AfterDawn: Tech news

More in-game ads coming to PS3

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Jul 2008 9:31 User comments (52)

More in-game ads coming to PS3 Sony has announced that it has selected Double Fusion to bring in-game ads to both its European and North American PlayStation 3 consoles.
Double Fusion already has publisher deals in the works and hopes to reach out to Sony's 13 million PlayStation 3 users soon.

"We are very excited about hosting contextually relevant and well-crafted creative advertising on PS3,"
said Phil Rosenburg, senior VP for SCEA.

"PlayStation is taking a major role in enabling this fast-developing sector that is positive for the games medium."


A few of DF's videogame clients are NCsoft, Gearbox and Eidos. President and CEO Jonathan Epstein added, "We have already received tremendous support from publishers who want to incorporate ads into their PS3 games, across all of the regions of the world," he said.

"We are very excited to work with SCE on this and PS3 will add a vast number of players to our already robust network. SCE’s participation strengthens the in-game advertising ecosystem."

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52 user comments

110.7.2008 21:44

Oh wow!!!
More blatent product placement.

210.7.2008 21:58

I think if done well this could add to the realism of a game, but no doubt they are going to overkill it! Will see how it goes. I’m sure it could increase profit for game developers which would mean more money to spend on producing quality next-gen titles.

310.7.2008 22:29

it woulod be cool to see a billboard for a movie in theatres in say grand theft auto but if they start makng millions off this theys hould reduced the system cost or the games.

410.7.2008 23:08

We have to pay for the games and get ads too ? Too much !

511.7.2008 00:14

I like how they say that people are excited about the in-game ads, of course they're excited, they get more money. WHAT THE HELL WOULDN'T THEY BE EXCITED FOR. It's not like they play ANY of the games, like they want to see the Ad's themselves. Wow, everyone that gets money for the Ad's is excited, what about the people that play the freakin game, do they care about us?

611.7.2008 00:19

If this brought the overall price of games down, and i mean drastically, i might show a little more enthusiasm.

711.7.2008 00:26

Show me an average of 30$ games and I will show excitement.

I would not mind a 30sec add after every major event in game like for a FPS after every main cut seen, you can gun banner adds it eh pause/options screen, these I would not mind but the advertising industry has to get on the ball and pay the game industry as so game prices are drastically reduced.

I have a feeling we get stuck with ads over 5$ a game....that blows....HARD..........

811.7.2008 01:24

All together now...

LOL@PS3!!!!

911.7.2008 01:28

Originally posted by windsong:
All together now...

LOL@PS3!!!!
and the 360 is bettter? XBL is so fcked up you can't do anything without paying MS to do it...

1011.7.2008 01:31
varnull
Inactive

Can you imagine.. half way through Silent Hill 5 you get a cutscene of Jenny Craig extolling you to get off your fat butt, join weight watchers and lose some of the flab you have gained by eating the food advertised in GTA7... surreal....

1111.7.2008 01:35

Originally posted by varnull:
Can you imagine.. half way through Silent Hill 5 you get a cutscene of Jenny Craig extolling you to get off your fat butt, join weight watchers and lose some of the flab you have gained by eating the food advertised in GTA7... surreal....

they can do it more subtly but the trouble is if its not cost effective the consumer then its pointless.

1211.7.2008 01:43
varnull
Inactive

They were talking about streaming this crap during online play.. now will they be using your IP and general web profiling to target ads at you? That sounds like abuse of privacy. Any more news on that front?

1311.7.2008 01:46

Originally posted by varnull:
They were talking about streaming this crap during online play.. now will they be using your IP and general web profiling to target ads at you? That sounds like abuse of privacy. Any more news on that front?


^^^^^^ Agree

1411.7.2008 01:57
tripplite
Inactive

lets see im paying 60$ bucks for a game that could be sold for 30$ with great profit for sony.....and now half of the game is rubbish because sony has teamed up with another company I DIDN'T WANT TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT FROM to sell me even more water-down products?? i dont think so sony....


-tripplite

1511.7.2008 02:03

Originally posted by tripplite:
lets see im paying 60$ bucks for a game that could be sold for 30$ with great profit for sony.....and now half of the game is rubbish because sony has teamed up with another company I DIDN'T WANT TO PURCHASE A PRODUCT FROM to sell me even more water-down products?? i dont think so sony....


-tripplite
Considering marketing already pwns qaulity in gaming having the game cheaper for the consuemr will just be better :P

1611.7.2008 02:55

Originally posted by varnull:
They were talking about streaming this crap during online play.. now will they be using your IP and general web profiling to target ads at you? That sounds like abuse of privacy. Any more news on that front?
Well, this is something (especially on the web) that happens all the time and people usually don't notice.

