Advertising in games?

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Tweakin

[H]ard|Gawd
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Apr 14, 2003
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So I generally play FPSers and strategy games, but I just picked up Need For Speed: Most Wanted because I used to love racing games when I played on consoles and have heard good things about the new NFS.

Anyway. I am going through the first missions, finally hit the streets for some free driving, and a Burger King blimp goes flying over head. A fricken Burger King branded blimp. Then, I am driving around still pretty shocked when I start seeing Cingular billboards and other advertising signs. When did this happen?

More importantly, where is the money going? I am sure these companies are paying EA big money to advertise in a blockbuster game, wouldnt this lower the price for the game? I paid $50 for NFS: Most Wanted, standard price for a new 'big' game, why wasnt it $30? $20? Was it orignally going to be $100? :)

I love the idea of advertising in games if it lowers the cost for the end user. I am, however, annoyed with having to view a bunch of advertising when it doesnt benefit me in any way (at least that I can see).

Anyone have any thoughts on this? It's all new to me, but I figured I would check into it today and see what this is all about.
 
ads in games been around for a while
get used to it, will only get worse
 
I think the $50 is the standard cost of design, development, production, retailing etc. for most new computer games. I've never thought about it the way you are, but I kinda doubt we'll see advertising drop the price in games. At least if we did, it'd probably get to the point where the advertising was just plain annoying. I figure it's to make an extra buck for the company. I feel I got a $50 gaming experience with my money, and that is not diminished by the ads in the game. So if they added more ads and reduced the price, I'd get a $50 gaming experience still but at what cost? There's no such thing as a free lunch... I'd hate to be spammed with ads in games when I play.

And I noticed the ads also, but I thought, "oh, that's kinda cool" cause you only really see them using Speedbreaker, and they're something fun to notice (check the price of gas
wink.gif
).
 
even though the game isn't realistic at all... the ads generally add realism to it... and I sometimes like them... but beautful polygoned views of other things are good too.
 
NBA Live 06 is one of the worst Ad wise. There are about 10 ads around the bleachers and about 5 by the court, and Toyta player of the game crap is always there. Get used to it, I guess it makes a game feel more real.
 
Mysticcal said:
even though the game isn't realistic at all... the ads generally add realism to it... and I sometimes like them... but beautful polygoned views of other things are good too.
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Yea somegames the ads do give that extra hint of realism. Personaly I would rather see well placed adds for real products that have had thought put into them then fake ads in games that are just a designer trying to fill space.
 
Don't get my wrong, I am not exactly complaining (though certainly ranting :)). It didn't bother me too much, it just floored me because i am not really into sports games or racing games, where I figure most of this takes place. I did think it was pretty funny and added to some of the realism. I do like the game and have been playing it quite a bit.

As for the free lunch bit, I get that. However, that just means instead of us, it's the game companies getting the free lunch and the companies advertising getting a new market with no benefit to us. Unless, of course, you had never heard of Burger King and were looking for a good place to get a crappy burger.
 
Tweakin said:
As for the free lunch bit, I get that. However, that just means instead of us, it's the game companies getting the free lunch and the companies advertising getting a new market with no benefit to us. Unless, of course, you had never heard of Burger King and were looking for a good place to get a crappy burger.
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Not necessarily. I think it's pretty safe to assume the advertising goes into the company's budgets, and towards new games. I could be wrong, it could be lining the pockets of some wealthy CEO. But I'm sure we see a benefit somewhere.
 
i actually prefer it in gran turismo 4, but ONLY because there are no burger king type ads, only car ads, and most of those are actually car models that are in the game. but i'd hate a cingular ad in a game. as if i needed another reason never to get a cell phone, now they are pushing them from games.

dualdrop[H]enia
 
Yeah, I don't like it either. Just trying to sell us another 'useless' product through the game.
 
They have ads in Planetside now, and seriously I just ignore them and its no big deal. I think Anarchy Online is free now, because they have a ton of real life ads in the game.
 
DudeItsMe said:
Not necessarily. I think it's pretty safe to assume the advertising goes into the company's budgets, and towards new games. I could be wrong, it could be lining the pockets of some wealthy CEO. But I'm sure we see a benefit somewhere.
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That would be blind faith, I am not a big fan of that. Since the price didn't drop and the game is 'no better or worse' then a good $50 game without advertising, where is the bonus (other then a little added realism, which was less work and thought for the developers/modelers in the end).
 
I'm for ads in games.

There are ads everywhere else in life...

And it's usually only in games where there's some kind of real-life aspect in it. In NFSMW you're driving around a city. In sports games....well there are 100+ ads in stadiums and obviously there are commercials.

