Sony Could Interrupt Your Games With Ads

[LifeMakesMeLOL]

Someone mentioned it earlier in the thread, but more games should do advertising like Pikmin 2 did it. You would find a lot of "treasures" in that game and SOME of them were real life brands like Duracell batteries or Vlasic pickle lids; it was done just enough to where it actually HELPED establish the game world rather then feel forced or out of place, especially since the game never outright says the product name and only shows it to you on the actual item.

 

[katana-409]

I'm sorry, but how is this a good idea? I think Rainbow 6 had the best method: when you went online, there were billboards that turned into paid advertisement. And that was fine! I actually liked it!

This will fail. This will fail epically.

How is it a good idea to say "I like billboard ads" and then say this isn't a good idea. The only message they are hearing is that you like the ads that are already there and they reason that you would tolerate more ads.

Because the billboards weren't intrusive. This is.

That's your opinion and not worth debating. What's important is that accepting the billboard ads leads to more ads.

So opinions aren't worth debating? Then please stop because whatever you are saying is an opinion.

I'm sorry, but how is this a good idea? I think Rainbow 6 had the best method: when you went online, there were billboards that turned into paid advertisement. And that was fine! I actually liked it!

This will fail. This will fail epically.

How is it a good idea to say "I like billboard ads" and then say this isn't a good idea. The only message they are hearing is that you like the ads that are already there and they reason that you would tolerate more ads.

Because the billboards weren't intrusive. This is.

That's your opinion and not worth debating. What's important is that accepting the billboard ads leads to more ads.

That's not an opinion though, it's a fact. Billboards are not intrusive, they do not stop gameplay, they are merely part of the scenery, an ad stopping the game is intrusive. Now if we're on about immersion, sure it's down to opinion, one may tolerate it, another may not, but it doesn't make the billboard intrusive.

Personally I don't mind billboard adverts in games where it makes sense, if I'm playing a game set in New York or London, it's perfectly acceptable to see argos shops or adverts for stuff on billboards, because they would be there, they work and to me reaffirm that this is a "real" place. Battlefield 2142 buggered this up though, having adverts for intel dual core processors on billboards in rural french countrysides in the year 2142 just looks fucking stupid.

No really, it's an opinion. I think putting Obama on a billboard in a game is intrusive, see, now it's an opinion.

Nah, that could be considered a different thing because it's politics. I like Ron Paul, for example, and if I were to see him in a game, even if it were just a billboard, i'd think it's pushing an agenda on me.

No, I don't participate in politics. I don't see much difference between the Democrats and the Republicans and feel like the debating is nothing more than a process to keep us all occupied and fighting amongst ourselves while, the real powers that be, do their own thing. I have no political preference at all. I am just saying that I avoid ads in things I pay for. I won't be advertised to in a game that I bought except Pikmin 2 and that's only because it wasn't a problem for me in 2004 when I bought it.

So, just out of curiosity (not trying to stir up the pot here or anything), in Crysis 2, the developer, Crytek, has these in-game billboards advertising their engine, the CryEngine 3. What do you think of that?

I never once noticed those billboard adds. I really never noticed them once, when you mentioned that I had to google it to see if you weren't making that up.

I think that sort of shows you the difference between Billboard advert and Advert that pauses the game and plays itself.

One is easily ignorable and doesn't break the flow of the game. The other is the equivalent of your little brother hitting the pause button to tell you about how much he likes pepsi.

I'm sorry, but how is this a good idea? I think Rainbow 6 had the best method: when you went online, there were billboards that turned into paid advertisement. And that was fine! I actually liked it!

This will fail. This will fail epically.

How is it a good idea to say "I like billboard ads" and then say this isn't a good idea. The only message they are hearing is that you like the ads that are already there and they reason that you would tolerate more ads.

Because the billboards weren't intrusive. This is.

That's your opinion and not worth debating. What's important is that accepting the billboard ads leads to more ads.

So opinions aren't worth debating? Then please stop because whatever you are saying is an opinion.

I'm sorry, but how is this a good idea? I think Rainbow 6 had the best method: when you went online, there were billboards that turned into paid advertisement. And that was fine! I actually liked it!

This will fail. This will fail epically.

How is it a good idea to say "I like billboard ads" and then say this isn't a good idea. The only message they are hearing is that you like the ads that are already there and they reason that you would tolerate more ads.

Because the billboards weren't intrusive. This is.

That's your opinion and not worth debating. What's important is that accepting the billboard ads leads to more ads.

That's not an opinion though, it's a fact. Billboards are not intrusive, they do not stop gameplay, they are merely part of the scenery, an ad stopping the game is intrusive. Now if we're on about immersion, sure it's down to opinion, one may tolerate it, another may not, but it doesn't make the billboard intrusive.

