1. I don't mind in-game ads if they're appropriate, like in sports games or on billboards in driving games. But if there's a big honking ad in the middle of Geometry Wars or Oblivion, well, that just ain't right. (Unless it's for First Edition or Slash and Smash, of course.)

Hopefully if they introduce a free Xbox Live w/tons of ads, there'll still be the option to pay for a version without obtrusive ads. Guess we'll have to wait and find out. I've really been digging Xbox Live in this generation. Hope they don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Posted at 4:40AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Dirk Dorkelson 3 stars

2. well.. look at the bright side.

take the examle of Need For speed.

all parts are real part, and the parts are advertisements. But the good thing is.. this makes it even more realistic. Even the "Axe" add at the side of the road.

example:
- If you make a remake of "paperboy" then i would be happier with a sponsored "new york times" in my hand instead of a fake named paper.

- if they launch a MMO and you could step in to a Macdonalds and you could buy a Happy meal or a big mac.. it would be cooler and realistic.

- if master chief holds a futuristic nokia and has a in his hands with a Arai helmet in his head.. it would be cool to or even better drive a Hummer instead of a Warthog.

and yes i know.. there difference between licenses and sponsors..

Posted at 5:12AM on Apr 28th 2006 by YLA G 0 stars

3. why should games be trated differently than movies advertoisement/product placement in movies is huge so why not games

Posted at 6:32AM on Apr 28th 2006 by mike 0 stars

4. I, for one, would totally buy Fight Night Round 3 if it sold for $39.99. That's my breaking point for impulse game buying. So if they did use the profits made from their in-game advertising to lower their price, they would have sold, in my opinion, a hell of a lot more copies to people like myself who aren't normally boxing sim fans.

Posted at 9:37AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Abe 0 stars

5. I agree with Abe & Ken. There would be more impulse buys if they lowered the cost of the game and ads would help decrease the cost of the game. We all know like Ken says, they will just see ads as additional revenue.

Posted at 9:51AM on Apr 28th 2006 by inajeep 0 stars

6. I'm all for an ad supported version of XBL. I'm not quite so hot on in-game ads, though. They make sense in sports and driving games, but I don't think I follow the Halo analogy above. Ads in a game like that would pull you right out of the game. Same goes for any sci-fi or fantasy game. Ads don't belong in certain settings.

Still, I agree with Abe that I'd probably be fine with it if it actually lowered the price of games. Come to think of it, why don't we see more advertising inside of game boxes? That's another avenue for developers I'm sure. There are all kinds of pamphlets and ads inside DVDs. Hell, Halo 2 had ads for Mountain Dew in the box. I'm surprised more companies haven't exploited that.

Posted at 10:05AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Sense 5 stars

7. If they lower the price and merge the ads more naturally within the game, I'm fine with it. That being said, I am VERY much against games like NBA 2k6 and the sledgehammering in of the "PowerBar" interstitials... when they decide that there has been a "good" play, they beat you over the head with the PowerBar logo - even if you ask for no replays - and you are stuck watching it with no means of bypassing. Look here, 2KSports... I spent a lot of scratch on this game... if I wanted to stare at a Powerbar, I'd buy one and tape it to my screen, got it?

Posted at 10:13AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Frogbrother 0 stars

8. You all are fooling yourself if you think in-game ads are going to lower the price.

Theater movies, cable tv, sports venues... and a thousand other examples show that it isn't the consumer that gets the savings. Companies use advertising to add to their revenue so shareholders get a bigger return.

I am amazed at the number of people out there that just accept ads, or even like them. I find them offensive, obtrusive, annoying, ugly and usually done in poor taste. I will not be happy to see them in videogames.

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Posted at 10:20AM on Apr 28th 2006 by jaemz 8 stars

9. ""How comfortable do you feel now that MS is making some major moves in the ad arena? Will you happily fork over your $60-$70 for Halo 3: Toyota Forerunner?""

Microsoft games are only $50 , Third party games are the ones that are $60 and up.

Posted at 10:38AM on Apr 28th 2006 by IHaveWood 0 stars

10. I drive a Toyota 4Runner anyway, so I wouldn't mind the Halo 3 title. It's a lot better than Halo 3: Geo Metro.

Posted at 11:01AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Gamer Jay 0 stars

11. So you're saying MS would never raise their prices to 60-70$, especially on their biggest game. I seem to remember Halo CE being withheld from the greatest hits for years after junk like fuzion frenzy was a greatest hit, just because they knew people would pay 30-40$ for it.

I love my 360, but that doesn't delude me from the fact that companies exist to make money.

Posted at 11:02AM on Apr 28th 2006 by puh_fifer 2 stars

12. That picture made me want subway for lunch

Posted at 11:13AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Paul 0 stars

13. I have nightmares from AOL (worked there 6 years ago)....ridiculous amounts of ads and it still cost $20+ a month.

I will pay the fee for no ads. If ads were non-intrusive, that would be one thing. But that's not the nature of digital advertising. In order to keep that crap out of my face, under $10 a month is 100% worth it. I'm all about saving money, but not at the price of my sanity.

Posted at 11:31AM on Apr 28th 2006 by SuicideNinja 1 star

14. I think that in-game advertising can be done in a non-obtrusive way. Take GRAW for example, It was a couple weeks before I even noticed the Nokia and Dodge billboards. I thought those were well done, and didn't distract from the game at all.

Posted at 11:50AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Les Doodis 0 stars

15.

I agree with #1. I want the option to keep paying for XBL Gold. I think everyone should have the ability to play, but at the same time, I don't want ads running rampant in my dashboard. I know there are a couple of 'placed' ads in the dash now, but I can live with that. I just don't want every other square inch of my screen taken up by ads.

If XBL decides to give free XBL Gold for everyone and everyone has to have ads in their dashboards, I might be more inclined to just check out Nintendo or Sony and see if that is an optional component. If not, then I guess my days of playing ad-free games and enjoying them will have become a thing of the past and I will have to decide then, whether or not I want to continue playing games or not.

Posted at 11:56AM on Apr 28th 2006 by Jouten Za 0 stars

16. #7 Actually the whole Powerbar Replay thing is again a more realistic touch. On a sports-cast, they do have those middle of the game shows sposored by some company like that. But then usually it cuts to a commercial that you have to watch.. as long as the commercial dosen't make it into the game.

Posted at 12:26PM on Apr 28th 2006 by duscrom 0 stars

17. I'd rather not have a free Live Gold option. If it's free, a ban carries no real penalty - when it costs $50, people are less likely to engage in bannable behavior and then just sign back up. And the less jerks on Live the better.

I also don't want to see ads, and am perfectly willing to pay for Live. So I hope it doesn't go to all-ad-supported.

Posted at 2:16PM on Apr 28th 2006 by Ben Hollis 0 stars

18. I'm not bothered by ads in movies because the top priority when placing ads in most movies is building on the movie. I don't mind that the producer/publisher is making extra extra money for slipping in discrete product placement. What I would mind, is a big random cingular logo plastered on the theatre screen the whole time I watch a movie. Also, I would mind if the logo on the coke billboard was obviously a higher resolution than everything else on the screen or if every fast food joint in the movie was a McDonalds. The problem with video games compared to movies is that alot of people think only little boys play videogames. I view videogames, partly, as works of art just like I do movies. If the art or entertainment aspects of games are undermined by some greedy suite, I'm going to notice and I'm going to hold back my money.

Posted at 5:02PM on Apr 28th 2006 by luke 0 stars