f13.net

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060831/media_electronicarts_advertising.html?.v=1

We all knew it was coming...

The question now is whether or not the advertising will bring anything back to the consumer in the form of more money spent on game development (and hence better games) or in cheaper game prices.

That's a rhetorical question, right?

Wasn't this tried in Matrix Online already? Proving that it doesn't work...

Innovations that first appear in failed games should not be discarded out of hand. MxO had lots of crap clogging the toilet so it is unfair to focus on one specific turd.

Ahh, SOE. My favorite in-game ad. Not jarring at all, fits right in.

(http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/photos/uncategorized/planetside_deuce.jpg)

Then again, if they needed it to keep PS running, I'd put Deuce's balls on a Reaper. That's a great game, though probably due for a major overhaul at this point.

This isn't for MMO. It's for your average console game. IE... Need for Speed.

It's an agreement to develop some sort of plug-in for the average console game that can be updated dynamically.

Actually its not that bad of an idea as long as they don't overdo it I suppose. Now that I think of it I've played a lot of games that have had fictional advertising that fits right in, they might as well make them real advertisements.

Not a bad idea? This is like saying if HBO had commericials, it wouldn't be a bad idea. People are already paying too much for these games as it is.

This makes me go from being 95% sure I will buy BF2142 to only 60%.  Playing the beta I have noticed some odd billboard spots that just have placeholder text in them, now I know what they are for.  I wouldn't mind real ads around the boards in a hockey or racing game but I don't want ads for Deuce Bigalow in my futuristic fight sim.

In game ads won't make the games better and it won't make them cheaper, at best it will allow some mediocre games to survive instead of being cancelled.  I think ads like these will give games a taint.  Nothing drastic will happen (like people refusing to buy games) but it will create a negative impression that might affect peoples' buying habits.  Kind of like how people are watching less TV or using tech like PVRs to get around commercials right now.  It used to be a half-hour sitcom had 24 minutes of content, then they added another minute of ads, then another.  Not many people think to themselves "I choose not to watch TV because of all the ads" but they do have a general feeling of TV just not being worth it.  I think if ads in video games get as bad as they are on TV people might slowly dislike the games themselves.

Edit: Found a screenshot that someone took of the placeholder billboards in bf2142. (http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/897/image00007kb4.jpg)  That is a missile silo and it is one of the main installations that will be constantly fought over.

If we let the pirates advertise we could solve this once and for all.

This is a bit much...

(http://img166.imageshack.us/img166/7770/adroadcz6.jpg)

Hmm, if those truly are all advertisements, that's going to be a pain in the ass. But I'm sure the community will mod out the adverts within a few weeks of the game releasing.

I haven't played any games with the latest and greatest in-game advertising technology but it used to be you didn't even have to mod the game to block the ads.

Edit: fixed typo

In other games with the Massive shit you can apparently edit your hosts file and basically turn the whole thing off.  They will get smarter though, just like email spammers.

Speaking of intrusive advertising (http://xhttp://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3623258)... Now billboards will harass you as you pass by!