I will be pissed when sports games start having 30 second commercials between quarters. That I think would be taking it too far... but I honestly won't be surprised to see it either.

EA could get away w/ doing that on Madden. There's no competition to Madden so if you wanted to play a football game you'd be subjected to watching it. I really like EA a lot and don't think they'd go that far...but they certainly could if they wanted to.

In theory the extra revenue helps the development of games... So I don't see it as a negative at all. They're not intrusive at least not yet.

You see 100+ ads on the free way on your way home from work.

My wife is in advertising and was going to look up the cost of what it would be to purchase different video game advertising. Such as a in-game billboard, or to have your product featured in a game, etc just to see what it costs and the difference in different types of in-game advertising...just to satisfy my curiosity. If she ever does I can post it.
 
WorldRunner said:
My wife is in advertising and was going to look up the cost of what it would be to purchase different video game advertising. Such as a in-game billboard, or to have your product featured in a game, etc just to see what it costs and the difference in different types of in-game advertising...just to satisfy my curiosity. If she ever does I can post it.
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I would be really interested to see that. Rock on if she spends any time on it :cool:
 
I love the idea of advertising in games if it lowers the cost for the end user.
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Not going to happen. I've read and replied to multiple threads about game ads. The general consensus - they suck and will only get worse with ZERO benefit to the poor sob trying to play the game.
 
You've seen product placement and ads in movies for years, but have you ever paid less to go see the movie? I doubt it.

It's just one of those things we have to accept.
 
elation said:
Not going to happen. I've read and replied to multiple threads about game ads. The general consensus - they suck and will only get worse with ZERO benefit to the poor sob trying to play the game.
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America's Army is basically one big add for the Army and it has done pretty well. Plus it's FREE
 
flapbreaker said:
America's Army is basically one big add for the Army and it has done pretty well. Plus it's FREE
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That is the entire point. NFS was not free. We pony up the cash and never see any of the so called benefits.
 
There are some ads which I would actually enjoy such as if a character was drinking a can of Pepsi rather than Blurp Cola. If the ads in a game were varied enough, so that it wouldn't get repetative (ie: NFS:U where the ads alternate between Cingular and Best Buy), rather, have it so that there is a huge database of ads that are preselected for certain areas, so it doesn't get annoying.

If they could lower the price, that would be great, but it wouldn't be a necessity.
 
Ads in games are only going to increase as long as we continue to buy them.

I do understand that developing games is getting more expensive as the technology advances, so this may just be another way to cover the costs. I wouldn't mind seeing an advertisement in a racing game (Project Gotham Racing real world locations) or sports games (banners, floats, etc. that are actually there), but putting company names and product placement just to make a few bucks doesn't go so great with me.
 
Worldhammer said:
That is the entire point. NFS was not free. We pony up the cash and never see any of the so called benefits.
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It helps the company stay in business... that's the benefit.
 
yeah I don't really mind ads until I find them in a spot where it's just like WTF? Take Chaos Theory for example. I knew there were going to be advertisements in that game, but out in Peru, in a lighthouse, on the screen of the ONLY computer to be found in that level? Come on... I can understand advertisements in places where it would actually make sense, but just sticking advertisements in because there isn't anything else to put in there is just ridiculous.
 
WorldRunner said:
It helps the company stay in business... that's the benefit.
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Some how I just don't think EA is in any danger of going out of business with or with out ads in NFS.
 
In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, there was laptops with Brother in Arms screensavers, posters for War of the Worlds, Sam's PDA is made by Sony Ericsson, Athlon64 pictures everywhere.

Though personally, it doens't mean much to me.
 
fromage said:
In Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, there was laptops with Brother in Arms screensavers, posters for War of the Worlds, Sam's PDA is made by Sony Ericsson, Athlon64 pictures everywhere.

Though personally, it doens't mean much to me.
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Yeah, I definitely don't mind the things like the Sony Ericsson, but having random ads in the most random places... It just made me ask myself if they couldn't find a better place for the ads.
 
I don't really have a problem with the way it shows up in NFS:MW. I ignore billboards when I drive somewhere for real, so I do so in the game as well. I didn't feel any sort of unquenchable desire to go get a Whopper or to trade my cell phone in for a Cingular. I consider it mostly harmless in this iteration. When I have to sit through adds before a level loads or something like that, I would entirely expect a price break and would probably not pay full price for such a game.

As far as Nascar or basketball or pretty much any sports game. That's what you see when you watch on TV. I would assume that if you are playing the game you are also a fan of the actual sport. You should be used to ignoring such things already :)

 
BLenderhedd said:
I don't really have a problem with the way it shows up in NFS:MW. I ignore billboards when I drive somewhere for real, so I do so in the game as well. I didn't feel any sort of unquenchable desire to go get a Whopper or to trade my cell phone in for a Cingular. I consider it mostly harmless in this iteration. When I have to sit through adds before a level loads or something like that, I would entirely expect a price break and would probably not pay full price for such a game.

