Comments on: Gearbox Game Ads

By: Mario Granger

Mario Granger — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:27:08 +0000

There’s Adblock for Firefox. Next, Adblock for your favourite PC games!

Find the IP range that the game is using for the ad servers, and block them in your security suite of choice, whether it be your firewall, or a IP blocker like PeerGuardian2.

I’ve done it for a few games (SWAT 4 mainly), and it works like a charm.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:19:57 +0000

Product placement is different (and fine usually.. depending how it’s used) than big banners randomly changing on walls for products that are completely out of place in the setting.

By: Caiman

Caiman — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:14:43 +0000

There’s Adblock for Firefox. Next, Adblock for your favourite PC games!

By: drbnwy

drbnwy — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 02:55:01 +0000

Hasn’t product placement been happening in movies for years (e.g James Bond, Matrix etc)?

Why should games be exempt?

I’m not saying I like the idea, but lets face it, it’s all about the money at the end of the day…

I think the ultimate advertising/product placement that all games and movies should aim for is the Coca Cola billboard scene in Blade Runner. It fitted perfectly.

Actually, real world company-names in ‘realist’ games actually improves the suspension of disbelief, i suppose…

By: Sombrero

Sombrero — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:22:21 +0000

@Darkcraft & azwipe

actually either the add convincies you to buy the product and azwipe is right or some other poor sap pays for the game

so basically it’s either from selling more product or someone else pays for your game which i’m fine with

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:36:16 +0000

I’ve yet to see any in game advertising despite owning several games with it in ¬_¬

By: Chaz

Chaz — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:31:38 +0000

The advertising in R6 Vegas wasn’t too bad and actually fitted the game quite well. On the other hand in SWAT4 it was just terrible and really obtrusively in your face.

I don’t see how they would be able to make real world ads fit in, in a game with a sci-fi or fantasy setting though.

By: KingMob

KingMob — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:48:05 +0000

Imagine if a few unobtrusive ads, or interstitials, could have helped Iron Lore stay afloat.

These days developers really have to think about where their next dollar is coming from, and if they can leverage an ad deal, more power to them. Obviously if they do ads in a stupid way they’ll be punished for it.

By: dhex

dhex — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:31:34 +0000

actually, i must say that a GTA city populated with real-world ads would be very interesting.

however, i get the feeling we’ll just see more of the alienware/dell style pointless insertion process a la fear and its expansions.

By: Janto

Janto — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:47:59 +0000

Ah, the Ghost in the Shell ads in Syndicate Wars…

By: Monkfish

Monkfish — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:12:29 +0000

Gearbox Software licensing VP David Eddings said that the ads will bring authenticity to upcoming games.

I really wish devs and publishers would stop citing “authenticity” as the motivation for commissioning in-game ads. Le sigh.

Anyway, I’m just about tolerant of in-game ads as long as it’s passive and in context; a bit of product placement here or the occasional billboard there. This tolerance hits its limit the moment gameplay mechanics are artificially engineered specifically for the benefit of the advertiser rather than the gamer.

By: Darkcraft

Darkcraft — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:01:44 +0000

azwipe, look at Pepsi and Coke. Both have a pretty stable market share year after year, yet both are spending very large sums of money on advertising. If one of them stopped spending that money, they would sell less bottles, so they are both advertising to maintain their current market position. Who do you think pays for this? The market is saturated, so there aren’t any more bottles to sell.