Full-Motion Ads Come to Videogames

Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "'Advertising in videogames, dominated in the past by static ads such as billboards and signposts, is beginning to look more like TV commercials,' according to the Wall Street Journal. Massive, the company that brought still ads to videogames last year, is now introducing full-motion ads to PC-based games (not yet console titles). Massive CEO Mitchell Davis 'says Hollywood movie studios have shown particular interest in running 15-second movie trailers in online games.' Also of note: 'One problem with the full-motion ads is that gamers can easily avoid watching them. The full-motion ads start playing when a player moves near the ad spot on the screen -- and stop playing when the player moves away. As a result, gamers may see only a few seconds of the 15-second ads. Massive says it won't charge advertisers unless the full ad has been viewed.'"

Unless the game is free....

[Kenja]

Unless the game is free, there should be no adds. If there are adds in the game and there was no warning on the box I would look into a law suit. I'm 90% sure there are disclosure laws that cover this kind of thing. And of course if there is a warning on the box that the game has adds in it, I wont be buying it.

Re:Why not during loading screens?

[Saeger]

why not play them [ads] while levels are loading?

Maybe because the idea is also claimed by the company (Namco) that has a lame patent on mini-games during game loading?

A better reason is probably that it's hard to play fullmotion video smoothly while loading levels because of the disk thrashing (even with DMA), and the CPU unpacking textures and whatnot. The ad itself would also lengthen the load time.

Re:Ads in Videogames, VHS Tapes, & DVDs

[DeepEyes78]

"The DVDs are more creative -- especially when it is a porn DVD. There is some code (or something) on the DVD that prevents you from doing a chapter skip."

Funny. You know what other company excessively uses the "no skip" flag to shove adverts in peoples faces?

Disney.

I think other studios do it. But I'm pretty sure Disney was the first (and worst) offender.

Re:Why, Oh Why Do People Put Up with This?

[BewireNomali]

previews ARE commercials. for the most part, so are movies. product placement in films is one of the more consistent ways feature films offset increasingly expensive production costs. notice the vintage cars in the original matrix... then notice the switch to plainly badged new (at the time) Cadillacs during the chase scene of reloaded... or Trinity's Ducati motorcycle (a scene which is slo-motioned just in time to get an uninterrupted view of the name brand). I guess the issue here is the obtrusive nature of the advertisement. If i have to stop playing to watch it... that sux... if i can watch during load screens or *gasp* at my discretion... that's another thing.

This has some logistical problems

[Control-Z]

Massive says it won't charge advertisers unless the full ad has been viewed.

Ok so I'm in some 3d environment in the presence of an ad. Does 100% of the ad have to be on the screen? What if I'm shooting/jumping/switching weapons? Does that still count?

And regardless of the criteria, how exactly will Massive know I've viewed an ad? Unless it's an online game it's not getting past my firewall.

Re:that would be ideal

[mpontes]

It's called brand awareness. If for some reason you see "Sloan Royal Valve" products in real life, you'll recognise the brand. Making the customer recognize a brand is a huge goal in marketing.