As far as Nascar or basketball or pretty much any sports game. That's what you see when you watch on TV. I would assume that if you are playing the game you are also a fan of the actual sport. You should be used to ignoring such things already :)

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Oh God no... Don't give those publishers any ideas!
 
BLenderhedd said:
When I have to sit through adds before a level loads or something like that, I would entirely expect a price break and would probably not pay full price for such a game.
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I wrote reviews for a third rate gaming site for about 3 years, and a discussion with the gang about advertising on loading screens while we were in LA for E3 last May was the thing that finaly got me to quit. The other reviewsers couldn't phathom the fact that if advertising were on the loading screens, publishers (and lets be honest here, it's the publishers not the devs driving this) could and would make the that screen stay up longer so they could charge the advertiser more. "naw, naw they wouldn't do that man." idiots.
 
If it ever gets to the point where games like UT, warcraft (rts), and other games I play have ads in the game I will stop playing, plain and simple.
 
I dont mind ads as long as they add realism to the game. I would hate it if adds like BB or Cingular just pope up in a game based in the middle ages.

What I really dont want to see is a game company to have a contract for specific adds, now every game the company releases will have the same type of adds or advertising the same company over and over.

How about the NVIDIA screen that comes up on most games, that is an add.
 
STANG22GT said:
I dont mind ads as long as they add realism to the game. I would hate it if adds like BB or Cingular just pope up in a game based in the middle ages.

What I really dont want to see is a game company to have a contract for specific adds, now every game the company releases will have the same type of adds or advertising the same company over and over.

How about the NVIDIA screen that comes up on most games, that is an add.
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Ok go play splinter cell chaos theory, that is an unacceptable level of adverts in a game, I will not be buying splinter cell 4. The nvidia logo is ok (only ever seen it in UT2k4 and they blended it well) but if there were say nvidia ads IN the game, as in the levels on which you play, then that would be cause to drop the game.
 
Darakian said:
Ok go play splinter cell chaos theory, that is an unacceptable level of adverts in a game, I will not be buying splinter cell 4. The nvidia logo is ok (only ever seen it in UT2k4 and they blended it well) but if there were say nvidia ads IN the game, as in the levels on which you play, then that would be cause to drop the game.
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While, yeah, the ads are kind of retarded(like screensavers for BiA in Panama, right), but I don't think it's unacceptable. Quite the contrary, and it's still a wicked game. I will definitely be being Splinter Cell 4.
 
fromage said:
While, yeah, the ads are kind of retarded(like screensavers for BiA in Panama, right), but I don't think it's unacceptable. Quite the contrary, and it's still a wicked game. I will definitely be being Splinter Cell 4.
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Different limits I suppose, the ads and the starforce pushed me away from the series, il rent #4 for a console or somthing.
 
Tweakin said:
Some how I just don't think EA is in any danger of going out of business with or with out ads in NFS.
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That's because they do things like selling advertising in games. I'm not saying that is single handedly keeping them in business by any means. What I'm saying is all the little things they do (the exclusives, the movie licenses, the advertising in games, etc) is why they're such a great company.

You can argue that they don't make good games if that's what you think but it's no coincidence that their games sell the more than anyone elses week in and week out.
 
BLenderhedd said:
I don't really have a problem with the way it shows up in NFS:MW. I ignore billboards when I drive somewhere for real, so I do so in the game as well. I didn't feel any sort of unquenchable desire to go get a Whopper or to trade my cell phone in for a Cingular. I consider it mostly harmless in this iteration. When I have to sit through adds before a level loads or something like that, I would entirely expect a price break and would probably not pay full price for such a game.

As far as Nascar or basketball or pretty much any sports game. That's what you see when you watch on TV. I would assume that if you are playing the game you are also a fan of the actual sport. You should be used to ignoring such things already :)

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Like in BIA loading times were ...... very long. If they would have put ads to keep you bsy for the 3 minutes gmae loads i would probably go insane, but I think they will start ding so in near future. As for basketball I ignore all ads, but just makes it wonder how much those comnpanis payed EA to stick those ads there.
 
Darakian said:
If it ever gets to the point where games like UT, warcraft (rts), and other games I play have ads in the game I will stop playing, plain and simple.
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I don't know if I'd stop playing but I'd definately stop paying.

As much as I don't mind the Razer ads on battle.net, I do like my local pvpgn server w/o the ads better.

-wil
 
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