Introversion

[Mark]

One of the benefits of working, is that on occasion you get to travel on someone else’s dollar. When you own your own company this isn’t strictly true, but it still feels better handing over an IV card rather than my own. This week I went to the Casual Games festival in Amsterdam. The first question you may ask is “what is a casual game”? Some say it’s “Easy to learn, hard to master”, but from what I could glean it is in fact, any game that you can stuff full of advertising.

The latest ground-breaking discovery from the leviathons of the industry, is that people concentrate when they are playing a game – they sit two inches from the screen - and so what a perfect opportunity to shove some crap in their face. Brilliant. Right at the moment when you are about to wield your master-stroke and prove your supremacy, right when your finger is poised and the sweat breaks on your brow as your about to achieve your destiny, right at the point when you have reached that single instant of pure joy that defines the very existence of interactive entertainment, right at that point the game will cut to a two minute video for burger-king.

It never ceases to amaze me the lengths that Publishers will go to in order to undermine their own industry. It’s almost as if they have a small team of people, who spend each day dreaming up new and creative ideas on how to make games a little worse, a little less entertaining and a little more “lucrative”. Someone I met at the day told me he had no problem shutting down a studio if it failed to perform, I wander if he applies the same logic to his marketing team when they bugger-up a title by cramming it full of the latest mascara ads. Somehow I doubt it.

Now don’t get me wrong. Sometimes ads in games can be a good thing – think about all the racing titles. Somehow chasing round a perfectly recreated version of brands-hatch would be a little odd, if there weren’t some billboards to pass. Given those billboards are in there, why not charge coke 1c every time you put their logo up? Seems to make sense. My problem is that we need to debate those limits and talk about what is sensible and what isn’t. We must value the experience of the gamer, treat it as the most precious thing we have and preserve it at all costs whilst ensuring that we are taking advantages of any new sources of revenue. Where was the session on that? Probably covered up with a sign advertising Ikea.

[xander]

You know, you guys should redo Darwinia. Change all of the DGs to Nike™ Swoops™, and all of the evil virii to shoes and t-shirts and such. Then, instead of killing the virii, you could paint the Nike™ logo on them to make them good! That would be great!

xander

[Darksun]

Anyone who has ever played Splinter Cell:Chaos Theory knows the depths publishers will stoop to when putting advertising in games. It's the I, Robot of the game world - painfully obvious product placement!

As you said, game advertising has a place - anywhere in the real world you'd expect to see advertising (mostly sports games, but something like GTA is ripe for product placement - although I doubt the advertisers want the controversy).

[jelco]

I heard of that festival, although that was about 2 months ago...

Yes, you're absolutely right. Advertisment is really getting on my nerves at some point. GameSpot always has the Best & Worst awards at the end of every year, and the 'Dubious Honours' includes an award for the game with the most despicable use of in-game ads. Battlefield 2142 won this award:

GameSpot wrote:

The future may be uncertain, but one thing is for sure: There will always be in-game advertisements. Even more than 130 years in the future, apparently companies like Intel and Pepsi will be plastering ads all over the place, just in case you're thinking of drinking a soda or upgrading your PC while the world comes to an end.

PC Gamer said "Darwinia will remind you why you love gaming so much." In response to that: "Ads will give you a good reason for hating gaming so much."

Jelco

[Testrie]

Well, if subversion is a city thing, you could add a "coke factory" or something like that, then charge coke for having it in... and so on.

elyea

[xander]

Testrie wrote:

Well, if subversion is a city thing, you could add a "coke factory" or something like that, then charge coke for having it in... and so on. elyea

I would much rather see the Uplink Corporation tower complex and the Darwin Research Associates server farm. Anyway, I don't think that IV would sink to shilling out their games with advertisements.

xander

[Testrie]

xander wrote:

Testrie wrote: Well, if subversion is a city thing, you could add a "coke factory" or something like that, then charge coke for having it in... and so on. elyea I would much rather see the Uplink Corporation tower complex and the Darwin Research Associates server farm. Anyway, I don't think that IV would sink to shilling out their games with advertisements. xander

i agree with xander. my post was for the WORST case scenario.

but a uplink tower sounds cool! and they should model Introversion and put a huge balloon Darwinian floating above it.

elyea

[KingAl]

Testrie wrote:

i agree with xander. my post was for the WORST case scenario. but a uplink tower sounds cool! and they should model Introversion and put a huge balloon Darwinian floating above it. elyea

To a certain extent, I believe it's comparable to the 'racing track' situation - if real companies etc. add to the authenticity of the environment, then go right ahead. The problem is when it's out of place, and when there are restrictions on what can be done to things wearing a brand - e.g. the Coke building is indestructible.

[BrianBlessed]

Just don't advertise for Coke in general, what with their Joel Veitch plagiarising antics.

Personally I prefer the in-game equivalents which often satirise the original brands which they are imitating, although I use the word satirise loosely depending on which game it's in. Mmm sweet sweet Quafe.

[Montyphy]

xander wrote:

Testrie wrote: Well, if subversion is a city thing, you could add a "coke factory" or something like that, then charge coke for having it in... and so on. elyea I would much rather see the Uplink Corporation tower complex and the Darwin Research Associates server farm.

Or a pub called "The Flying Hamster"

[NeoThermic]

Montyphy wrote:

xander wrote: Testrie wrote: Well, if subversion is a city thing, you could add a "coke factory" or something like that, then charge coke for having it in... and so on. elyea I would much rather see the Uplink Corporation tower complex and the Darwin Research Associates server farm. Or a pub called "The Flying Hamster"

Pub? It's a house! (and a very nice one at that).

NeoThermic

[Montyphy]

I know it's a house but ingame it would be more noticable/distinguishable as a pub than a house. Plus, "The Flying Hamster" is a pretty cool name for a pub.

[deltantor]

personally, i wouldnt mind some minor advertising in a game if it fits....the only case i wouldnt mind weird ad's in a game is a game by introversion or another small company...if it helps you make more money, and puts a roof over your heads, and lets you race cars, and more importantly, lets you make another, better game, than im for minor minor minor advertising.

[lunquewill]

When Sierra Software was alive, they had some product placement for their other games. I seem to remember a rather famous one involving King's Quest and a cannon.

[KingAl]

lunquewill wrote:

When Sierra Software was alive, they had some product placement for their other games. I seem to remember a rather famous one involving King's Quest and a cannon.

"So, tell me about Loom"