Should advertisements be put into games?

[SMB]

Think is coke can is fine but when they put "buy a subscription to sports illustrated" in Donkey Kong.... I will stop playing games LOL

[classic gamer]

I think the product placement ads are fine as long as it doesn't inhibit the gameplay. Just like in 'Minority Report' there were ads all over the place but they didn't feel like advertisements.

[tholly]

i think it depends on the game.....i mean a coke can in a game like vice city would not be too unbelieveable, but if i was playing say Final Fantasy and saw a Nike sign or a Pepsi poster or something like that, i would really have to start to wonder how that got in there....

i think its all about the setting of the game and if it makes the game feel more or less real

[NoahsMyBro]

The first in-game ads I recall were in Pole Position, and I was uncomfortable with it even then, though those were admittedly reasonable within the context of the game.

However, I still think in-game ads should be completely fictional. They could still be realistic, and not detract from the game, but be for made-up products rather than real-life products.

Just my opinion,
Steve

[NESaholic]

Everywhere we see it and get bothered with it, on tv,bilboards,even in my mailbox (no not email but at home!),email,work.
Do you really think i would want it IN videogames: HELL NO!!!!.
I'm glad i collect Nes games, there i can be sure it's not in them,maybe some have,i don't remember though, at least it's not multiplying!! :P

[Achika]

Everywhere we see it and get bothered with it, on tv,bilboards,even in my mailbox (no not email but at home!),email,work.
Do you really think i would want it IN videogames: HELL NO!!!!.
I'm glad i collect Nes games, there i can be sure it's not in them,maybe some have,i don't remember though, at least it's not multiplying!! :P

Yo! Noid, Spot, MC Kids and a handful of others are full ads in and of themselves.


Ads are ok depending on the game. I agree with THolly. Without Ads, Gran Turismo would cease to function as it does now.

[chrisbid]

if AND ONLY if it reduces the cost of the game.

im guessing that ad revenue may be one of the reasons why Sega was able to release ESPN 2K5 at 20 dollars. if the cost of video games were lowered to the price range of DVDs, then i wouldnt complain about ads.

[TheMaestro]

I definitly wouldn't mind having ads during loading screens or during the game (not interupting game flow) if it made games cheaper.

[evilmess]

I think Crazy Taxi did it in such a way that it was actually cool and it almost seems to be a necessity in racing and sports games to make the world they exist in more believable and to anchor them in reality.

There’s a difference between subtly and cleverly integrating product advertisements like in Crazy Taxi and shoving it down our throats as in Pepsi Man. For the most part I don’t mind product placements in games, it gives the game world extra depth.

I will say that I actually like it when a game uses fake product advertisements; games set in the future are usually good for fake ads.

[Griking]

I think that ads can be reasonably done, such as signs against the walls in baseball games and other sports franchises. Billboards in racing games or even in shooters. The only problem is that once you open the can of worms its unlikely to stay reasonable. If I were forced to watch an ad for Coke every time I tried to load up a game before I was able to play it I'd never play the game. That's why I don't go to the movie theatres anymore. I'd rather wait till a movie is released on DVD than be forced to watch a commerical before watching the movie that I paid to see. Keep in mind that there are always commercials before the movie in the theatres nowadays and the ticket prices have gone us and not down.

[Griking]

For better or worse it looks like advertising in games is about to take off.

link (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/18/tech/main649832.shtml)

[NintendoMan]

I think the product placement ads are fine as long as it doesn't inhibit the gameplay. Just like in 'Minority Report' there were ads all over the place but they didn't feel like advertisements.

Exactly!
Or like in Rush where there is Mountain Dews cans you pick up.
Just as long as there arent ever pop-ups, like on the computer, where you have to pause the game and click it to get rid of it.

[kainemaxwell]

If they impliment it as a logical part of the game (related items lying about) then sure as well as if they keep it in the background (GT, baseball games).

[sniperCCJVQ]

Ads are in the videogame since the beginning (around the 2600 time at least).

So, I think it's cool to have them.

[Ed Oscuro]

Yeah, how come nobody's mentioned the evil cans of Pepsi found in the original PDP-9 Spacewar? LOL

As long as games have been mainstream there've been ads, but an ad by itself doesn't add anything to the game. Some games do exist solely as a form of advertising, but a game that uses produc placement to great advantage is something I've yet to see. I played through enough of Yo! Noid to figure out that it's nothing special...at all.

[Melf]

[quote=classic gamer]
Just as long as there arent ever pop-ups, like on the computer, where you have to pause the game and click it to get rid of it.


LOL

[punkoffgirl]

I'm all for putting in ads, if it'll keep the games resonably priced.

[XxMe2NiKxX]

This makes me SICK. Games are an art form, not a media outlet. I never, EVER, want to see serious ad's in my games.

[Ze_ro]

It depends, I suppose... I'm certainly opposed to outright commercials in video games. But product placement I actually kinda like. It feels more realistic if my guy drinks a Coke or a Pepsi rather than a "Hassy" (Extra point if you can name the two (or more?) games that had this type of cola in them). Seeing billboards and such doesn't bother me either.

--Zero

[SMB]

I fixed my old terrible spelling :)

Sure look at some of those racing games that have posters for sponsors and sports games that have product placments around the court or field.

It is fine when it is just real life but when they envade gaming, they will know from me that they did something wrong ;)

[digitalpress]

Bumping the topic as this item appeared on CNN earlier today:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/10/22/ads.in.games.ap/index.html

[Richter]

I don't think he's referring to product placement. I think he means full-out ads, like the ads you see in movies - before the movie starts playing. In other words, as you're waiting for a game to load, you'd be peppered with ads :o

Product placement has been in games as far back as Tapper and Q*bert (Mello Yellow version). The first efforts that I can think of (that weren't released) are Atari VCS Polo and Pepsi Invaders.they did that with Headhunter on the PS2. However those ads were fictional products that have something to do with the setting

XMUST anyone =P

[EricRyan34]

I think they make the games look more real.

[MegaDrive20XX]

I will never bow down to any sponsor....

*puts on an Nintendo hat*

It's just really sad...because they only do it for the money..

*eats Pizza Hut pizza and smiles*

god I have a headache just thinking about it...

"Here try these...."

Wow....Nuprin...new...little...yellow...

[atarifan]

every disney/ licenced game is a advertisment diney is a good example becase there so much the same with diffrent movie inserted CRAP with a capital C