This is pretty f'd up. Not all that suprising and I'm sure its been tried before, but what were they thinking? Can we say "backlash"????? More detailed info here
I don't have a big deal with product placement here or there. But this is absurd. It seems too elaborate to be just some advertising ploy.
They do this in planetside now too which is even worse considering you already pay a monthly subscription fee. Fuck this bullshit. I hope enough people sound off on this crap to put an end to it before it gets too widespread.
you know their going to get a way around blocking teh ads in the next patch sets. the hosts trick is pretty smart, its an easy workaround. its going to be a vicious back and forth for a while. dunno, if its just the posters and coke machines, that wouldn't bother me too much. i dont play games anymore tho :-(
I'd love to see a Pepsi-paid ad in an FPS. A Pepsi vending machine, and another machine being constantly replaced by a forklift... All the light bulbs will have G.E. logos on 'em. Dell will replace BEEFY in cs_office! The wrecked cars replaced with showroom specials... It would be great, if they did it tongue-in-cheek, like Wayne's World!
True, but its like commercials before the movies in theaters and even on private DVDs now. I payed for the product, not to be battered by adds. If you want to do that, drop the price of the movie/dvd/game. In the meantime ... "Lets all go to the lobby, lets all go to the lobby .... "
Jamsan, I'm so disappointed in you for this statement. Think through all the possible reasons and implications.
It's their game. If they can get some money out of companies by having SIMPLE advertisements, which are funnier than they are annoying, then so be it. If 1 person didn't know what gamefly was, and went to the site, and was like holy shit, this is awesome, and signed up, then mission accomplished. I don't see a huge deal in it with simple advertisements here and there. However, if every step you took, there was a new advertisement, than that would be a bit too much. However, it's not even remotely close to that yet, so I could care less atm.
Vivendi is SHADY, SHADY, SHADY, anyway. They are the main reason HL2 was held up for so long. However if I can get a new game for 20 bucks instead of 50 because there are ad posters on the wall, I might put up with it. BUT, if the price stays the same, screw them for putting it in.
Ah-HA!!!! Ding, ding, ding!!! We have a winner folks!! Also, another issue with this SPECIFIC game is that the adds came in under the guise of a patch.
I have no problem, as long as they don't interfere with my gameplay. I would not mind seeing the pop machines in HL2 being from coke/pepsi/RC, but if they start having ads poping up all over the place i'll just stop buying their shit.
hah smartass game developers. they should pass a law to limit the placement of ads. this is getting insane.
I can't wait until when your playing and go to the next lvl.... Loading Level.... GO BUY COCA COLA ..... Level stilling loading.... Go to Viagra.com to get a free sample......... Load Completed.
I think the biggest issue is that the game sends back statistics on the player and how long they were viewing the advertisements.
Hee hee! Loading Level: This could take a while! Have a nice refreshing Coke while you wait! Special Cheat code sticker on specially selected cans of Coke!
There's little I hate more than people who bitch about product placement. Who fucking cares? Is it really that big of a deal that they're drinking a pepsi rather than some generic "cola" can? It looks more awkward to have the generic shit.
Again, its not the product placement in itself that is the issue. Game makers claim that they HAVE to charge $50+ for a new, well developed game. I understand that it takes alot of time and resources to put out a game and the only return on that investment is sales of the game (hence their further and further attempts at preventing piracy). HOWEVER if your gonna put product placement/adds in your game to supliment the your costs, then pass those savings onto the consumer. You don't HAVE to charge $50 now, so change it to $40.
...Whoa, they want to make money?! Alert the press! Would you drop it $10 if you were in there shoes? No, no you wouldn't. Maybe they have to raise advertising to cover expenses they dont want to pass onto consumers through the initial price ($50)?
