In-Game Ads Are Effective, So Get Ready For More

[ItsAPaul]

I'll take "I have a PC so I'll just download the inevitable in-game ad blocker" for 500.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

I want in-game ads where they make sense. If my character is drinking soda, I want it to be real-life soda. If they're driving a car, I want it to be a real-life car.
And so on.

The problem with using "real life cars" is the respective companies don't want you to show how shitty, for example, mustangs handle or how low their top speed is. Chevrolet doesn't want their corvette being represented as a useless deathtrap.

Things like that.

Its all about freedom, yo.

 

[dochmbi]

I actually bought a book called Atlas Shrugged, because it was featured so prominently in Fallout 3.

 

[GonzoGamer]

meh as long a it's not all over the place and not in your face I don't mind it.

As long as they can lower prices or at least make the game so it's worth $60, I wont mind at all.

 

[Mysnomer]

Eh. I'm fine with it in Alan Wake. What I don't like is the stuff like is stuff the giant billboard ads all over Prototype. Hell, some of them were just painted on walls.

Wow, I have the exact opposite feeling. It made sense to me in Prototype because it's set in the real world, and quite a few of them were humorous. In addition, their distribution was realistic (ie: high density near Times Square, but nothing in the business blocks).

 

[DancePuppets]

I'm not entirely sure how scientific this study is, maybe it's just because I'm a physicist, but the variables do not appear to have been controlled to a high enough degree to allow the conclusion that appears to have been drawn from the results. This is the sort of study where the phrase "correlation does not imply causation" should really be applied as all the study actually proves is that people who play those six games are more likely to drink Gatorade, you cannot conclude that it is down to those games containing adverts for it. I'd argue that it is equally possible that people who are interested in sports games are more likely to drink sports drinks, in which case the advertising has probably had a negligible effect, without some pretty well planned further study the results, as presented, are meaningless. Of course corporate executives rarely understand science or the scientific method, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them jump all over this.

 

[pneuma08]

I'm not entirely sure how scientific this study is, maybe it's just because I'm a physicist, but the variables do not appear to have been controlled to a high enough degree to allow the conclusion that appears to have been drawn from the results. This is the sort of study where the phrase "correlation does not imply causation" should really be applied as all the study actually proves is that people who play those six games are more likely to drink Gatorade, you cannot conclude that it is down to those games containing adverts for it. I'd argue that it is equally possible that people who are interested in sports games are more likely to drink sports drinks, in which case the advertising has probably had a negligible effect, without some pretty well planned further study the results, as presented, are meaningless. Of course corporate executives rarely understand science or the scientific method, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them jump all over this.

From what I understand, they compared purchasing decisions before and after the advertising was implemented:

Nielsen compared the households that purchased at least one of the studied games before and after Gatorade branding was integrated into the games (the test group) with households that didn't purchase one of the games (the control group).

Sales increased by a substantial amount among those who buy the games. If it was just correlation, then consumers who buy the games would be equally likely to purchase the Gatorade before the sports games advertised as after, but that is not the case. Seems pretty solid to me.

I understand where you're coming from, but social trends can't be controlled and observed exactly like a laboratory environment.

 

[Thorvan]

Hey, if money from in-game adds gets Publishers satisfied enough to not interfere with development teams (not that I'm saying it does, just putting a positive spin on things) that's perfectly fine with me. I would rather have five minutes wasted rendering a billboard than two months designing a useless multiplayer. The immersion thing is an issue, but that'll hopefully get more refined over time.

 

[SimuLord]

Not to slag on my fellow sports gamers, but putting ads for real-world products into places in sports games where sports fans are already used to seeing ads doesn't really prove anything.

If anything, I'd RATHER see ads in sports games to add to the realism of the sports-watching experience that the game is trying to capture. It's part of the zeitgeist of ESPN already. Imagine a baseball game or a hockey game with bare walls or boards---it wouldn't even look right.

 

[Super Toast]

So long as it doesn't get up in my face I don't see the problem.

 

[Cynical skeptic]

Not to slag on my fellow sports gamers, but putting ads for real-world products into places in sports games where sports fans are already used to seeing ads doesn't really prove anything.

If anything, I'd RATHER see ads in sports games to add to the realism of the sports-watching experience that the game is trying to capture. It's part of the zeitgeist of ESPN already. Imagine a baseball game or a hockey game with bare walls or boards---it wouldn't even look right.

I thought it proved that various companies would pay for ad space in these games?

 

[SimuLord]

Not to slag on my fellow sports gamers, but putting ads for real-world products into places in sports games where sports fans are already used to seeing ads doesn't really prove anything.

If anything, I'd RATHER see ads in sports games to add to the realism of the sports-watching experience that the game is trying to capture. It's part of the zeitgeist of ESPN already. Imagine a baseball game or a hockey game with bare walls or boards---it wouldn't even look right.

I thought it proved that various companies would pay for ad space in these games?

Marketing assholes will pay to advertise anywhere. That didn't need to be proven. What needs to be proven is that marketing executives aren't members of phylum Annelida.

 

[FortheLegion]

On a lighter note, I think we can all agree that fake ads are AWESOME:

Indeed, fake ads are very awesome

 

[SelectivelyEvil13]

Here's some of my basic criteria for in-game ad acceptability:

1. The advertisement fits the game and does not break immersion. An example would be a soda can in a modern game that is treated like any other scenery (e.g. destructible)
2. The advertisement is subtle and not to be shoved down our throats. Even in films, I find it very annoying when the cinematography suffers due to a mandatory sweep to show the perfect shot of that macbook or Vaio laptop.
3. Any advertising is not placed in inappropriate part of the game like a loading screen (unless by some miracle they can make it fit with the game)
4. Do NOT touch my load times, damn you!

I especially see no problem with something like Gatorade in a sports game because that is actually making it more realistic.

 

[Kollega]

In a perfect world, in-game advertising would allow to decrease game prices from $60 to something more affordable, and they would be held up to scrutiny regarding:

- if they are appropriate for the setting,
- if they have any (positive or negative) impact on the immersion,
- if they are subtle and not "in-yo-face" advertising, and so on.

Unfortunately, our world is so far from perfect it's not even funny.

 

[Isaac The Grape]

From the design perspective I see in-game advertising as being a great way of keeping operating costs down and overall making the game cheaper, to make and (to some extent, mostly regarding online distribution) buy. I interpret the concept of in-game advertising as literally as possible. Mostly as part of the environment. When gameplay mechanics and plot content become product placements I get irritated.

EDIT: What the previous two posters said.

 

[Hvati]

If it might lower the price of the games then I'd be ok with some ads, but not if they're EVERYWHERE, still If i've paid 50$ or more for a game, I don't want to be bothered by advertisements...