Gameindustry.biz recently posted an
interview Mark Androvich had with Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. In it several foreboding passages can be derived regarding the fate of Blizzard's time-honored franchises and the "opportunities" this jackass sees to exploit the fanbase to bring in the big bucks through in-game advertising.
"Kotick says that, on the Blizzard side, the company has started to think about how Starcraft - as a short session experience - can actually be the model for in-game advertising and sponsorship and tournament play and ladder play for the future."
This, people, is balls on the wall
trouble.
About a year or so back I ran a statistical analysis about in-game advertising as a final project in a statistics course. The specifics focus on people's attention to the ads, if they noticed them at all, if they were bothered by them and if so by how much, if it prevented them from buying certain games with foreknowledge of in-game adverts contained within, etc. Surprisingly the numbers came back significantly differently than I'd predicted (I'll stick some charts and whatnot in later to back it up if people demand the figures). It seems as if most people really don't give a crap if their games are plastered with ads or not. As a person that loathes the majority of ads I see on pure principle alone, I really have a problem understanding this indifferent attitude the majority of gamers take towards the corruption of our favorite pastime with insipid advertising. Think about it! Do
you want to see Coke and Pizza Hut ads plastered over Space Marines as they blow the crap out Hydralisks?
As with most things, this is relative. There are certain games, specifically those that take place in current times and settings, where in-game adverts for real products can actually enhance the believability and authenticity of some environments. The problem is that a whole lot of in-game ads appear completely out of context, having absolutely no relevance with the environs created within the games they happen to be blemishing.
Everyone knows all about BF2142, which is one of the worst cases, but who remembers Pizza Hut ads popping up in EverQuest II? How about this abomination, which features Nintendo's kid-targeted
Dewy's Adventure packed with ads for Nestle's Aquapod product:
Note that this advert just pops up out of the
abyssal nothingness that's created between the completion of a stage and the next menu system. There's no precedence for it, there's no context to account for it, it's simply Nestle peddling their crap in a kid's game.
This kind of idiocy doesn't fly.
Advertisers: Listen up. You want to advertise in games? You want to make
millions from the
billions publishers are raking in? The rule is simple: Stay
contemporary. Sports games are fine! Games that take place in New York right now are fine! On the other-hand, fantasy games, sci-fi games, any games involving a
fictional reality that couldn't possibly be related to our own are
off-limits. You see, we gamers enjoy games for many reasons, but one of the most prominent is that they allow us to experience a story, setting and reality without being reminded that there's
coke to drink,
shades to wear or
cars to buy out in the real world. Keep your filthy mitts off of games that have no place featuring your shit, and gamers at large will have no problem swallowing your product placement. This information should be exceedingly more important in the coming years when in-game adverts really start to take off, and as long as you avoid pissing a lot of people off, you'll do fine.
As for me, I'm lost forever to strategically inept advertising, as I'm always pissed off at something. Sorry, it's the curse of being Jewish.
Well, one of them.
As a side note - Don't like my pixelated Zoe shrug? Find me a high-res version!
UPDATE!
Apparently,
some folk were concerned about the things Bobby Kotick said in regards to Starcraft and in-game advertising, and so Blizzard has issued a little damage control.
Blizzard: "We have no plans to have in-game advertising in StarCraft II. We believe Bobby was actually referring to Battle.net, which has always included ads."
http://www.blizzplanet.com/?action=news&id=2170
I think we can all heave a collective sigh of relief...those of you that actually give a damn, of course.
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i still have nightmares playing burnout 3....
it is awful!
Dude, love the name and nice blog. I totally agree. A contemporary setting is fine for things like this, but when I see a dodge ad in mah Crackdown I have to wonder if it's a smart move. Kinda takes the "quasi-realism" out of the game.
I will only accept in-game advertising if the context makes sense. Like, Yankee Stadium in a baseball video game wouldn’t be the same without billboards everywhere, so I don’t mind seeing logos and stuff. In sports games, it’s fine...but in pretty much all other instances, I find advertising intrusive.
