EvaUnit02 on 16/10/2008 at 01:54
Real world political ads is one thing, but to leave politics out of a medium altogether? Fuck off. For gaming to evolve as a legitimate artistic medium it has to not shy away from any topic discussion. Even if your commentary is blatant, unsubtle and built from Lego blocks, it's a step in the right direction.
Not everything has to be GTA-style satire, padded by dick and fart jokes, for it to be acceptable.
FYI Obama is Vanilla Coke.
june gloom on 16/10/2008 at 03:42
"dethtoll is arguing against x so he must be for the extreme end of y"
No YOU fuck off. If a game wants to be political (and fail at it) that's fine; Blacksite Area 51 is an example. But a big fucking advertisement is not "commentary".
Ulukai on 18/10/2008 at 10:19
"You fuck off!" "No you fuck off!"
Calm down ladies, your handbags are swinging dangerously.
I play Burnout Paradise on my 360 almost every week, and have noticed that the billboards change from time to time. (I'm not targeted with Obama ads because I live in the UK and they actually thought about that.) Obviously, those of you who live in batty-land where the only criteria for being in charge of a country is a moustache and a marching band probably get ads for Squid 'n Spam toasties.
Uh, anyway; in this particular game, the advertising makes not one iota of difference to the game experience be they advertising socks or political campaigns.
Given that Criterion are shortly to release a whole new island to explore, and have recently released a rather impressive bikes pack, all of which is totally free of charge, I really don't care if they want to boost their income from the game by selling virtual ad boards to the highest bidder.
Games such as Burnout Paradise and EA's other spawn are multi-million pound projects and very much a product of our time - and political campaigns are a product like any other. It isn't "bringing politics into games". Bringing politics into games is this:
I'm driving around Paradise City and suddenly I have to slam on the breaks because there's a rolling roadblock involving John McCain and a group of sycophantic rifle waving hicks to contend with.
That's politics in games - and I'm going to be annoyed. But that ain't what happens.
Jesus Christ people. Next storm in a teacup please.
BlackCapedManX on 21/10/2008 at 23:43
I don't play a lot of online games that have this sort of dynamic ad updating, but conceptually I don't have a problem with it, because, presumably, it takes up in most games what would normally be billboard space so it make sense that you'd have something at least resembling an ad there (correct me if I'm wrong and they just plaster ads all over the ground, and when you shoot enemies you get something like point totals that are sponsered by budweiser). As the people who make games (not the people who design and build them, but the people who actually make the product that goes to computers, the producers and distributers and their parent companies) are, understandibly, mostly interested in making money, putting real ads in those spaces, is a smart move. Now, R6Vegas was ass dumb, because the only thing you saw advertised was Axe, which made one think the world was populated solely by sweaty aerobic men who were in constant fear of their appeal to women (though considering both the range of characters and enemies in the game, as well as the target audience, this might have made sense to some people), and while I don't condemn use of real ads, it could've definately used some variety. But I think it's a smart, and inevitable, move on the part of the producers, and it seems to me like it usually makes sense in context to the game world.
That being said, it's free ad space. Of course it's not fucking sacred. It's money, which usually superceeds all other values. I would say Obama is simply a much more intelligent campaigner than McCain (and I feel like the "youngest elegible voters demographic" is one that's probably usually untapped in elections like this, and unlike most of the people on these forums, your average 18-21 year old mainstream gamer doesn't tend give much of a damn about politics, so having someone speak directly to them in their environment may be what tips them over the edge.) If you think this is "politicizing" gaming... I mean, maybe? But I think that's much more personal inflection and a lot less marketer intent. If anything it's commercializing gaming, and, oh wait, that's happened already.
TF on 22/10/2008 at 02:11
They should put those things in a game like rollcage where you can target any and all billboards with missiles
june gloom on 22/10/2008 at 03:27
I'm not going to bother trying to distinguish between regular ads and political ads again, so I'm just going to admit that I am obviously the only person who sees this as a Very Bad Thing and be on my way.
Matthew on 22/10/2008 at 09:49
There have been ads in my games since Zool and Premier Manager on the Amiga (hell, you were able to accept / reject terrace advertising for your football ground in that one), I'm not exactly thrilled by them but as long as they're not too in-your-face I don't mind.
As for political / non-political, I'm not all that bothered either.
Kolya on 22/10/2008 at 11:08
Just make the game a bit cheaper when it has ads. And let me choose which ads to display.
And then make them an interactive part of the game world.
If you race on a track plastered with ads, the prize for winning the race should be higher than without, because it's sponsored. Gives you more money to spend on car parts.
If you shoot at ads in a FPS the place gets darker because the ad was illuminated. Might attract monsters.
Of course there will be guys then who proudly claim to have shot each and every ad in the game. Headshot Obama? ololol111
But these guys will be the ones who best remember all ads. Mission accomplished.
