All you read and wear or see and hear on tv is a product begging for your fatass dirty dollar so… shut up and buy –Tool
Online Advertising has been in the news again lately. Dave Perry has taken the helm over at Acclaim, a studio that has risen like a Phoenix from the ashes to become… obsessed with advertising.
“We want to radically change the way people think about advertising,” said Perry… “My example is that if you’re watching cable TV or listening to radio, they ram advertisements down your throat. On the Web it’s getting even worse where they have advertisements that cover over the information you’re trying to read. They’re making the consumer suffer for the sake of advertising.”
Well, that’s nice. Perry gets that your average person is sick of being treated as a wallet ready to be drained. Clearly, if your recognize that someone hates advertising, the thing to do is to … give it to them.
“The dream would be that you’d be able to say, for the people who don’t like advertising you can just turn it off. And that’s what I’m pioneering is being the first game that will offer that feature.”
Actually, Anarchy Online did this first. However, to be fair, their model was nowhere near as annoying as yours.
Perry said the twist with his idea, which he’s patented, is that those gamers who choose to keep the small still image advertising window on at the bottom of the screen will be rewarded. Because the speed at which a player levels up in an MMO game is important–but is also a gameplay element that does not impact the balance of the game–2Moons will allow players who keep the advertising window on to level up faster than those who keep it off. It’s this rewarding a player for advertising that’s the basis for another innovation that will debut in this game.
Annoying AND hackable in nanoseconds! Certainly a win-win for everyone involved!
“When you buy a virtual item, we’re going to do a search to see if any advertiser in real-time is willing to pick up the cost of that item,” said Perry. “That allows the advertisers to bid against each other to start picking up the items for these people. If you want this sword, it would put up a message and asks if you would like Coca-Cola to buy this item for you. The customer is happy because they get the item for free and Coke is happy because they’ve had a positive exchange with you. This could radically change the concept of what virtual item sales are. If we can get enough advertisers that are willing to pick up the sales of in-game items then we can offer completely free games.”
I will allow you to fill in your own responses to that one.
This article does, in my opinion, a lousy job of introducing the new Acclaim to the world, because fundamentally, they put the wrong foot forward. Compare:
Why is 2Moons going to be successful? Because it’s got advertising! (This allows it to be free)
to the following message:
Why is 2Moons going to be awesome? Because it’s free! (Advertising makes this possible)
The message is the same, but the emphasis is what is telling.
Not to be outdone, of course, Electronic Arts has boasted proudly that they are adding in-game advertising to seven games, from two seperate game ad companies. Again, one is baffled by them seeking press for this. It’s almost as if game companies don’t realize that players see advertising intruding into our games as a bad thing.
One of these games will be Battlefield 2142.
“In a lot of ways, in-game ads make games better,” [said Kudo Tsunoda, general manager of EA Chicago]
I know that nothing says gritty, urban and futuristic like a refreshing, cold Fanta!
According to EA Corporate Communications Director Trudy Muller, the company’s studio teams are involved in the decision to include ads in their games from the start. She said the teams will use their “creative vision” to ensure the ads that make it into each game are incorporated appropriately.
Okay, you’re right. I was, perhaps, speaking out of turn. I’m sure a lot of thought goes into ensuring that every ad fits the game it’s placed in.
Battlefield isn’t the first shoot-’em-up title to feature advertisements, either. Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, released in March, features ads for Unilever’s Axe line of personal care products targeted at young men. The game, set in Latin America, features urban combat with futuristic weapons.
Because nothing says impoverished, third-world country quite like el efecto del hacha!
I’m just surprised they stopped at mere advertising. Coming soon, Splinter Cell: Axe Effect, where one weapon in the hero’s arsenal is a spray-can of deoderant which, when used by Sam Fisher, makes female terrorists drop their machine guns and jump our hero on the spot.
Warning: squeals of female companion may limit ability to ’stealth’ appropriately.
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