Personally I don't mind billboard adverts in games where it makes sense, if I'm playing a game set in New York or London, it's perfectly acceptable to see argos shops or adverts for stuff on billboards, because they would be there, they work and to me reaffirm that this is a "real" place. Battlefield 2142 buggered this up though, having adverts for intel dual core processors on billboards in rural french countrysides in the year 2142 just looks fucking stupid.

No really, it's an opinion. I think putting Obama on a billboard in a game is intrusive, see, now it's an opinion.

Nah, that could be considered a different thing because it's politics. I like Ron Paul, for example, and if I were to see him in a game, even if it were just a billboard, i'd think it's pushing an agenda on me.

No, I don't participate in politics. I don't see much difference between the Democrats and the Republicans and feel like the debating is nothing more than a process to keep us all occupied and fighting amongst ourselves while, the real powers that be, do their own thing. I have no political preference at all. I am just saying that I avoid ads in things I pay for. I won't be advertised to in a game that I bought except Pikmin 2 and that's only because it wasn't a problem for me in 2004 when I bought it.

So, just out of curiosity (not trying to stir up the pot here or anything), in Crysis 2, the developer, Crytek, has these in-game billboards advertising their engine, the CryEngine 3. What do you think of that?

I never once noticed those billboard adds. I really never noticed them once, when you mentioned that I had to google it to see if you weren't making that up.

I think that sort of shows you the difference between Billboard advert and Advert that pauses the game and plays itself.

One is easily ignorable and doesn't break the flow of the game. The other is the equivalent of your little brother hitting the pause button to tell you about how much he likes pepsi.

I wouldn't make things up; i've been here for only two days. I'd hate to get off on the wrong footing.

I wasn't implying you were making things up. I said I had to Google it just to make sure they were actually in there. Whilst playing Crysis 2 I never once noticed them. So I played through the entire game without ever consciously noticing those adds.

Oh, all right. Never mind.

 

[Raesvelg]

No, what Sony is doing is FUNDAMENTALLY different as they are DELIBERATELY stopping the game to shove an obnoxious video in your face that you have to watch as it is so imperative you know when the stream of ads end. Putting some still and silent ad in the loading time is nothing, and more often than not is an ad for the very full-price version which I think would be the most effective use of that ad-space considering how it would be so naturally targeted.

Actually, it's rarely an ad for the full-price version of the game; it's typically an ad for someone who has purchased ad space. Like every other form of advertising.

And the ads are not still, nor necessarily silent, particularly the ones that pop in during loading screens. Those are often full video & audio, difficult to slip through, and sucking up bandwidth and data usage on the phone in question. And it's not just loading screens; pop ups or banner ads are not uncommon within the game itself, sometimes intruding into the game screen proper.

So no, it's not "fundamentally different", it's simply a question of degrees.

Couple it with the rumor that Sony is looking to buy a cloud gaming service... and I can easily see them pushing a broad array of "free", ad-supported games or extended demos out there for people to try.

And that wouldn't bother me. Because if the price of me getting to run through a game for free for more than a brief, feature-limited demo is having to watch a few commercials, I won't really object.

 

[Treblaine]

No, what Sony is doing is FUNDAMENTALLY different as they are DELIBERATELY stopping the game to shove an obnoxious video in your face that you have to watch as it is so imperative you know when the stream of ads end. Putting some still and silent ad in the loading time is nothing, and more often than not is an ad for the very full-price version which I think would be the most effective use of that ad-space considering how it would be so naturally targeted.

Actually, it's rarely an ad for the full-price version of the game; it's typically an ad for someone who has purchased ad space. Like every other form of advertising.

And the ads are not still, nor necessarily silent, particularly the ones that pop in during loading screens. Those are often full video & audio, difficult to slip through, and sucking up bandwidth and data usage on the phone in question. And it's not just loading screens; pop ups or banner ads are not uncommon within the game itself, sometimes intruding into the game screen proper.

So no, it's not "fundamentally different", it's simply a question of degrees.

Couple it with the rumor that Sony is looking to buy a cloud gaming service... and I can easily see them pushing a broad array of "free", ad-supported games or extended demos out there for people to try.

And that wouldn't bother me. Because if the price of me getting to run through a game for free for more than a brief, feature-limited demo is having to watch a few commercials, I won't really object.

Precisely what apps are like this and precisely how lucrative are these apps?

You describe what you seem to disapprove of with the "sucking up bandwidth", you can't possibly be suggesting this is a good thing? Or that if it's a bad thing that two wrong make a right? No, the apps you describe are clearly bad practice and what Sony is suggesting is worse.

Is it fundamentally worse? I say yes with an explanation you say "no" with... well you say no, you say it's just a matter of degrees.

