What do you think of political ads in games?

Yipwoop

Yipwoop

CAG Veteran
I just saw this news item that Barack Obama is advertising on billboards within Burnout Paradise:

http://gigaom.com/2008/10/13/confirmed-obama-is-campaigning-on-xbox-360/

What do CAG's think about this? Should political ads be added to games? If you are an Obama supporter, consider if you were driving around Paradise City and saw a McCain ad. Would you be alright with that?

Personally, I think that political ads, whether Democrat or Republican, should not be allowed in games. When I play games, I want to get away from all that stuff; so I don't want politics infecting my play space. It's bad enough that there are other types of ads like food ads in games now, but I don't think seeing a Burger King ad will stoke up anybody's feelings like a political ad does.

Please share your ideas here.
 
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I'm opposed to ads in games in general. Unless it fits the fantasy world that they've set up, it doesn't belong there.

If game developers/publishers are getting kickbacks by having ads in their products, then gamers should get a reduced price, plain and simple.
 
Shit. I don't want to see these ads while I watch TV. If I saw an ad in game for one of these asshats, I would remove the game forever. I hate watching TV ever four years. I don't watch much, but I hate all these ads for president. They do not belong in games. I don't care who you are or if you approve of this message.
 
Personally, I don't like politics mixed with my gaming, but if the ad space was paid for then I can live with it. It was donated, by EA then I would have a huge problem with it.
 
[quote name='GuilewasNK']Personally, I don't like politics mixed with my gaming, but if the ad space was paid for then I can live with it. It was donated, by EA then I would have a huge problem with it.[/quote]

I don't understand why it should be a concern as to whether or not propaganda was paid for or donated by a publisher. It's not like EA is going to share that revenue in the form of savings to you, a consumer.

Maybe you don't want EA to support one of the candidates? I guess I can see that, but EA is no Fox News.
 
I'm not offended to see these in games, but I would be rather sick of seeing them (like the zergling rush of politcal news that's been on digg for the last 2 years).
 
[quote name='GuardianE']I don't understand why it should be a concern as to whether or not propaganda was paid for or donated by a publisher. It's not like EA is going to share that revenue in the form of savings to you, a consumer.

Maybe you don't want EA to support one of the candidates? I guess I can see that, but EA is no Fox News.[/quote]


I don't want them to show support for either, unless equal ad space was given to both. I hate it when entertainers or other forms of entertainment shoves their political views down our throats whether D or R.

Like I said though, if it is paid for by the Obama camp then I wouldn't have as big a deal.
 
I'm sick of political ads completely, whether it's on tv, in yards, or anywhere else. For the most part, I'm fine with ads being appropriately placed in an appropriate game but political ads are something I don't want to see in any game no matter who it's for.
 
[quote name='StinkyCheese']really depends on the game.[/quote]
In what type of game do you think it would be appropriate to show political ads?
 
[quote name='Yipwoop']In what type of game do you think it would be appropriate to show political ads?[/QUOTE]

I'd say its the same as for any ad. If the ad appears in the game world in a place where you'd see it in real life, then it's fine.

If there are ads for real things not set in present day earth, then they don't make sense.

So political ads on billboards, or yard signs etc. in a game like Burnout that is meant to take place in a modern US city fit in. But if they crammed them into Wipeout it wouldn't make any sense as that's a futuristic game.
 
Vote with your $ don't buy the game if you don't like the ad, that's what I did, I am taking Burnout back and sent them an email, but I do like the idea about driving a truck through the sign would be cool.

[email protected]
 
[quote name='pun123']Vote with your $ don't buy the game if you don't like the ad, that's what I did, I am taking Burnout back and sent them an email, but I do like the idea about driving a truck through the sign would be cool.

[email protected][/quote]

Unfortunately I already bought the game a while ago so that's not really an option. I like the idea of sending Criterion a message about this stuff though. Thanks for the link.
 
I'd say it's dumb of EA to accept political ads but I wouldn't hold it against the campaigns doing it.

Unless they aren't allowed to deny political ads? I have no idea on that.
 
I'm fine with it in Burnout since it fits in that world. I can't say I would ever really notice since there are more important things to worry about in that game.
 
Ads in games are dumb.

Political ads aren't any better or worse.

Ads give game designers fun little side projects. They can spoof whatever they want, make it as deep or shallow as they want. If they want to put in ads to get them some extra money, they should charge less for the game.
 
Obama paid for the ads. What's the problem?

As for the cat who is going to return the game and send an email to Criterion, you may as well give up the rest of the real world, too. Obama has ads there, you know.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Obama paid for the ads. What's the problem?

As for the cat who is going to return the game and send an email to Criterion, you may as well give up the rest of the real world, too. Obama has ads there, you know.[/quote]

I don't agree with the idea that just because somebody paid for an ad, it's OK to add it to a game. What if somebody paid for an ad promoting a certain religion? Would that be OK to put in a game? My point is, If the line is not politics (and I think it is), then where is that line?
 
[quote name='Yipwoop']I don't agree with the idea that just because somebody paid for an ad, it's OK to add it to a game. What if somebody paid for an ad promoting a certain religion? Would that be OK to put in a game? My point is, If the line is not politics (and I think it is), then where is that line?[/QUOTE]

You can advertise anything on TV and magazines (besides tobacco products I think), where's the line there? So how is it any different for games? Sure, the audiences might be different but they're both open and accessible to anyone.

You can ignore ads on TV and magazines, and you can ignore them in the game too.
 
mykevermin,

the difference is that I don't buy the rest of the world, and what I do buy such as my property I have the choice to put a NObama sign on my lawn if I want.
 
