The end is nigh...

[Strazos]

Maybe the next thing would be to replace the DING! you hear when leveling with a POUND ONE, BITCH! sound effect.

Hey, I'd reup for a month if someone made such a UI mod for EQ2.

[shiznitz]

Pizza boots?

I saw "pizza boobs" at first.

[HaemishM]

Mmmmmm, pizza boobs.

[jpark]

Think their logo could fit on a shield?

[Joe]

In our latest expansion we've opened up the Starbucks Inn where players can buy stat boosting lattes for ridiculous prices.

If there's ever a /redeye, I'm going to achieve an erection.

[WayAbvPar]

In our latest expansion we've opened up the Starbucks Inn where players can buy stat boosting lattes for ridiculous prices.

If there's ever a /redeye, I'm going to achieve an erection.

Insert goatse.cx griefpic here.

[Shockeye] I took care of the insertion for you.

[Signe]

A public service announcement:

http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927

[MrHat]

A public service announcement:

http://www.adcritic.com/interactive/view.php?id=5927

Thanks for that Signe.

Oddly though, I'm desperate for some pizza now.  It must be that Buffalo Pizza Schild linked, this, and pizza boobs.  Hehe, so much for peppered steak tonight!  Mushrooms, garlic, basil and extra tomato sauce on a thin crust, mmmm.

[SirBruce]

Yeah Signe, that was awesome. :)

Bruce

[Strazos]

Pure genius.

[Special J]

Here's a CNN story on it...

http://money.cnn.com/2005/02/17/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/?cnn=yes

Here's the part that gets me:

Still, Mitch Davis, Massive's CEO, said he suspects gamers will come to welcome the ads.

"Over 90 percent of gamers think advertising is a net positive for gaming because it adds realism,"

Wha? Is that 90% from the "pulled the number out of my ass" method of statistics?  I'll believe it for a NASCAR game.

[schild]

I love it when people just make shit up.

[Strazos]

Can the gaming community bring in a class-action lawsuit against him for slander or something? I resent being described as a corporate whore.

[Sky]

Over 90% of gamers think Mitch Davis is clueless.

There's no need to log out of the game and leave your fellow players in the lurch as they rush into battle.

Or maybe have a game where you can take a half hour off and not screw your friends over? A game where you actually take a dinner break, for crissake. The industry has a bad enough rap without mainstreamers thinking you can't even go get dinner while playing.

New York-based Massive Inc. sees a middle ground between the two philosophies, however. The company, which claims a dozen publishers as clients, has created a dynamic ad system for video games that it said will be used in more than 40 titles by the end of the year.

I want a list of those fucking games...daddy needs to boycott.

"Why would they want to see an ad for 'The Goop' and not 'The Gap'?

Because the Goop goofs on marketing tools like you and is funny. The Gap is whorish. Only a marketer can't see that.

There's real money in the ads, if nothing else

Well, there it is, anyway. Goddamned greedy whore capitalists. Makes me ill.

[bhodikhan]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/24/news_6119195.html

"Just a month ago, Massive nabbed $10 million in funding and stated that it was working with eight game publishers, including Ubisoft, Atari, and Vivendi Universal, on deals like the one announced today with Funcom."

It's going to get much worse before it's over. Pizza was just a drop in the bucket.

[HaemishM]

I don't mind ads that fit in with the world. But /pizza in EQ2? No stretch of the imagination will get you that far. There's whoring, and then there's blatant, on your knees whoring.

[Signe]

I don't mind ads that fit in with the world. But /pizza in EQ2? No stretch of the imagination will get you that far. There's whoring, and then there's blatant, on your knees whoring.

It's probably more appropriate in something like CoH... as long as they can fly it to you in under 30 seconds.

[Miasma]

I guess that's why Funcom gave away all those free year long accounts, I was wondering how they intended to pay for that. I'm sure someone will start writing a little program to block the ads like they already do with Flash in web browsers. If it's as simple as replacing an image on your hard drive you could even have some fun with it.