I'd say the arbitrary interruption of gameplay for purely the purpose of showing an unskippable ad is a fundamental difference from the dead time and natural pause of a load screen. But whatever.

I frankly do not trust Sony with these matters they have demonstrated such amazing incompetence in managing networks:
-Playstation Plus being the ONLY way to get any special offers like % off deals
-Full games selling at a base price of £49.99 ($80) on PSN when they rarely ever sell for any more than £39.99 in retail
-Huge year long delays between smaller game releases between Japan, North America and Europe
-Breathtakingly incompetent online security. No, PSN hack was not "bad luck" it was incompetence on Sony's part.

If Sony really is planning to try combining game streaming with this patented ad-model then is a shillish anti-consumer backlash against the renaissance that is happening on PC at the moment with Free to Play games that are making buckets of money and giving millions of people great access to games, it's such a good model. The concept with free-to-play is you don't deliberately make the free-experience bad, you just add extra to it.

 

[Raesvelg]

If Sony really is planning to try combining game streaming with this patented ad-model then is a shillish anti-consumer backlash against the renaissance that is happening on PC at the moment with Free to Play games that are making buckets of money and giving millions of people great access to games, it's such a good model. The concept with free-to-play is you don't deliberately make the free-experience bad, you just add extra to it.

I'm not saying it's a "good" thing, I'm saying it's consistent with mechanics that are already in place in the market. That's all.

As for free-to-play games, not every game is cut out for that model. Microtransactions are also less than popular with a lot of folks; the idea of being sold your game in pieces, or selling shortcuts to victory, or any other of a number of mechanics within that model that people find every bit as objectionable as you seem to find an advertisement that interrupts gameplay.

/shrug

It's all a matter of personal opinion, not moral absolutes.

 

[Nerexor]

I've been a loyal customer to sony ever since the PS1, and while I'm not going to claim boycotting until I see this process in action, it's definitely going to count heavily against my getting the next console.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but if I'm dishing out $300 for a console system and $60 a pop for games, I do not want to deal with advertisements that break up the gameplay experience. They want to stream something in during a loading screen? I could tolerate that, I suppose. They want to do something clever like have city billboards in game have ads on them, I'm cool with that because it's clever and non-intrusive. But if you're telling me that in the middle of a titanic boss battle with some eldritch abomination the game is going to show me an ad for my little pony plushies, yeah, fuck that noise. You break the flow, you break the experience, and you ruin that moment for the player.

Plus I think at that point I would not be thinking charitably to the advertiser either. I would be more "GET THE F*** OUT OF THE F***ING WAY AND I HOPE YOUR SHI*** PRODUCTS BURN IN THE FIRES OF HELL!" rather than "I would consider purchasing this merchandise."

 

[gphjr14]

If it means games will go back down to 40 bucks then sure during load screens or pause menus, fine otherwise utter bullshit and will kill gaming as a hobby for me.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Dear pirates/hackers/whoever:

Fix this.

--Thanks in advance.

Loading screens? Maybe tolerable. Keep them brief, though. None of this escalating shit. And for the love of fuck, don't actually interrupt the fucking game to make it happen.

 

[Brad Calkins]

As long as they make the games less expensive, I'm fine with it, otherwise, no.

 

[jbm1986]

snip

Your tolerance will be taken advantage of sooner or later.

^this.

DO.NOT.WANT!

For the people who say "I don't care" you are letting them get away with this crap. It need to be stopped RIGHT NOW or it'll only get worse. I don't care if it's in the loading screen it does not belong in gaming. If the Mona Lisa had a pepsi logo placed in the painting, wouldn't that ruin it? And aren't games art? Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they added soda/pop can NPCs into the game...

 

[Epona]

snip

Your tolerance will be taken advantage of sooner or later.

^this.

DO.NOT.WANT!

For the people who say "I don't care" you are letting them get away with this crap. It need to be stopped RIGHT NOW or it'll only get worse. I don't care if it's in the loading screen it does not belong in gaming. If the Mona Lisa had a pepsi logo placed in the painting, wouldn't that ruin it? And aren't games art? Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they added soda/pop can NPCs into the game...

Absolutely, when you buy a DVD set for $60 (or any price) you pay to watch the shows without ads. It's the same with a game. Why in the fuck would anyone pay $60 for a game and allow ads?

 

[Jack Rascal]

No. Just, no.

I know it's only a patent, but I don't even like the idea. I wouldn't even tolerate ads in loading screens as that would break my immersion as well. If I'm playing a 15th century assassin on the rooftops of Venice I will not accept a damn pantyliner ad in the middle of it; not in loading screen or during my play.