But that's not something that holds true across all of your property - the commercials on your telly, the ads in your newspapers, the banner ads on your web browser.

I mean, it's one thing to act like this is a meaningful act of defiance, but either (1) get over yourself and find a real fuckin' cause, or (2) be honest with the rest of us and admit that this is a cheap excuse to defraud a store for the full price of a game you don't play anymore.
 
Defraud a store, WTH are you talking about, I meant trade it into EB and send an email which I did in complaint, see if I lived in a communist country I couldn't do that, because I would probably disappear for speaking out.
 
Then it's #1. Find a real fuckin' cause. And return your cable box and send in a complaint to every channel on the planet that accepts payment for advertisements for political ads. Which leaves you with "QVC," I think.

Or buy a PS3, since the Obama ads are Xbox 360 exclusive. Ha.
 
Doesn't really bother me, being bombarded with Ads in-game just makes the experience more true to life.

It might bother me more if I was walking through Oblivion and suddenly starting seeing billboards for things. But I'd hope game devs/publishers know where to draw the line.

In a game like Burnout I'm really not bothered, there's billboards everywhere, they may as well advertise real things (or even politicians ;)) instead of made up stuff.
 
I'm all for ads in games, it eases developments costs, and keeps the final cost down.
I've yet to see an ingame ad destroy the fun of a game to any degree. Billboards especially do the opposite of distract from the fun, instead they ad to the realism.

I also don't mind when free games are released and ad-supported. Provided those ads aren't installing anything on my computer.
On the list of reasons why I would buy a game, something like this doesn't even register.
 
[quote name='Vinny']You can advertise anything on TV and magazines (besides tobacco products I think), where's the line there? So how is it any different for games? Sure, the audiences might be different but they're both open and accessible to anyone.

You can ignore ads on TV and magazines, and you can ignore them in the game too.[/quote]

One of the differences for me is that when I see a political ad on TV, I can fast forward through it if I DVR'd the show or I can just switch to another channel and go back to it in 30 seconds. I can't do that when I see a political ad in a video game though - it's much harder to simply ignore.
 
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[quote name='Yipwoop']The difference for me is that when I see a political ad on TV, I can fast forward through it if I DVR'd the show or I can just switch to another channel and go back to it in 30 seconds. I can't do that when I see a political ad in a video game though - it's much harder to simply ignore.[/QUOTE]

I honestly think it's easier to ignore as it's a billboard in a racing (well, mostly racing) game.. it's by the side of the road and in most cases, you'll zoom right past it. You'll be too busy trying to avoid crashing and avoiding opponent cars.

It'll go unnoticed in most cases, unless people look for it- and those who are politically active most likely will notice it.
 
Personally, I don't really care one way or the other about political ads. I only really have 2 concerns:

1) I'm sick of having advertisements everywhere. You are really hard pressed to have any sort of entertainment that isn't advertisement filled. Sorry Obama, I won't vote for you just because you have an ad in the game. I think it's a sad state that politicians get benefits for spending this kind of money. With the internet, have your debates and a few more interviews, put your plans out there for review, and let everyone make informed decisions (I know, it won't happen, since 90% of the population doesn't feel like informing themselves at all on the candidates).

2) I really wonder how Obama's camp would react if someone hacked the game and made an anti-Obama statement. The bad thing with an ad like this is that you know there are people driving past it on XBL saying something to the effect of 'f obama the n'. It's only a matter of time until a news brodcasters son or daughter plays the game, they hear that, and all hell breaks loose.

Assuming number 2 doesn't happen, then it's just another ad.
 
The political ads are definitely an interesting way to get your attention and apparently piss a couple people off. The ad is fairly harmless and it's just telling people to vote(albeit w/ a bias). There is a huge fraction of U.S. citizens that do not vote and it's just ridiculous, and it in no way makes McCain/Palin look bad.

So in my opinion this is a very smart move, it has a strong bias for Obama but it is quite harmless, very informative, and shouldn't detour from gameplay. Though I wish it were not possible for games to be influenced by politics, I myself use games to escape from real life events, and because this is possible I wish gamers could actually recieve bonus content through the use of in-game ads more often. I'll let this slide mainly because Burnout Paradise is very accomadating when it comes to DLC and supporting their gamers.
 
http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/16/obama-ads-not-just-in-burnout-paradise/

With its Burnout Paradise tour underway, the Obama campaign has moved into other swing games that they feel they have a chance in, including 18 different Xbox Live titles. There are some obvious, classically blue games like Guitar Hero 3 and The Incredible Hulk, as well as more surprising choices, NBA Live 08 and NFL Tour among them. Shockingly, even NASCAR 09 is in play in 2008, and will receive the first Democratic media blitz in that game's history this year. (When asked if they would be moving the campaign into Cabela's Most Dangerous Hunts, the Obama representatives laughed a little bit, then walked away.)

But you may not be able to find the ads just yet. In this election, where a voter lives is, in some ways, almost as important as what games they play. The ads are only targeted in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado, all states where early voting is accessible and easy.
Click to expand...
 
Would you rather pay more money for video games because they won't take advertising dollars? Would you rather pay double at a sporting contest because they won't sell the naming rights to the stadium or put up Budweiser billboards in the outfield? Do you shun high school sports because the kids have Nike swooshes on their uniforms?
 
I'm not a fan of ads in general. That an xbox user pays to play games online and is hit with ads seems somewhat insulting to me as you're already paying for a premium service as it is.

Does it bother me that it's political? Well.. political ads invade all other forms of media so I'm already oblivious to it all.
 
Man these guys must be desperate for votes. I figured they would have registered more dead people or fictional characters. Ads don't matter to me, as long as the guys making the games are getting money, or somebody in the game industry is getting money.
 
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