There's a lot of Big companies investing in midia, but I don't see large investments in game advertisement, for example: what if Rock Star uses Coca-Cola banners in a next GTA?

I'm not saying that I agree with this, but aren't you afraid of this possibility? Is this an Ethical action?

Product placement and in-game ads are already a common reality. Just because you haven't seen it yet doesn't mean it doesn't already happen. There's no use being afraid of it.

Sorry,

I didn't mean I'm realy afraid of this, But do you think this may change some things in the future? Like: Big games in money Bad games in spirit.

Product placement has been happening for at least 6+ years in games: actual coca-cola labels in vending machines, billboards in racing/sport/city games, etc. Same as movies. As games are replacing TV as the primary form of entertainment it's obvious for advertisers to move into the industry.

But, like movies, games are already splitting into 2 markets: mainstream big budget, indy/arthouse small budget. Mainstream games, like mainstream movies, are crazy expensive to make (upwards of 50 million for a lot of AAA game titles), so any ability to offset that price is pretty attractive.

Things that are cool eventually become mainstream. When they become mainstream they get lots of advertising dollars. That's how things go. Things change, get over it. [smile]

If you're adamantly against it then don't buy the games that have advertising. Plenty of awesome indy games to fill your idle hours with these days.

-me

Quote: Original post by Primiano
I didn't mean I'm realy afraid of this, But do you think this may change some things in the future? Like: Big games in money Bad games in spirit.

What is it exactly that you're worried about? Your concern is vague and unclear.

In fact,

it is not about to be or not to be worried. It's about to discuss the subject.

I agree with Paladine: this is already happening and we can't stop it, but we don't know for sure what are concequences opon the game quality.

For example: Games inspired by movies use to be bad games and I see them as an exemple of advertisement.

Fearing negative quality due to advertisements is non-sensical. There is zero impact on game quality in AAA console games. The placement is exclusively controlled by the publisher and first parties which limit those areas in which advertisements can be placed.

Ad supported online and mobile games can be disrupted by ad-wrapped or pop-ups, but that is a technical issue that may impact user enjoyment as opposed to a degradation in the content. Ads are just another way for indies to monetize their games without asking users to pay for it. How do you think companies like Zynga, Playdom, Bigpoint, etc. make money? Advertisers!

As for the impact on the "spirit" of games, why not just debate the meaning of life? That is certainly more productive than wondering whether the graphcial representation of the underlying code contains what one may conceive as a spirit! Just have fun.

Quote: Original post by Primiano
it is not about to be or not to be worried. It's about to discuss the subject.

OK, then. Moving to The Lounge.

Quote: Original post by Primiano
For example: Games inspired by movies use to be bad games and I see them as an exemple of advertisement.

Actually that's not quite true.

Games inspired by movies used to be good games, now they tend to be just a way of milking cash from fans of the movie. You do of course get the odd gem (Lego). The trouble is they rush the game to make it ready for the release of the film, but if they wait to long to release it people will have forgotten about the film (unless they actually have something substantial) so it's a double edged sword.

Correlation -/-> Causation.

Games-from-movies aren't bad because they're a form of advertising; they're bad for other reasons.