Demographic and Geographic targeting are exactly what that is. They shoot ads to you based on location (usually determined via IP) or the profile you filled out.

As long as they don't see the actual forms (i.e. your name and address) and just get to see the state/province (and possibly city) its perfectly legal and shouldn't scare anyone.

If they had updating banners in GTA (or another game) that changed based on current movies etc. that would be cool in my opinion as long as they made it fit in.

As others have said, it would be nice (and an acceptable trade off, in my opinion) if these ads caused game prices to stay put or decrease but it more than likely won't happen. =(

Peace

1711.7.2008 03:26
varnull
Inactive

I have one word to say on the privacy and profiling issue Phorm

Admittedly a few billboard ads that are relevant and current do no harm and can add to realism, but I wonder how many times it will be used to market fast food at children and other dubious marketing methods which governments are attempting to control in the normal broadcast media.

Could we see the return of cigarette advertising billboards for instance to our screens in Europe even though they are banned on every other form of advertising? Is this covered by current advertising laws I wonder...

1811.7.2008 04:57

Originally posted by windsong:
All together now...

LOL@PS3!!!!

And you dont expect to see more of it on the 360 or PC?

1911.7.2008 05:00

As long as they dont spoil the games like >>

Originally posted by varnull:
Can you imagine.. half way through Silent Hill 5 you get a cutscene of Jenny Craig extolling you to get off your fat butt, join weight watchers and lose some of the flab you have gained by eating the food advertised in GTA7... surreal....
and if the main reason is to get the prices lower it would be fine.
I dont think that they will lower the prices tho.

Originally posted by varnull:
They were talking about streaming this crap during online play.. now will they be using your IP and general web profiling to target ads at you? That sounds like abuse of privacy. Any more news on that front?
Agree but here something.
PSN is free from day 1, now they may want to do it like this:
Free for everyone with Advertises or pay ##euros for Premium membership, no ads.
The well known strategy all around the net.

2011.7.2008 05:15
susieqbbb
Inactive

i don't mind in game advertising as long as it is done tastefully and without it bugging you every 5 minutes.

2111.7.2008 06:48

You better believe that if ONE console company does it and it catches on that the other companies will follow suit and I'm somwhat surprised that it hasn't happened already.The videogame Crackdown had all kind Intel posters plastered in that game last year.

2211.7.2008 08:29

This might end up really sucking...

Big companies always seem to go too far....

2311.7.2008 09:10
varnull
Inactive

Does nobody remember the commodore/spectrum game "the adventures of Ronald Mc Mad cow.. err Donald? They have been here before with blatant in game advertising.. It usually harmed sales rather than improved them.. After all, if you are being marketed to by paying customers that usually should involve a tradeoff.. getting something extra free for your time in sitting through the ads. Even simple product placement in a game should lead to some reduction in the retail price, but I guess I'm old fashioned in a world where potential consumers are just seen as an exploitable asset.. same as sheep.

As long as they are suitable, gather no significant information about your gaming preferences or internet habits and don't intrude on the gameplay.. like you actually have to notice them.. same as billboards down a street... we know they are there, but do we really see them? then no foul. TV has been full of product placement for years and years, and it adds to the realism, even though companies like Heinz pay millions to ensure it is their bottle of ketchup in the middle of the dinner table, we don't really notice.. because we have the same on ours ;)

Sooo.. from a psychology standpoint it's harmless as we don't notice, but we should see some small payoff to reward our viewing, and have the option to opt out if we don't have this benefit.

** varnull is drinking Nescafe ™ and wearing Morgan™ and Rimmel ™ ** Now where is my £3 hehehe ;)

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Jul 2008 @ 9:42

2411.7.2008 09:31

its been around for a while.. but no one pays attention.. so now they want you to start looking for the ads.. so they tell you.. and everybody gets mad..

2511.7.2008 09:41

before people jump to conclusions and get their panties in a bunch sit back and think about this for a minute. is this really all that bad, is it really going to affect anyone that much? no, PROBABLY not. i should say i could be wrong but i don't see this as being as controversial as some are trying to make it out to be.

if they are saying ads are something that is going to be seen or featured during online play, then i personally feel this is a way for sony to help minimize online costs and thus provides us with FREE ONLINE. more and more PS3s are being sold leading to a greater online community which means larger support costs. so i really don't see too much harm.

