commercials in online loading screens?

[Sven]

Or what would be cool is to have them get good ol' "Designers Republic" back to make the ads for whatever company that wants to put their stinking product placement into the game.

That would be great, but....I thought DR was kaput?

[gettinmoney662]

I'm thinking of petitioning the mods to let me drop that Van-Über avatar I'm using in favor of an insurance company logo.

That wouldn't break the ambience of the site, would it? No aesthetic harm done, right? The insurance company is going to subsidize my internet bill. I mean, more money in my hands means more quality posts!

Maybe we can even arrange for the ad to be clicked on in order to read the post!

I know this was meant to be a shining example of sarcasm but if you really did use a State Farm avatar because they paid you so, I couldn't care less. It would not make my visits to this forum unpleasant at all.

[Darkdrium777]

Any publicity is good publicity, right?
With this news, WipEout HD gets talked of more than ever.

But it still disappoints me that Sony/SL doesn't think better of their game, and accept to place intrusive ads in it.

[djKyoto]

Actually, are people getting annoyed at these ads because...

a) It's from State Farm (ie. don't care).
b) It's making the loading screen longer.
c) No one told us / We already paid for the game.

[IH8YOU]

Don't forget options D and E.

D - it's the same ad over, and over, and over, and over....

E - All of the above..

[RedScar]

I'll take E) All of the above

[blackwiggle]

Is this ad perpetual?

I mean could it be possible that this ad might delete itself after a certain length of time,maybe only to be replaced by another?

[newtype]

B.

C.

I'm most pissed about C-

Is this ad perpetual?

I mean could it be possible that this ad might delete itself after a certain length of time,maybe only to be replaced by another?

I'm sure they'll replace it with something else over time, but that wouldn't make the situation any less intrusive-

[yawnstretch]

When Splintercell had advertisements for Nivea I thought it was done superbly. Companies need to protect their IP when it comes to advertising. Videogames are not movies or tv shows. Product placement can be managed in tv and film but in games it all too quickly becomes overkill ruining the experience completely.

I was dubious about paying for non physical media that I can't resell (wipeout is an exception as I wouldn't sell it on anyway) but there is a tipping point. The point where people turn off a game and the IP is no longer attractive.

PROTECT YOUR IP. You won't realise its value until it's gone forever.

[Sideshow]

b & c - it doesn't matter what an ad is for, but pretending the game is still loading to give the ad more time is a crock (a dishonest crock). Wipeout is a franchise in which in-game advertising could easily be done right without it being jarring - it already has billboards around the track. BF2142 had billboards, and the companies that advertised on them had to make the ads look like they fit into that near-futuristic setting. Similarly, Burnout Paradise has in-game billboards which don't detract from the gameplay at all. But this - this is bullshit.

[mdhay]

In-game ad house Double Fusion has brought dynamic, in-game video advertising to the PlayStation 3 game Wipeout HD across North America and Europe, the company said Monday.

Double Fusion said it will inject advertising that will complement the hover-racer's futuristic presentation. The new video ads have yet to launch, but Double Fusion CEO Jonathan Epstein said certain unnamed advertisers have already signed up for placements in Wipeout HD. Ads will be shown during the game's loading screens, Double Fusion said.

The company added that the video ads would be "the highest definition" available in-game, and the game will also have supplemental ads that are standard definition.

Bollocks.

One of the game's advertisers is State Farm -- an insurance firm that doesn't exactly reflect the reckless blow-em-up zero-gravity racing exhibited in Wipeout HD or previous franchise entries.

Understatement, much?

Double Fusion said it plans to launch in-game advertising in "another handful" of PS3 games by the end of the year. The San Francisco-based company services more than 30 game publishers via its ad network.

Sure, make a bad name for yourselves, Double Fusion.

Analysts have estimated that in-game ad spending could reach $1 billion by 2014. Currently the market stands at about $600 million, a figure that also includes web games.

Hmmm, lets think about this. There is a recession on. Spending money on shitty adverts that will have up to zero effect on the gaming population because most people who play games are most likely to be children, and children will not be intrested in insurance, some sort of energy drink or alcohol, or some other convoluted patronizing bull is not a good idea.

[yawnstretch]

Not sure if this was already posted (will check later) but if this is true it's unacceptable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX4f9zts6JM

I'll be keeping my ps3 offline for the moment until I learn more.

[zerojay]

I don't remember who it was here who said it, but one of you said "complaining won't help and never has before".

Prepare to eat your words.

Post on Kotaku (which I can only see through the RSS feed reader for some reason), says the following:

"Sony scrap Wipeout HD Loading Ad"

"The people have spoken. Spoken angrily. And Sony have listened, removing the worst of the in-game advertising from WIpeout HD only 24 hours after it was first officially announced.

'The ad has been removed from Wipeout HD,' a Sony rep told Eurogamer. 'and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay.'

Note that this doesn't mean all advertising in the game has been removed, only the ad that was causing the annoying increased load times."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/so...wipeout-advert

[ACE-FLO]

If this carries on, I'm gonna NOT buy a PS3.

Instead I'll get the cheaper Xbox 360...

In-game adverts, adverts whilst game loads... that's just selling out.

Game developers never had to do this before so why start now?

[zerojay]

Go get a 360. You've gotta pay for Xbox Live *AND* deal with ads in the main interface. lol

[mdhay]

Do you know which game will never have adverts? LittleBigPlanet.

[ACE-FLO]

Oh bollox... PS3 it is then...

What beats me is that Sony didn't do this before - so why start now? They don't need the money that's for certain!

[DawnFireDragoon]

wow, i didn't think sony would act on fan backlash. consider me impressed

and to douse the fanboy war, the ads on xbox's main dash are fully optional, you have to go to them then slide onto them to view them...not intrussive at all. the way it should be.

ad's can be done without ruining people's gaming experience...i think this wipeout one was a tad too much for some, but hopefully the gaming world has watched this massive cock up and learnt a lesson.

[akirapill]

God is in his heaven all is right with the world again.

[blackwiggle]

I don't think that press release helps our friends in the USA that have already suffered this "Infection"

All it states is that they are "reviewing the implantation" of STEALTH advertising in EUROPE "IF" it decreases gamer satisfaction - RE loading times.

We will ALL suffer it.

Eventually