In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy ..

John Lewis wrote:
> ...............GOOGLE !!
>
> See:-
>
> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070318-google-ads-coming-to-a-v...o-game-
>
> An ideal marriage... the Steam umbilical-delivery and Google's ad-push
> technology.
>
> Continuous update of MP in-game ads, courtesy of Steam. Update of SP
> ads via all Steam updates and game-patch updates (no advance warning
> of update-content, as usual....no way of opting out even for SP,
> unless you never ever want any patches or never play any Steam-hosted
> MP games. Once the Steam umbilical cord is reconnected after an
> off-line session you automatically get to enjoy ALL of its contents,
> whether you want them or not.. ).
>
> More Ferraris and Big Macs for Doug 'n Gabe.... No need to be in the
> game-development business any more. Steam will produce a nice steady
> source of revenue with hardly any risk... which was part of their
> overall plan all along. Game-development has become far too chancy and
> expensive, just develop a sophisticated delivery pipe with a
> nicely-sized cash spigot. And attract the lemmings by developing and
> cleverly-marketing Steam's "convenience" elements.


I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you
post the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?

Or have you been sharing pc games meds again?

It may or may not happen. To Steam games as well as others like BF2, UT
etc. But if it does reasonably minded people will evaluate it, decide
if it spoils the immersion or adds to it, whether it funds development
of future new games and is worth it and will vote with feet and wallets
accordingly. Until then it's only fodder for those on soapboxes or
those looking for black helicopters from under tinfoil hats.

BTW - glad to see you have inside knowledge and understand Valves
overall plans - can you ask when Episode 2 is being released please?
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

"Shawk" <shawk DeleteThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses> wrote in message
news:TaqdnUNkXMGFyWPYRVnyiQA@bt.com...
> John Lewis wrote:
>> ...............GOOGLE !!
>>
>> See:-
>>
>> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070318-google-ads-coming-to-a-v...o-game-
>>
>> An ideal marriage... the Steam umbilical-delivery and Google's ad-push
>> technology.
>>
>> Continuous update of MP in-game ads, courtesy of Steam. Update of SP
>> ads via all Steam updates and game-patch updates (no advance warning
>> of update-content, as usual....no way of opting out even for SP,
>> unless you never ever want any patches or never play any Steam-hosted
>> MP games. Once the Steam umbilical cord is reconnected after an
>> off-line session you automatically get to enjoy ALL of its contents,
>> whether you want them or not.. ).
>>
>> More Ferraris and Big Macs for Doug 'n Gabe.... No need to be in the
>> game-development business any more. Steam will produce a nice steady
>> source of revenue with hardly any risk... which was part of their
>> overall plan all along. Game-development has become far too chancy and
>> expensive, just develop a sophisticated delivery pipe with a
>> nicely-sized cash spigot. And attract the lemmings by developing and
>> cleverly-marketing Steam's "convenience" elements.
>
>
> I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you post
> the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>
> Or have you been sharing pc games meds again?
>
> It may or may not happen. To Steam games as well as others like BF2, UT
> etc. But if it does reasonably minded people will evaluate it, decide if
> it spoils the immersion or adds to it, whether it funds development of
> future new games and is worth it and will vote with feet and wallets
> accordingly. Until then it's only fodder for those on soapboxes or those
> looking for black helicopters from under tinfoil hats.
>
> BTW - glad to see you have inside knowledge and understand Valves overall
> plans - can you ask when Episode 2 is being released please?
>

IMHO, in-game ads to me are fine, perfectly fine, if they don't detract from
gameplay. Having real coca-cola cans in the debris on the ground, or in a
billboard advertisement on the side of a street is fine with me. If
anything, it adds to the realism, as it is better than having some stupid
made-up cola name, but those can be fun and comical as well.

If they start putting a big fat coca cola can in the middle of a map, then
I'll be pissed, or if you have to kill a coca-cola monster that bleeds
carbonation (hey, that would be kinda funny actually) then that would be
annoying. But to be honest, something creative like that would be even
better.

What I do NOT like is that a single player game required you to connect to
the internet to play. I have a good fast internet connection, but I
frequently visit family who don't have internet or just dial-up, and take my
PC with me from time to time to kill time when alone, and would be pissed if
I need a regular connection.
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

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 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

"John Lewis" <john.dsl.DeleteThis@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:45fe0e80.4553904@news.verizon.net...
|
|
|
| ...............GOOGLE !!
|
| See:-
|
|
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070318-google-ads-coming-to-a-v...o-game-
|
| An ideal marriage... the Steam umbilical-delivery and Google's ad-push
| technology.
|
| Continuous update of MP in-game ads, courtesy of Steam. Update of SP
| ads via all Steam updates and game-patch updates (no advance warning
| of update-content, as usual....no way of opting out even for SP,
| unless you never ever want any patches or never play any Steam-hosted
| MP games. Once the Steam umbilical cord is reconnected after an
| off-line session you automatically get to enjoy ALL of its contents,
| whether you want them or not.. ).
|
| More Ferraris and Big Macs for Doug 'n Gabe.... No need to be in the
| game-development business any more. Steam will produce a nice steady
| source of revenue with hardly any risk... which was part of their
| overall plan all along. Game-development has become far too chancy and
| expensive, just develop a sophisticated delivery pipe with a
| nicely-sized cash spigot. And attract the lemmings by developing and
| cleverly-marketing Steam's "convenience" elements.
|

