_beoulve]

This is a real shame. When i bought the game+fury there was NONE of This SH1t, and don't want it to be added.

Also, VIDEOS? are we joking? couldn't be a sliding strip during loading enough?

Let's come up with a letter/petition in wich we show our disappreciation on this ads, and start boycotting ALL THE ADS SUBJECTS.

It could mean 30000 less sale for the product publicized, and i guess any software house could feel such a loss.

[stever]

In game adverts can't be that good a revenue stream in a game that's been out as long as WipEout HD; as the number of players declines over time the adverts will be viewed by fewer people.

[novide]

The Ads destroys the wipeoutfeeling : (

[mizunoori]

The feeling you have bevor a online race with some very good players "I wonder who will win" is gone.

We can be angry all the time. But nothing will happen unless we do something. I´m not long enough here to know, does someone from Studio Liverpool reads in the Forum?
If not, we should prepare something for them. Have you ever done something like that bevor?

[mic-dk]

I thank The Gods that I live in country (or as they are labelled today: 'Market') small enough to ignored by Corporate Marketing.

Here's hoping to staying ignored!

[ProblemSolver]

Not sure if I agree with this, were now in the first stages of gaming where this is even possible, maybe this will become the norm in years to come, if sponsorship is what it takes to keep this game going then so
be it.

Initially it may help, but you will become dependent on the income from all
the ads such that you have to produce things to their likely, i.e. crap.
Another example is the following; once you have a good product, as an
independent developer studio, you may think that incoperating into a
bigger company will make your product much better, but history has proved
otherwise almost always.

I admire InsomniacGames who have resisted being taken over by Sony,
they don't need Sony's money, they can stand upon themself. And they
showed that producing high-profile games is possible even without being
part of Sony. Even further, they don't have to wear a muzzle on their face,
they have a public community, have podcasts, and even share technical
details with the public.

I don't blame SL (or Psygnosis) being part of Sony, but if the result is what
we can see now, then it becomes questionable. A game that has a long
history, that was build upon itself, is now abused to make local profit. The
ads might just be the beginning -- of the end -- of what we know as WipEout.

... thank god i got the blu-ray, offline play without updating for me. ...

I had the same thought.

... Anybody that is not blind can see the responsibility for this happening coming initially from SCEA and then thrusted into the lap of SCEE to implement as well. ...

I'm 100% sure of this. SL (all the artists, etc.) have created unique harmony
for WipEout HD which now becomes utterly destroyed by those ads.


Ads have drawn me away from TV long ago, and ads will draw me away from
gaming.

[amplificated]

There is no justification for adding commercials to a game that has already been payed for in full unless the game was becoming a free for download ad-supported game like the original Command & Conquer. Or that the dev./publisher is in financial hardship and want to milk some vital cash to stay operational, but that's just as unlikely as customers wanting obtrusive ads in their games.

I should expect WipEout is becoming completely free if there is any advertising of this nature in it.

And all previous buyers should be given a full refund or credit from the store, as there was no indication that ads were going to be integrated into the game until the 2.00 patch, and even then it wasn't an advertised upcoming feature when it went back down. Not many companies can get away with selling a product that is not what they advertised, I don't think Sony should be exempted.

If that's not the case, well, they can count me out of being on the PS boat. The XMB has become an ad infested, revenue raising, farcical attempt at creating an OS, and the fact that they need to negatively affect the actual games that are already being payed for up front, just to scrounge up some petty cash is warrant enough for skipping other Sony products on principle.

But Sony can't be that bad right..? I'm expecting my full refund soon, Sony. /s

I may just go and buy Uncharted 2 second hand.

p.s. way to scrounge up some petty cash by actually scrounging up universal negative customer feedback and press. Way2go.

[DawnFireDragoon]

i agree with those last two comments entirely problem solver.

and can tell you this, i will not support a product been altered in this way, one bit.

I understand what people are saying about Studio Liverpool probably not having much say in this, but they had to put the code in to make this possible and help them shorten the load time problem. They are somewhat responsible ...even if it is only slightly and with regret (love to hear their feelings on this, but i would hazard a guess that they are forbidden from the freedom of opinion on this subject)

i'd rather give SL money directly, if that's what they need, or pay slightly more for the initial product that have stuff like this happening.

i won't buy any future product relating to HD or any future wipeout which has anything as ridiculous as this implimented. And i do not say that lightly, i am a massive wipeout fan. massive. But when, even one of my most respected and enjoyed games pulls something like this, that's it.

i will continue to play HD offline to avoid these updates and enjoy the rest of the series, but if this is the future, i really don't want it.

[Connavar]

Hopefully the next update will patch (= remove) the ads

[ACE-FLO]

I recently got me a PS3slim. But I won't get Hd/Fury with all this advertising nonsense!

I work with advertising, and I'll be damned if I'm to enjoy my leisuretime by being force fed ads from the game I'm wanting to play!

So, a brand new unopened PS3 slim, for sale @ £180 no offers! I'm serious!

[Michelasso]

take the ads out of the fun!!!

[Colin Berry]

They would want to sort any change of level differences between the ad's and the actual game volume real quick.