I wonder how long it will take for these "Massive Inc" people to strip that contact image off of their website.

[Special J]

I don't mind ads that fit in with the world. But /pizza in EQ2? No stretch of the imagination will get you that far. There's whoring, and then there's blatant, on your knees whoring.

Yes there are cases where it fits. Like I mentioned earlier, if you were playing some sort of NASCAR game, you probably want to see real sponsors on your cars.  But crap like this in a fantasy game just destroys any sense of immersion.  It was bad enough when GMs spammed EQ with offers for the latest SOE product.

People wouldn't be happy if Lord of the Rings had Apple product placements.

[MrHat]

People wouldn't be happy if Lord of the Rings had Apple product placements.

Mmm, Gimli's Ipod Shuffle of Uruk Slaying.

[Krakrok]

I'll wager blocking the ads is as simple as adding the ad company domain name to the hosts file and pointing it to 127.0.0.1. Only a small portion of people will ever do that though.

[Samwise]

People wouldn't be happy if Lord of the Rings had Apple product placements.

Except for current Apple users, who would probably cream their sweatpants in excitement to see further proof that they aren't alone.  Everyone else seems to find Apple ads annoying as fuck.  Seems like a bass-ackwards marketing strategy if you ask me.

[Special J]

They could sneak an iBook into Bag-End or something.  Wouldn't one bit be surprised if at least one marketing hack pitched it.

[WayAbvPar]

CNN chimes in.

From the article-

Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.

Many folks asked for/predicted this. I wonder how Sony will feel when Fatty McCatass's credit card gets declined for his monthly billing because he ordered 25 pizzas last month?

[jpark]

Think they will introduce:

/Pizza Target

This orders a pizza to the recipient in your reticule which is then charged to your account.

How about:

/Guild Pizza

This orders a small pizza to each guild member at the expense of the character typing the command.

Or

/Toppings <elements>

Like your game settings, this sets your default topping preferences.

I mean, it's a whole new dimension to the game 

Rumor has it that Pizza hut will not charge for extra cheese 

Well, Apple should jump in with some iTunes.

[Paelos]

Let's just get it overwith and put a morphine release into their arms every time they ding.

[Mesozoic]

CNN chimes in.

From the article-

Sony plans to integrate the pizza function more tightly into the game, so players can charge pizza to their monthly game subscription bill.

Many folks asked for/predicted this. I wonder how Sony will feel when Fatty McCatass's credit card gets declined for his monthly billing because he ordered 25 pizzas last month?

You're thinking small.  I imagine a man who buys a large pizza for himself every night for two years.  He dies of the obligatory heart attack, and his family sues Sony for not having warnings about the health effect of eating 730 pizzas.

[Paelos]

It would only happen if SOE offered in-game bonuses for buying these pizzas as a marketing gimmick. Like you get cash rewards or something in-game for every pizza you buy. That might be reason enough for a negligence lawsuit.

[MrHat]

It would only happen if SOE offered in-game bonuses for buying these pizzas as a marketing gimmick. Like you get cash rewards or something in-game for every pizza you buy. That might be reason enough for a negligence lawsuit.

For every 10 pizzas you order, get 1 plat free!.  Order 100 pizzas, and get this exclusive pizza hut chef's hat free!

You could also over charge the pizza's slightly.

That's money in the bank right there.  Maybe someone should come up with a UI Mod for Papa John's.

[HaemishM]

It would only happen if SOE offered in-game bonuses for buying these pizzas as a marketing gimmick. Like you get cash rewards or something in-game for every pizza you buy. That might be reason enough for a negligence lawsuit.

You're thinking too logically. We're talking about the bereaved families of catasses too ashamed to admit their loved one died for being a lazy slug and a genetic dead-end. They'd sue Mary Poppins if they thought they could get a check out of it.

[Paelos]

You're thinking too logically.

It's a disease I have.

[MrHat]

You're thinking too logically.

It's a disease I have.

AH HA!

I knew that was you Nimoy!