Game "updates" and in game ads

METC NAPALM

METC NAPALM

CAG Veteran
Everyone else noticing that the new "updates" for popular games are nothing more that NEW ADVERTISEMENTS?

For example... graw 2 latest update = new posters for man vs wild on discovery channel all over the game

PRG 3 = new ads for movie coming out

etc..etc...etc....

And the WORST is rainbow six vegas, they went form some lame pentium dual core processor ad, to some ad for a movie coming out, to some show on the discovery channel also!

I know its all about making $$$$$$, and the developers are trying to squeeze every dollar they can outta the end consumer! But whats the limit?
I have already seen the "map packs" that are on xbl go from $20 each to FREE, infact in you just WAIT a few weeks/months, you can get them FREEEEEE! Shall I name a few, the graw chapter 2 maps, the rainbow 6 vegas red and black map packs, etc.....etc...etc.... Theres nothing like paying $60 for a game, and then investing $40 MORE for a few new maps! Heck who in their right minds wouldnt want to have $100 invested in a game (being sarcastic!)

Pretty soon, we are going to be watching 10-30 second COMMERICALS as the @#$#@$@ games load, kinda like you are forced to do when downloading game reviews from ign.com

Comments?
 
[quote name='METC NAPALM']

Comments?[/quote]

Yeah STFU............J/K

I agree, kinda sucks but everyones got to get every cent they can. I dont think its right but its always gonna happen.
 
I like some of the ads....they have to pay for it somehow. I like in NHL 08 how the ads on the boards showed the Simpsons game. It's an interesting concept.
 
If it is appropriate to the game's setting I don't care - like billboards in Burnout. If I'm playing Assassin's Creed and I see a Discovery Channel ad or something then I'll be annoyed.
 
[quote name='METC NAPALM']

Pretty soon, we are going to be watching 10-30 second COMMERICALS as the @#$#@$@ games load, kinda like you are forced to do when downloading game reviews from ign.com

Comments?[/QUOTE]

That would be the death of gaming if that were to happen. I highly doubt it though. Commercials are why I dont watch most tv shows as they air, and instead I watch them another way commercial free.

As for the in game ad placements, I never minded them. In most games I would rather they put MORE ads in it. Instead of seeing the same ad repeatedly you would see more companies with ads. It helps these people make money, in theory helps keep the prices down, and its just more realistic. Id rather go into McDonalds on GTA and maybe beat up Grimace then go into whatever lame McyDs satire they used instead.
 
It's usually in the correct setting, so whats the problem? It's not that annoying. Occasionally, a game has an ad that doesn't seem fit.. but that rarely happens in console games.

And, I don't think Map Packs cost 2000 MS points, and no one is forcing anyone to buy them. It's the consumer's choice whether to wait till they're free or not. It adds more playing time to your game if you're getting bored if it.
 
I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.
 
Ads don't bother me if the game takes place in a real world setting. Then they fit in, and aren't obtrusive at all.

Anything else would bother me though.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/quote]
This.
 
I don't care about ads as long as they are businesses advertising a product. I do care if they are recruiting ads because they help to proliferate the myth that games are murder simulators. I already ranted on the boards about the Navy ads during the CAGcast. Like I told the recruiters, "If you want me, draft me, because I will not serve by choice. I am a conscientious objector. "
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/quote]
Well said, but then again, what kind of attitude do you expect from a gaming majority of apathetic middle-class males?
 
Funny you should mention this, I was just thinking about this a couple days ago while playing Madden. There was a shot of the scoreboard and I was thinking WTF, The Simpsons, I don't remember that being there.

I agree with most, it doesn't bother me as long as it doesn't get out of hand (i.e. the example of any ad in Assassin's Creed would lead me to kill)
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/quote] I agree with this.
 
Remember when people thought we'd someday see an ad-supported "free" version of XBL?

Looks like they decided to continue charging us and then give us ads anyway. Nice.
 
What's new? Microsoft is money driven. You'd think that paying $50 for Live means NO ads. You'd think paying for DLC means NO ads. I mean every website that offers a subscription says NO ads with subscription (IGN for example). Just the way they run.
 
Ads suck, but there's nothing that we can do about it. I suppose if you really hated them, you could make a child account (because ads do not show on child accounts)
 
[quote name='mvp828']Funny you should mention this, I was just thinking about this a couple days ago while playing Madden. There was a shot of the scoreboard and I was thinking WTF, The Simpsons, I don't remember that being there.
[/quote]
I was playing Madden 08 today, and there are CONSTANT ads for the Simpsons game all over the stadium. Its actually driving me AWAY from the game, even though I'll get it because I was already going to.
 
as it's been said the ads are fine to me if it fits in game, especially if its a game with some sort of realism like Vegas, billboards, ad boards in hockey, that is fine. When its one ad repeated over and over again, that is annoying though.

