Cost of Xbox 360 to be subsidized by ads?
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Nov 9th 2005 at 2:30PM }
Bryan Lee, the chief financial officer of Microsoft's
Entertainment and Devices subdivision, recently suggested that in some markets outside of North America it's possible
that the cost of the Xbox 360 could be subsidized by advertising. Microsoft is already experimenting with several
in-game ad campaigns, working closely with Massive; so expect software subsidizing to be a given in the
next-gen. But perhaps a Gizmondo-esque
Xbox 360 bundle is also in the works…
[Thanks, JamesO]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rabiddog @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Sweet,
Lets get big tobacco and alcohol involved.
dvdguy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
I have no problems with ads just as long as they're not obtrusive or out of place. Load up the billboards in racing games with ads, or all the stadiums in sports games. Go crazy with the sponsorships in sports games... like the Old Spice game summary in NCAA Football. That stuff only makes sports games more realistic anyway, like it or not.
darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Awesome! Thanks Microsoft, thanks for whoring out the 360 so that you can make a buck. It's bad enough I am blasted with ads on TV, now I can enjoy them in my games too! Super-duper...
Brendan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
The problem with ads is they never lower the bottom line for the consumer, they just earn the software manufacturer more money. Has the price of a movie dropped now that you have to sit through a half hour of ads beforehand? No. It's an annoying trend. I agree with #2 that realistically placed ads aren't annoying at all. You see a billboard in a game and you EXPECT to see an ad there. When they go overboard to make a buck, that's when it gets annoying.
Rymix @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Bring it on. More ads means more money for developers, which means bigger and better games, and cheaper games for consumers too.
Rymix @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
I disagree, Brendan. Games have remained at basically the same price for years, yet they cost more and more to develop. Some of that is due to increased sponsorship.
darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"More ads means more money for developers"
Hehehe... you think so? No. Not for developer... for the Microsoft whore machine. That's who gets the money.
Rymix @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"for the Microsoft whore machine. That's who gets the money."
Nope. I work for a UK games developer. Microsoft sure makes a whack out of it, but so do the developers. And the extra money really helps, believe me.
Anuj @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
So not only do us europeans have to pay more for the 360 we also have to endure the ads while the americans don't.
darryl @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"Microsoft sure makes a whack out of it, but so do the developers"
Read: Microsoft makes the most from it.
TeddyN @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Advertising is evidence of the evil bourgeois dictatorship in place across the world. They try to compel us to endorse their institutions which enslave the worker in unequal labour contracts. The proletarian revolution will some day bless us with classless society. Then there will be an Xbox 360 for every worker, regardless of income.
:) sorry, just joking (secretly cries at not being able to afford a new xbox whether it includes ads or not, and laments the fact that can't even buy a new graphics card as would be even more expensive then 360)
SickNic @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
God, I am so sick of commercialism. I'll pay MS money NOT to put adds in games (the billboard point makes sense, and I am down with that) But I'll be damned if I have to see a coke ad while a level is loading...
joss @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
I must admit adverts piss me off to the extreme. If this gets out of hand i.e. Any advertising, whatsoever in adventure, RPGs or even Fps's to a certain extent would most certainly kill my gamming experience. I wouldn't mind billboard ads in racing and sports titles (which have been around, atleast from the n64 era). I just hope that this concept doesn't become mainstream in all genres otherwise I might just throw the gamming in all together.
God knows what kind of bollocks EA is going to spam their games with...
My guess would be that not only M$ is looking into this kinda crap, considering Sony's ability to screw the end user just as much :/
Rymix @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"Read: Microsoft makes the most from it."
Yup. But 'least' of, say, $10m can still equal $3-4m. Not to be sniffed at.
Cooper @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
oh crap, something more for bd to complain about
joss @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"oh crap, something more for bd to complain about"
LOL, expect a post-tacular, the length of an average Tolkien novel shortly :x
dan @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
I'm curious whether anyone here has played SWAT4 for the PC, or any other game which already has massive (the company, not the adjective) advertising implemented, and what they think about it. As much as I hate the idea that people are serving me ads in an entertainment product (and not a cheap one), it didn't detract from the gameplay at all.
I agree with one thing though, I refuse to tolerate ads in a load screen.
Kuroshi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
good idea for less advanced markets where the $399 price is not a viable economic reality.
CrAzY American @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
I used to think bd was bad, but it seems as darryl is worse. He has nothing constructive to say about anything anyone does except Sony.
Then that is LAW.
Now, back to the subject on hand. Ads in some places don't bother me, but I agree with SickNic, I'll be damned if I have to watch commercials will waiting to play a game.
Geof @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
"A post-tacular"
LMFAO- thats pretty funny.
Yeah, I see darryl has already hit this one up, hurry up and get it over with bd.
Andrew @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Hey, as long as it doesn't interrupt my game experience, (e.g. 30 second coke ads in the middle of the game, etc..) then I'm all for this...
I don't mind a billboard ad in GTA for coke, do you?
john @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Oh yeah! I can imagine it now a trojanman commercial flashing by while I play the next Lord Of The Rings game ;).
(Nice work!!! Microsoft!)
someone @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
hey i'm all for more ads during game play, like on billboards, but like many paople i cant stand ads on load screens. so heres a suggestion, do like tony hawks american wasteland, just get rid of load screens all together and then throw in ads on billboards, and vending machines inside buildings.
IronmanXRS2 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:01PM
Dont worry guys when they do market us stuff its usually stuff we like anyways. Im speaking in general of course. They will spend good money to target the 18-26 year olds. Us XBOX360 guys will get ads for CD's, Movies, and Softdrinks, while the PS3 crowd will be getting billboards for StayFresh Maxipads, Kleenex, and ClearEyes eyedrops for all the whining and bitching theyve been doing as of late hating on the 360.