If they would introduce this for free games, fine so be it, but I still want the option of buying my games and playing them ad free. I wouldn't want to see this on DVD's either. I buy and watch DVD's because I don't want ads. Simple.

I really cannot stand ads. Most of them are horrible and I want nothing more than to stop buying whatever product is advertized. The day ads interrupt my game I stop being a gamer. Let me tell you where you can stuff that next gen console of yours if this becomes reality.

 

[zombiesinc]

I don't really like ads and I especially don't like the idea of having to deal with them while using gaming consoles (lookin' at you Xbox 360), but I tolerate them as is. If, instead of being placed throughout the dashboard, they start interrupting whatever it is I'm doing, I'm going to be pretty irritated. I know Sony, like all other corporations, are a business and that they'll consider most anything to increase profit but this is absolutely ridiculous.

Ah well, I suppose we'll see if this develops with time. If this becomes a reality, then I'll get irritated. Until then however, I think I'll continue enjoying my uninterrupted videos/games.

 

[LifeMakesMeLOL]

snip

Your tolerance will be taken advantage of sooner or later.

^this.

DO.NOT.WANT!

For the people who say "I don't care" you are letting them get away with this crap. It need to be stopped RIGHT NOW or it'll only get worse. I don't care if it's in the loading screen it does not belong in gaming. If the Mona Lisa had a pepsi logo placed in the painting, wouldn't that ruin it? And aren't games art? Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they added soda/pop can NPCs into the game...

Absolutely, when you buy a DVD set for $60 (or any price) you pay to watch the shows without ads. It's the same with a game. Why in the fuck would anyone pay $60 for a game and allow ads?

Except there are ads in the beginning of DVDs and sometimes product placement throughout the movie. As long as the game is set in the real world, it wouldn't ruin anything for me if I saw Doritos on the loading screen or some NPCs drinking Coca-Cola.

 

[Webb5432]

I've never said this on a forum before, as I usually try to present both sides, but I can only say this:

This is stupid

 

[Something Amyss]

Right, lets go back to what you said.

At least you managed to clear up some of your typos by the time I responded.

So...Ummm..Where to start. You do noticed that the OP also mentions that this isn't PS4 specific, right? Next....Actually, there really is no need for a next. That was kinda my point. I know that you got offended by my PC Gaming Master Race crack, but it was really just a crack.

So, to recap:

1. It's not software, it's hardware, but this could become a very large hardware issue for devices other than consoles, no matter how much PC players protest.

2. There is no 2, unless you feel it merits pointing out that I did not make the first remark here, unless you want to ignore the fact that I was replying to someone who had just naively expounded upon virtues that don't really exist.

Oh hell, bonus round!

3. "patent" does not mean it won't appear elsewhere. If advertisers take to this, you're likely to see it explode to the point where it won't matter what hardware you swap out, unless you want to stick to current-gen tech. Praising PCs for being awesome doesn't really matter.

4. There is no four. Really.

 

[Epona]

snip

Your tolerance will be taken advantage of sooner or later.

^this.

DO.NOT.WANT!

For the people who say "I don't care" you are letting them get away with this crap. It need to be stopped RIGHT NOW or it'll only get worse. I don't care if it's in the loading screen it does not belong in gaming. If the Mona Lisa had a pepsi logo placed in the painting, wouldn't that ruin it? And aren't games art? Hell I wouldn't be surprised if they added soda/pop can NPCs into the game...

Absolutely, when you buy a DVD set for $60 (or any price) you pay to watch the shows without ads. It's the same with a game. Why in the fuck would anyone pay $60 for a game and allow ads?

Except there are ads in the beginning of DVDs and sometimes product placement throughout the movie. As long as the game is set in the real world, it wouldn't ruin anything for me if I saw Doritos on the loading screen or some NPCs drinking Coca-Cola.

This is about Sony interrupting games like ads do on TV and DVD sets don't do that. Besides, the ads at the beginning of DVD's can be skipped.

 

[Kroxile]

I'd like to think that sony wouldn't be dumb enough to include something so intrusive... but seeing how America is basically owned by corporations... who's to say they can't buy out our entertainment too?

 

[babinro]

Obviously no one would really get behind this idea, myself included.

Ads playing during a games loading screens seems like an eventuality though. Along side clear product placement in game. Both of which really wouldn't ruin a gaming experience for me.

 

[soh45400]

if it gets games cheaper and doesn't interrupt the actual action(imagine the Favila level of MW2, or Arkham City's deamon trails or any good boss fight being interrupted by adverts) then it is fine.
A better idea would be in game adverts before multiplayer matches or within the game itself like Alan Wake's Verzion or Engergizer refrences or putting actual ads, which may be updated whenever the game is connected to the internet, on billboards in games like Saints Row or GTA or Prototype or Infamous.