Otherwise I can see a class action being taken against SONY for blown surround set up's /TV's etc.

I had my suspicions,I wondered why Colin Berry from SL had sheepishly visited the forum on the 28th [same day the blog went up],I suppose it was to see the reaction from forum members about the news.
Seems we are not quite as in touch as a group as we used to be regarding all things wipeout.

Allow me to make a few small points to help you out with your suspicions...

- If I wanted to check a reaction or read a thread, I can do so without logging on, I read the board every couple of days often without logging in, but the adverts dont concern me, I'm a games designer, not a marketeer...

Plus
- I havent been involved with Wipeout for about 15months.

However
- I do log in here to check my private messages, its how me and foxxy keep in touch sometimes and also its how I respond to people who send me questions now and again

Rest assured
- I dont do ANYTHING in my life sheepishly, I'm a kind of stick two fingers up what you see is what you get kind of person.

So, your 'suspicion' of me 'logging in sheepishly' needs revising.

I hope this clears any confusion.

[amplificated]

Allow me to make a few small points to help you out with your suspicions...
...
I'm a games designer, not a marketeer...
...
Rest assured - I dont do ANYTHING in my life sheepishly, I'm a kind of stick two fingers up what you see is what you get kind of person.

As someone who holds these values, can you express your opinion on the matter?

Despite not being involved with the project for a long time, I'd like to know what you have heard about the reasoning behind the move, if you're allowed to tell us.

[ProblemSolver]

As someone who holds these values, can you express your opinion on the matter? ...

I think he has already given the answer.

...
- If I wanted to check a reaction or read a thread, I can do so without logging on, I read the board every couple of days often without logging in, but the adverts dont concern me, I'm a games designer, not a marketeer...

That's what I thought as well.

In general, it's not good to talk about individuals form SL within this discussion
despite they're being part of that company. The scope for including ads is
much broader than we might think of.

[Colin Berry]

Personally ?
Adverts in general do not bother me, be it tv, or radio, or product placement in films

I know that adverts can be useful, just recently I've bought borderlands and started playing tribal wars, mainly due to adverts encouraging me to check them out (and in borderlands case reading about it on neogaf, but even then I'd forgotten about it until an advert on eurogamer made me go - thats the game!) and I am glad I did. Will I suddenly start drinking carlsberg and purchase a t-mobile phone ? no, no matter how many adverts either company does, but I cant blame them for trying. Am I saying all adverts are great, no, just that advertising as a concept isnt an evil as some like to think

Its the world I am used to and I can cope, I'd rather get worked up about a bad film or a bad game, than product placement in a good film, or adverts in a game I like.

For wipeout, an advert every X loads for 10-15secs during the loading process.... (I'm unsure on the specifics tbh). I havent loaded the game up since the update kicked in yesterday, but I cant see it bothering me, I'm usually using the loading time to drink tea or eat a minstrel anyway, so its not something that would get me mad.

On the flip side, an (un-named because that would not be fair) game I played about 3 weeks ago, that I checked out because I thought it might have some interesting features, annoyed me no end, it was utterly dire and had me cursing the developers and switching off after under 40mins, that, well that annoys me, bad bad bad games, indeed it would have benefitted from some adverts due the the tedious nature of the game itself.

Reading that back it sounds like I am dodging the question, and I dont mean to, I thought in the summer when the advert could cause longer loading on some levels that yes, it was a problem that needed rectifying, which I believe was recognised and is solved in this update and mentioned in the blog post mentioned earlier. The actual concept of an advert during loading - for me personally, it doesnt bother me and beyond that I cant add a great deal.

But thats just my personal view and I dont expect anyone else to necessarily agree with it, adverts just dont get me worked up

I'm not privvy to any information about why adverts were introduced etc, and if I was I couldnt and wouldnt be able to air things anyway. I can only give my personal opinion as above, and add that you dont need to be a genius to realise that Wipeout HD and Wipeout Fury both had a tonne of high quality content for the price they were released at.

[novide]

The Ads. sucks. I would pay 10 euros or so, if there is a patch, to stop it.

Now i play the singleplayer mode only, without connecting the PSN.

[karsten_beoulve]

I can mostly agree, colin.

But it hink that it's unhethical (sp?) to add "features" that make the game experience worst after selling the game. I guess we can agree on that right? I bought the game with good $$$ and i expect it to be as good as i payed it, not to get worst in time... That is unless i'm going to get something back

Also there's no "gain" to the users in exchange for longer loading times and advertisements seen...

i think that sony can meet with some problems with this behaviour of "adding unwanted features after selling".

just my 2 cents, colin.

[ProblemSolver]

@Colin: I think it's not about the ads per se, it's about how it's done. The
loading screen is somehow a preparation for the race that follows, and if one
plays against some tough players, then the in-your-face advert isn't of any
help. Quite the contrary is the case, one starts to hate what is advertised.

... and add that you dont need to be a genius to realise that Wipeout HD and Wipeout Fury both had a tonne of high quality content for the price they were released at.

But this cannot be an "excuse" for having ads now. The game could have
easily been sold for double its price.