I will get pissed if I start seeing them where they don't make any sense, like if Master Chiefs helmet dons a Motorola label or something like that, or as its been mentioned, if Assassins Creed has ads.

If it fits in the game world, Id rather see a real ad than a made up one, unless its GTA because at least those ads are funny.
 
"If it's in a contemporary setting, I don't mind ads" seems to be what I'm reading here.

I foresee a future where advertisers dictate to developers that future games should take place in the here and now so that they can place advertisements into the games and now have it be anachronistic/out of place.

Fantasy games like Oblivion? Why not have it be set in modern day New York? I mean, what's the difference to the gameplay? That way we can plaster ads everywhere.

So long to your fantasy and future setting games.

As for me, I refuse to buy a game with any ads in it.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']
And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/QUOTE]
Absolutely correct. This WILL happen. I'm surprised it hasn't already. At some point, a game will come out that autoplays a 30-60 second ad whenever you put the disc in, and shorter ones during load times, and there will be a howl of outrage from the gaming community. Then another game will do it, and another, and the outrage will gradually decrease and eventually it will just be an accepted part of the experience. Anybody else remember when they didn't show ads before the previews at movie theaters? I stormed out and demanded my money back the first time I saw an ad in a movie theater, and I wasn't alone. Now it's just the way it is.
 
[quote name='Rusty Ghia']As for me, I refuse to buy a game with any ads in it.[/quote]


I bet you $10 that you have At least ONE Video game with a Ad in it.

I do forsee the comerricals coming soon. Like when I was driving around in NFS Carbon. Every billboard was a ad for the simpsons game. Annoying yes since its the same thing. If they looked differnt i wouldnt mind that much. The Hockey one I think is cool if its on the side wall. I think thats a pretty good idea since they change alot. But i havnt played Madden 08 yet so i can't respond to that one.
 
The problem with changing ads in a video game is that it changes the context of the game. I'm pretty inept when it comes to gaming, but I do notice various things to help me keep track of where I am, I've been, etc. If the ads change, I lose that landmark. Don't fuck with my ability to play my games if I'm paying $60 a pop.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/quote]

Seriously...

I don't mind it if they lower the price or give free DLC.
 
[quote name='PyroGamer']I'd be fine with the ads if they either:

1. Didn't charge $60 for the game in the first place.

or

2. Didn't charge for downloadable content.

If you're going to be forcing ads on me, I should not have to pay for your DLC. DLC should be your way of keeping people seeing the ads by keeping them playing your game.


And for those who doubt the possibility of 30 second ads: you are idiots, and tolerating what they're forcing on you now is only pushing us in the direction you're too stupid to see you're headed in.[/QUOTE]

Yes.
 
I'm sure most of you have noticed that the dollar is weakening pretty significantly so $60 for a game today is not returning the same amount of profit to the publishers and developers that the same $60 returned even just a couple of years ago. The cost of producing a modern game is also way higher than it used to be and further compounds this problem.

I hate advertising in general, but it may be the case that these ads are helping to freeze the cost of games for us, at least temporarily. I anticipate $70 for games next gen, minimum.
 
[quote name='Scobie']I'm sure most of you have noticed that the dollar is weakening pretty significantly so $60 for a game today is not returning the same amount of profit to the publishers and developers that the same $60 returned even just a couple of years ago. The cost of producing a modern game is also way higher than it used to be and further compounds this problem.

I hate advertising in general, but it may be the case that these ads are helping to freeze the cost of games for us, at least temporarily. I anticipate $70 for games next gen, minimum.[/QUOTE]
Cry me a river. $60 is too much to need subsidization. It's all about the extra dough. If they're losing money, they need to stop with the outrageous budgets.
 
[quote name='torifile']Cry me a river. $60 is too much to need subsidization. It's all about the extra dough. If they're losing money, they need to stop with the outrageous budgets.[/QUOTE]

Look back on the cost of games in the Genesis-SNES era. Strider costs $80. Same with Phantasy Star II. Heck, the original Phantasy Star cost $70 back in 1988. According to the westegg.com inflation calculator, that $70 in '88 would equate to almost $120 in 2006.

There are billions of dollars floating around the video game industry for sure, but the average salary is still only around $75-80k, which isn't all that much when you consider the high degree of skill and the ridiculous hours demanded.

"Stopping with the outrageous budgets" is nonsense. There's no going back now that we've all had a taste of high definition graphics with movie-quality cinematics and voice acting.
 
Getting back to the OP, I think it's a little cynical to think EVERY update is ad-related. Look at Guitar Hero 3 (adding co-op quickplay) or Orange Box (fixing TF2). There are a lot of valid, helpful updates going on that are only in place to make your gaming experience better.

I remember when I thought it was so cool seeing the Mountain Dew billboard in JetMoto back on PSone. Even stuff like the PowerBar triple threat in NBA 2K7 was okay; but I see us on a slippery slope.
 
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