Modern Ads in Fantasy Games for Lower Retail Price?

[Liquidize105]

Read on. (http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/07/ad_games_confer.html)

It's late, and I'm too tired to do a short expose on the article. I'll be back to Mr. Fix-it, or perhaps one of the other editors will.

zZz q:P

[bKangy]

"How can you target fantasy gamers with in-game ads?"

You don't, you fucking respect that they already pay you money, and you get your shitty product out of their face. Advertising has very rarely made things cheaper, from all the examples sitting in my head. I have to sit through about 20 minutes of ads when I go to the cinema, but the prices there are still extortionate.

(Advertising in gaming makes me angry. Angry and sad.)

[Borys]

Heh, I wanted to submit that.

How to advertise in WoW or other fantasy games? Chatrooms, main menu, ads before the intro and maybe after outro, ads while loading etc. Possibilities are endless.

[DevDict]

(Advertising in gaming makes me angry. Angry and sad.)
There are product placements in movies and nobody minds those. As long as the gaming adds are not abused, it's fine by me.
If they want to implement adds in fantasy games, the adds should be stylized not to seem out of place.

On the other hand there are adds on bus stops, in metro stations, on TV, before and after movies in theatres, in stores, on billboards, posters on fences, product placements in movies, banners on the internet... Clearly we have enough adds as it is in our everyday lives. The best idea is to give the player a choice: does he want to pay less but to be bombarded with adds or not.

[AspectVoid]

I don't mind advertising in games where it works. Something like Deus Ex would be fine with Coke and Pepsi machines rather then generic Soda Machines, you know? That sort of thing, though, does NOT fit in a fantasy game.

[BigJonno]

There are product placements in movies and nobody minds those. As long as the gaming adds are not abused, it's fine by me.

The line has now been crossed for me. I have no problem with product placement, but when Ryan Reynolds explains Jessica Beil's ipod playlists to Wesley Snipes in Blade Trinity, I cringed. It was blatently using movie time, that I paid for, to advertise a product. That's just not on.

[Knite]

This is getting silly. I play games to escape from reality. Not to be constantly bombarded by it.

It's a shame there's no laws against rampant capitalism with disregard for the consumer.

[mister_slim]

Realistically, gaming product placement peaked with the Chester Cheetah and Spot games.

Well, Chronicles of Riddick was a high point recently.

[SMES]

If I am playing a fantasy game of any kind, and a loading screen pops up that has, instead of some cool game related artwork, a Pepsi ad or whatever, I would be pissed off. That is not an acceptable way to insert advertising into a fantasy setting. In fact, there is NO acceptable way. If I see a pepsi ad during any fantasy related game "stylized to fit the setting" or otherwise, I would find it extremely jarring and it would kill the atmosphere. The only reason I put up with it on the very few television shows I watch is because I don't watch tv except for a couple specific shows which I love.

And I agree, product placement in movies is ok if it's somewhat subliminal AND blends seamlessly into the setting. That Blade Trinity example was over the line.

Basically, if I stop and think about how ridiculously blatant an ad is, then the ad shouldn't be there.

Heck I don't even buy name brand soda, Safeway Select, baby!

[Anastazius]

The other day I finally got round to playing the singleplayer game of Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. In the intro movie Sam Fisher (who for some reason now looks about 10 years younger and with no greying hair like in the first game) is being transported to his base or something in a helicopter; suddenly he thinks "Hmmm, I wouldn't be very stealthy if I tried sneaking up behind a guard and he smelled my bad breath!" so he takes out a packet of Airwaves(TM) to give him Minty Fresh Breath.

Oh how I wish I was joking..

The only adverts I like in my non-real world setting games, are adverts for things which are an actual product in the universe; like in Eve Online, there are billboards advertising Quafe Soda drink - that kind of thing adds texture to the game universe which makes it more appealing to me. Oooh, and you can buy crates of Quafe from Eve Online's store, so they make money from 'advertising' that way too..

[IagoTheHunted]

This is out of control... there has GOT to be a way to reinforce with publishers that gamers hate this kind of crap. I may start a website boycotting games with particularly rampent offenses in this catagory (first on the list, monkey ball, aka Doll Bannana Ball. Splinter cell is next)

[Anastazius]

But at least with Monkey Ball the ads have context and make sense!

Monkeys = bananas = Dole

:)

[Zeal]

It doesn't matter, let them do this. It will fail so fucking bad.

[Anastazius]

Very true.

[IagoTheHunted]

But at least with Monkey Ball the ads have context and make sense!

Monkeys = bananas = Dole

:)


Just because it makes sense doesn't mean it isn't spitting on any artistic integrity the game might otherwise have upheld. Is "Dole" creative? Does "Dole" make the game better? Is "Dole" the most entertaining thing you can put on a bannana? No, no, and no. They sold out. They put money in their budget (or their pockets, which is just as likely) at the expense of the player, the one who PAYED for the product. Just because we're all used to tuneing out all the advertising we're bombarded with, doesn't mean we should let it slide in the products we're paying good money for. Buisnesses think we're too stupid to notice or too complacent to care, and we're proving them right, it makes me sick.

[Anastazius]

Dude, chill.