Thanks!
Yeah I could totally understand if Dodge were to put an ad in there for some kind of future car they were working on, perhaps something hydrogen-cell based or another Eco-centric design they wanted to promote. But to put an advert for a real vehicle in a game which obviously takes place in a future setting is just...sad. It shatters what little illusion the game brings to the table, so to speak.
Ach mein thirsten!
If it happens then the games better be ass cheap as those companies are probably paying millions to get their ads in the games.
Off the track a bit but,
I hate how now when you go to the movies, you have to sit through some stupid 5 minute car commercial.
Mix - You're (relatively) lucky you didn't grow up in the UK. They've had 5 to 10 minute sequences of advertisements for...decades? I haven't returned home in almost 10 years unfortunately so I couldn't tell you if they're still doing it but they were certainly showing commercials before movies in the 90's. America has only recently been afflicted.
I was actually thinking about in-game advertising this morning as well. I also totally agree with what you said, so I give you kudos for that.
Personally, I don't really mind in-game ads just as long as they're done in context to the setting and not constantly shoved down my throat.
The two examples I thought of were the games Marc Ecko's Getting Up and Guitar Hero III. In the former, Getting Up was practically an iPod commercial. Unlockable songs were found in the form of iPods, the Mall level had a typical Apple store iPod display, hell even the music selection screen was today's most popular MP3.
But for some reason, I didn't mind that at all. Sure, it was blatant Apple advertising, but to me it fit. Even in its excess, I feel like it fit the context.
GHIII on the other hand, I felt the ads were a little much. It's one thing to see Red Bull cans littering the stage, but another to see dancers/stage divers rocking shirts with Axe logos, unlockable Axe guitars and a little jingle before an encore song.
I don't know. As long as it fits the game, I'm fine by it.
That text look more like "Aquapoo" to me
I didn't even know there were ads in Crackdown and I played the shit out of that game.
Even though greed won't allow it to happen, I would take in-game ads in any game as long as it cut the price down by $10-20.
I mean ads don't take away from engrossing TV shows, so I don't see the problem with an ad during a loading screen (which breaks the realism anyway) or something like that.
Because these days raping your wallet isn't enough; Game companies want to rape your eyes with in-game ads.
Jaren Face: I think that's the key here, definitely. I hate advertising, however if it works with a game to establish the setting I have absolutely no problems with it. Of course, while there are certainly people that would rather have no adverts in games at all, and others that can work with it if it's put in the proper context, there are those who don't give a crap...
Kryptinite: I'm honestly not surprised. The figures I derived from the analysis I put together pretty much shows that most people don't care or don't notice the ads. And while I suppose that's a good thing, it's also detrimental to potential advertisers. Why spend the money on in-game adverts if their ultimate profits don't reflect the investment? You'd think the figures would convince advertisers that there's no money in it.
Count Grishnack: I agree that some loading times can break the realism, but they don't jolt me out of my complacent denial of reality like an ad for Mountain Dew showing up on a rock in WoW might. Similarly, I wouldn't want to be playing through Mass Effect or Heavenly Sword only to see a huge ad for a Dodge Ram pop up instead of a Mass Relay or whatever was on the loading screen for HS. I think even with loading screens ads would need to be contextual.
@AJ
I'm fully behind in game ads if it is the Ad-Supported Free version along with an ad-free paid version. Indie developers need to get paid somehow.
An EA or Activision putting ads in your $60 investment is uncalled for.
I can agree with that. As long as we have a choice in the matter they can pretty much do what they want, but forcing ads on consumers after they dump more than half a hundred dollars on a product is completely unacceptable.
I have a problem when a gaming company has a chance to potentially make additional money off of me through advertising, and does not discount their product accordingly.
As a person that loathes the majority of ads I see on pure principle alone
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