Im sure most rational people would agree. The major question becomes placement of said ads. i personally would not mind seeing ads online when im in a lobby for games, first log in online, during intermissions, on buildings, cars, billboards etc etc.. I will say I really don’t want to see ads flashing across my screen while im playing or really anything out of the ordinary that would affect gameplay. Again I don’t really think it will come to that though.

currently on my 360 i have already seen online ads (so to speak) in EA's NHL 08. when i go online and check my "stats" sometimes at the top right of the screen there is an ad. the last one i recall was for the SUBWAY $5 footlong. there have been blockbuster ads as well. Then there is the ongoing issue about what people really pay for when it comes to XBL. I believe there was an article not too long ago about this. Person owns a 360 for 4yrs and has XBL membership will pay an additional $200 than someone using a PS3. so again if im thinking along the same lines as sony, ingame ADS are NECESSARY.

no one knows for sure what exactly this is going to implement. sure its fun n nice to speculate but stop crying about lowering game prices and think logically. right now game prices on the 360 and PS3 are $59.99. one system uses standard DVDs while another utilizes BD. its been said time and time again that BR cost more than DVD, the PS3 is harder to develop for and longer to develop for, THUS it would seem LOGICAL that it COSTS MORE TO DEVELOP for the PS3 but WHY THE BLEEP are game prices the SAME? to me this is a greater issue to debate and discuss.

$59.99 price point atleast for games on the PS3 is acceptable. I have not read recently of any articles indicating that game prices were rising anytime soon, so why the fuss. If game prices bother someone that much, my advice to said person would be to just simply WAIT it out and purchase the game when its at a price your willing to pay. Yes it could be 6 months or even a year but then again if that is what someone VALUES a game at then that’s, simply reality. right now at WALMART i think i seen some PS3 games for as little as $20. Prices should not have to be lowered soley because some yup feels its current price is too much. Naturally there is always the 2nd hand avenue where said person buys a game that is used, EBAY is good for that. GAMESTOP rips gamers off pretty bad with their used pricing point but I don’t really see people faulting them when it comes to prices.

Companies are in the business of making MONEY. If EA can lower there costs by $1 by having ads then good for them but I don’t see that as a reason for them having to lower their prices. Now if the margin of cost is greater than just a buck then yeah it would be nice for EA to lower the price for their games but then again it comes down to what most people don’t understand, ECONOMICS and BIG BUSINESS (all about $$$$)

2611.7.2008 10:01

In the downloadable game PAIN the ads are already present, basically consisting of a couple of "Billboards" replacing the "fake" ads in the game with a movie poster for "Step Brothers" or "Hancock" as well as a picture of a camera add. While I'd like to see cheaper game prices, as of now this is barely noticeable. I'm not saying it won't get worse, which I hope it does not, but if the advertising remains how it is now, I don't see a problem with it. I guess it's a way for them to "keep the PSN service free", but who knows how far they'll take it.

2711.7.2008 10:28

in game ad

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Jul 2008 @ 10:29

2811.7.2008 10:38

this is when a good "nobrainer" comment came in handy. they always made me laugh...

2911.7.2008 10:41

Originally posted by lxfactor:
in game ad
I suddenly want a Pepsi and a gun.


3011.7.2008 11:20

Quote:

If they had updating banners in GTA (or another game) that changed based on current movies etc. that would be cool in my opinion as long as they made it fit in.

As others have said, it would be nice (and an acceptable trade off, in my opinion) if these ads caused game prices to stay put or decrease but it more than likely won't happen. =(

Peace
Agreed. If they did the banner ad updates that would lower the cost of the game, that would be nice. As long as the ads don't distract you from the game.

However, there better not be anything that forces you to watch a TV ad before playing the game or even worse, during the game.

3111.7.2008 11:38
emugamer
Inactive

It would be cool to have an ad come up as a real commercial on a television in the game. Like in Max Payne, sometimes you came across a TV that either had static or a newscast. I remember one location where a fake soap opera was playing. I actually stood there are watched it for a good laugh...lol.

3211.7.2008 11:46

^No..No it wouldn't be cool. I despise Advertisements when I watch TV and internet let alone a PS3 game. Screw that dude

3311.7.2008 13:05

Quote:
Originally posted by windsong:
All together now...

LOL@PS3!!!!

And you dont expect to see more of it on the 360 or PC?
At least with the PC there will be options to "mod" or "hack" the ads from appearing. Certainly worked with Hellgate ($hitty game that it was).

3411.7.2008 13:15

Take up sports and go outside more: Problem Solved! \o/

3511.7.2008 13:32

if there going to stream ad's in game just get a packet sniffer, find the stream with the ad's and block it.

Not Rocket science, the games will be on another stream.

3611.7.2008 13:43
varnull
Inactive

I wonder how many console kids even understand how an internet connection works, let alone the intricacies of a packet sniffer ;)

That's what us clever people would do.. now do you think there could be an ack handshake attached to the stream so blocking it would stall the game.. no data see, so the game engine stalls waiting for something which will never arrive?
Picking your brains there DX ;)

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Jul 2008 @ 1:44

3711.7.2008 13:54

Originally posted by varnull:
I wonder how many console kids even understand how an internet connection works, let alone the intricacies of a packet sniffer ;)

That's what us clever people would do.. now do you think there could be an ack handshake attached to the stream so blocking it would stall the game.. no data see, so the game engine stalls waiting for something which will never arrive?
Picking your brains there DX ;)
Let us hope not. Then you would have to constantly be connected to the internet just to play the game and for what, just so ads can stream to your game? I think that would take things a little too far. A better approach would be a quick ad download, when you start the game. That would remove the need for streaming anything during gameplay.