This is pretty much an expected evolution... There's already plenty of ads
in console games today, just watch the billboards in some shooters and
driving games and you'll see what I mean... But the big problem with ads in
games is this: in other media, advertising means lower (or no) cost to the
consumer. Radio ads pay for the station keeping on the air, so you can
listen free anytime (regular radio, not satellite, which is a whole
different animal). Advertising on broadcast TV keeps the costs low, and
despite people complaining about rising cable rates, regular cable (and
dish) is comparitively WAY cheaper than the premium channels that have no
advertising on them. Ads in magazines help defray much of the costs of
publishing them. etc etc etc

But ads in games don't seem to make our games cheaper... They're just a
targeted campaign at a captive audience. If ads make my game cheaper (or
free) then I can't really see too much complaint. There's been many
web-based games that use banners to pay for their overhead. But paying full
retail price and/or full subscription fees for a game with unavoidable ads
is just exploitation.

CoinSpin
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 08:46:17 +0000, pc games wrote:


> Please BOYCOTT Valve and STEAM, they are simply killing PC Games

I wish SOMEONE would!
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

"Coming"? In-game ads have been around for many years now.
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

pc games <pcgamer23708.RemoveThis@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:6lhsv2td61sgn8guu3r9bm1leufsvg2die@4ax.com:

> Very sad... guess now I also need to stop using Google...

I think a good next step to develop your ideology would be to move to a
cabin in Montana and write a manifesto.
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:12:55 +0000, Shawk <shawk RemoveThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses>
wrote:


>I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you
>post the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>

Sorry, you must have missed the recent news that Valve and Adscape are
already working on inserting ads, with CounterStrike being the first
target.

John Lewis
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

HockeyTownUSA wrote:
> "Shawk" <shawk RemoveThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses> wrote in message
> news:TaqdnUNkXMGFyWPYRVnyiQA@bt.com...
>> John Lewis wrote:
>>> ...............GOOGLE !!
>>>
>>> See:-
>>>
>>> http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070318-google-ads-coming-to-a-v...o-game-
>>>
>>> An ideal marriage... the Steam umbilical-delivery and Google's ad-push
>>> technology.
>>>
>>> Continuous update of MP in-game ads, courtesy of Steam. Update of SP
>>> ads via all Steam updates and game-patch updates (no advance warning
>>> of update-content, as usual....no way of opting out even for SP,
>>> unless you never ever want any patches or never play any Steam-hosted
>>> MP games. Once the Steam umbilical cord is reconnected after an
>>> off-line session you automatically get to enjoy ALL of its contents,
>>> whether you want them or not.. ).
>>>
>>> More Ferraris and Big Macs for Doug 'n Gabe.... No need to be in the
>>> game-development business any more. Steam will produce a nice steady
>>> source of revenue with hardly any risk... which was part of their
>>> overall plan all along. Game-development has become far too chancy and
>>> expensive, just develop a sophisticated delivery pipe with a
>>> nicely-sized cash spigot. And attract the lemmings by developing and
>>> cleverly-marketing Steam's "convenience" elements.
>>
>> I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you post
>> the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>>
>> Or have you been sharing pc games meds again?
>>
>> It may or may not happen. To Steam games as well as others like BF2, UT
>> etc. But if it does reasonably minded people will evaluate it, decide if
>> it spoils the immersion or adds to it, whether it funds development of
>> future new games and is worth it and will vote with feet and wallets
>> accordingly. Until then it's only fodder for those on soapboxes or those
>> looking for black helicopters from under tinfoil hats.
>>
>> BTW - glad to see you have inside knowledge and understand Valves overall
>> plans - can you ask when Episode 2 is being released please?
>>
>
> IMHO, in-game ads to me are fine, perfectly fine, if they don't detract from
> gameplay. Having real coca-cola cans in the debris on the ground, or in a
> billboard advertisement on the side of a street is fine with me. If
> anything, it adds to the realism, as it is better than having some stupid
> made-up cola name, but those can be fun and comical as well.