3811.7.2008 14:01

Originally posted by hade:
right now game prices on the 360 and PS3 are $59.99.
To planet US, cause in Planet Europe the price is 69.99Euros, that Equals to 111$, or vise versa 59.99$ = 37euros.If games here were at 37euros i would have bought spare ones.
Now tell me if we(the europeans) dont have the right to complain for game prices.
This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 11 Jul 2008 @ 2:02

3911.7.2008 14:09

Originally posted by SDF_GR:
Originally posted by hade:
right now game prices on the 360 and PS3 are $59.99.
To planet US, cause in Planet Europe the price is 69.99Euros, that Equals to 111$, or vise versa 59.99$ = 37euros.If games here were at 37euros i would have bought spare ones.
Now tell me if we(the europeans) dont have the right to complain for game prices.
its no secret that Europe always gets the ass hand of the deal these days with Games and late console arrivals

4011.7.2008 14:27

Originally posted by varnull:
I wonder how many console kids even understand how an internet connection works, let alone the intricacies of a packet sniffer ;)

That's what us clever people would do.. now do you think there could be an ack handshake attached to the stream so blocking it would stall the game.. no data see, so the game engine stalls waiting for something which will never arrive?
Picking your brains there DX ;)
True but that all depends on how its received and handled, i don't see the game engine freezing, if the ads are intrusive. however if its a active ad, then there is a chance of freezing occurring, but more like a pause than anything.

however i don't think it will be tied into the game engine. it will be tied into the console then passed to the game using Flash. if the console has nothing to pass then nothing will happen.

i don't think this has anything to do with game developers, i think this is Sony's way of lower prices.

4111.7.2008 14:39

Originally posted by trexxus:
You better believe that if ONE console company does it and it catches on that the other companies will follow suit and I'm somwhat surprised that it hasn't happened already.The videogame Crackdown had all kind Intel posters plastered in that game last year.
Crackdown had a load of ads for Dodge vehicles too, at least when I was playing during launch in the US.

4211.7.2008 17:03
emugamer
Inactive

What if a 69 year old gamer registers his PS ID? Will Viagra and Depends ads pop up?

4311.7.2008 17:05

Not Viagra...as that may take time away from gaming. :)

4411.7.2008 20:26
1bonehead
Inactive

Originally posted by emugamer:
What if a 69 year old gamer registers his PS ID? Will Viagra and Depends ads pop up?

LOL

4511.7.2008 20:30
varnull
Inactive

Think I'm going to ask a couple of game devs I know for comments about how these ads work, and how they are put wherever they are on the display. I'm really quite interested in the background technology now..

4611.7.2008 21:29

yep, lets replace all those funny gimmick adds with real ones because that will increase the enjoyment for the gamers, wait a sec.......

4712.7.2008 00:03
osteotome
Inactive

I pay for the gaming expierence, not commercials !

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Jul 2008 @ 12:03

4812.7.2008 05:57

lets replace talented funny in game adds like:




and




and




and




well the list is endless atm but when the fat cats seem potential profit, hell what does it matter. they will just spin us a line like "it makes it more real"

replace talented pieces of art with ones that are going to generate sony bucket loads of cash and "improve the gaming experience" but for who exactly? hey maybe they can go the whole way and have audio adds and replace all the interludes on GTA as this amounts to the same type of destruction of games as injecting real adds, i play games to escape reality not be spammed by adverts to make a huge courp more cash.

lets fire up our fav game and actually look at what we will be missing, hell take screenies and post them here.





This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 12 Jul 2008 @ 6:34

4916.7.2008 14:11

Doesn't affect me one bit.

5017.7.2008 08:14

in game adds have been around for a long time now sure look at mgs3 it had calory mate in it all this means is we wont see as many spoof adds like those pictures^^ but proper up to date adds and i dought they will be flashing up on screen no one will buy a game like that not ever

5117.7.2008 08:57

Originally posted by fergus100:
in game adds have been around for a long time now sure look at mgs3 it had calory mate in it all this means is we wont see as many spoof adds like those pictures^^ but proper up to date adds and i dought they will be flashing up on screen no one will buy a game like that not ever

I dunno if advertising could pull its head out of its azz the spoof ads for real products could work.

5217.7.2008 10:14

yeah the spoofing of real adds would work especialy in gta you would defo see some viagra adds in there haha

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