You know, even I wouldn't have a problem with Coke cans in a game. Did
you know in the old beta of HL2, the soda cans in the game actually WERE
Coke cans instead of the made-up version they use now? I guess they
didn't want to pay copyright or trademark costs or whatever, but heck, I
wouldn't have complained. The Splinter Cell games were starting to push
it a little with their Nokia stuff, but still, it was OK. My only
problem was when my favorite games company decided to join the bandwagon.
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

FoolsGold wrote:

>> IMHO, in-game ads to me are fine, perfectly fine, if they don't
>> detract from gameplay. Having real coca-cola cans in the debris on the
>> ground, or in a billboard advertisement on the side of a street is
>> fine with me. If anything, it adds to the realism, as it is better
>> than having some stupid made-up cola name, but those can be fun and
>> comical as well.
>
> You know, even I wouldn't have a problem with Coke cans in a game. Did
> you know in the old beta of HL2, the soda cans in the game actually WERE
> Coke cans instead of the made-up version they use now? I guess they
> didn't want to pay copyright or trademark costs or whatever, but heck, I
> wouldn't have complained. The Splinter Cell games were starting to push
> it a little with their Nokia stuff, but still, it was OK. My only
> problem was when my favorite games company decided to join the bandwagon.

Great, can't wait for the Coke or Nokia ads in my medieval, fantasy
gaming - should be an immersion blast! :-/


--
'Some day, guys like John Lewis will be remembered as the
"Judges" of an Internet Priesthood, and will be quoted by
4th grade teachers in AntArtica. Do we realize that
millions of people read our feeble-minded debates every
single day .. forever?' - johns 23/2/2007

Nostromo
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

John Lewis wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:12:55 +0000, Shawk <shawk.TakeThisOut@clara.co.uk.3guesses>
> wrote:
>
>
>> I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you
>> post the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>>
>
> Sorry, you must have missed the recent news that Valve and Adscape are
> already working on inserting ads, with CounterStrike being the first
> target.


....must have done. The last news on this said Valve were working with
IGA Worldwide for Counterstrike 1.6. IGA are a competitor to Adscape so
I still can't see the connection between the story and the comments you
made about Valve and Googles 'ad-push'. Am I being pedantic or did you
just see it as another Valve-bashing opportunity? Bit of both I guess.
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:19:25 +0000, Shawk <shawk DeleteThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses>
wrote:

>John Lewis wrote:
>> On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:12:55 +0000, Shawk <shawk DeleteThis @clara.co.uk.3guesses>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you
>>> post the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>>>
>>
>> Sorry, you must have missed the recent news that Valve and Adscape are
>> already working on inserting ads, with CounterStrike being the first
>> target.
>
>
>...must have done. The last news on this said Valve were working with
>IGA Worldwide for Counterstrike 1.6. IGA are a competitor to Adscape so
>I still can't see the connection between the story and the comments you
>made about Valve and Googles 'ad-push'. Am I being pedantic or did you
>just see it as another Valve-bashing opportunity? Bit of both I guess.

Well, you are right about IGA instead of Adscape being the source of
the ads for Valve, but the end-result is that ads are certainly coming
to you via Steam anyway and with Google involved, expect a push for
Steam-like umbilical-style connections for both MP and SP games on the
PC to become the norm, regardless of whether Valve does it themselves,
or the Steam technology is licensed to others.

John Lewis
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy .. 

John Lewis wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:19:25 +0000, Shawk <shawk.DeleteThis@clara.co.uk.3guesses>
> wrote:
>
>> John Lewis wrote:
>>> On Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:12:55 +0000, Shawk <shawk.DeleteThis@clara.co.uk.3guesses>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>> I'm struggling to connect your comments to the link posted. Did you
>>>> post the wrong one? Do you have one that even mentions Valve or Steam?
>>>>
>>> Sorry, you must have missed the recent news that Valve and Adscape are
>>> already working on inserting ads, with CounterStrike being the first
>>> target.
>>
>> ...must have done. The last news on this said Valve were working with
>> IGA Worldwide for Counterstrike 1.6. IGA are a competitor to Adscape so
>> I still can't see the connection between the story and the comments you
>> made about Valve and Googles 'ad-push'. Am I being pedantic or did you
>> just see it as another Valve-bashing opportunity? Bit of both I guess.
>
> Well, you are right about IGA instead of Adscape being the source of
> the ads for Valve, but the end-result is that ads are certainly coming
> to you via Steam anyway and with Google involved, expect a push for
> Steam-like umbilical-style connections for both MP and SP games on the
> PC to become the norm, regardless of whether Valve does it themselves,
> or the Steam technology is licensed to others.


We're getting somewhere. Ads are coming to games period and yes, there
will have to be more 'umbilical' connections to games to ensure that you
get those ads. Yes, more digital delivery systems will have to become
the norm.

With the revenue this could generate and the power that this may give
advertising agencies it means devs will probably be forced to design
games that (hopefully in addition to gameplay) provide advertising
opportunities.

This is surely going to affect all gaming devs at some point in the
future and focusing on Valve means your points lose something in
translation - Steam was the first but it's certainly not going to be the
last.

My biggest concern in all the above? It's not digital delivery - I've
not had any problems with Guild Wars or Steam - digital delivery works
fine. My concern is just how much will games start to depend on the
ad-revenue to be made? How powerful could advertising agencies then
become in gaming? What would that mean to the independence of the devs
and the time they are allowed to make a good game and whether they will
ever be allowed to make something new - to take a risk. Publishers were
bad enough...
 >> Stay informed about: In-game ads are coming to a video-game near you, courtesy ..