Double Fusion slows down WipEout HD with ads

by Andrew Yoon on Aug 3rd 2009 4:30PM

The latest WipEout HD patch did more than just add Fury content to the game. No, it also introduced advertising courtesy of Double Fusion, "the leading in- and around-game advertising and gaming audience network." While in-game ads are nothing new, the implementation of WipEout's ads are causing quite a bit of grief for PS3 owners. Why? They slow down the game significantly.

Players have become accustomed to load screens, but now they must also wait for an advertisement to play before beginning a new race. As demonstrated by a user-captured video, the standard load time for WipEout HD is about eight seconds long. If an advertisement plays, the load time increases more than twofold: to nineteen seconds.

Most in-game advertisements appear as unobtrusive and non-interactive billboards. However, slowing down a game's performance to present ads in a program gamers have already paid for is far too intrusive. Jonathan Epstein, CEO of Double Fusion, stated that "Double Fusion is responding to advertiser demand and offering an engaging ad format while pushing in-game ad innovation to a new level." It's unfortunate that we have to wait while that new level loads.

[Thanks, Chris!]

Source

Tags: ads, double-fusion, in-game-advertising, wipeout, wipeout-hd

Reader Comments (166)

I haven't played since these ads were implemented, but if I paid for this game, ads should not hinder my experience. I really hope they fix the load times and/or get rid of the ads. If the ads were just along the track in one or two spots but didn't make me wait, I'd probably be OK with it. If they're affecting my gaming experience, that's pretty unacceptable for a paid product.

Totally agree. The day any game I own has a 10 second ad before I play, I stop playing that game.

Advertising in gaming is well on it's way to ruin our expierence. This is the most significant and disgusting proof yet. Maybe if this was somehow implented onto rental titles, I can understand it. But to pay for a game, just to get bogged down by ads?! F that!!

To those of you who haven't got the DLC yet but want to know what it's like: when the game starts loading, first think of a bull. Now wait ten seconds. Now imagine that the bull is shitting. There you go.

I think it would be slightly more acceptable if the ad was as long as the loading time. Devs should tell them, ok our longest loading time in the game is 10 seconds so build an ad to be showed only when those loading times are needed. It is unacceptable for the loading time to be extended just to allow the ad to play completely.

I think I would prefer that to having a the game world all splattered with ads as those often times pull you off the game experience. Obviously I would prefer no ads at all but if they are going to be on the game then put them on loading screen, make them have no sound and make them last as long as the original loading time.

I just played the game for two hours and didn't see the ads once. I know they are there because two ago I played and the ads appeared every now and then. I think it must be clarified that the ad doesn't appear on every single loading screen but instead every now and then. When it does appear it is when you first load a track for the first time (if you restart the race it won't appear since that loading is way faster).

Although I don't like the ads and I hope they eliminate them (especially if they really make loading longer) I don't they are bad enough for me to stop playing the game. They are bothersome but not that much. Many people here think this happens on every loading screen and that's just not the case.

I meant to say that I played it two days ago and saw the ads. It's not really a constant thing...I think that people who say they won't buy the game because of this are really missing on a great game. Come to think of it PSN is largely ad free and we don't pay for it whereas Live requires an annual subscription and still we get ads on the dashboard.

so the innovation is pissing people off?

Great job. Way to be trailblazers

What do you mean? If we purchased the game, we shouldn't have our game experiences changed due to ads. Like firstbornrogers said, if this was a free game, it would be acceptable. If they slide the ads into a game people already purchased, that's not so cool. It's not really innovation in this case, it's just annoying.

"Double Fusion is responding to advertiser demand and offering an engaging ad format while pushing in-game ad innovation to a new level."

And now you know...

...And knowing is 1/2 the battle

Knowing is, indeed, half the battle.

You've been playing a little too much Fat Princess, but I'm, unfortunately, in the same boat :)

This would be slightly acceptable if the game was free, but last time I checked, it wasn't. How can it be acceptable to obstruct any of the play experience when the user is paying for the content? Especially when the ads are added after payment is made? This is scary on many levels.

You hit all of the points my friend. Scary indeed.

It is scary. What will happen next? Commercial breaks in the movies you bought on DVD?

speaking of commercials in movies....

http://watchanimenow.com/haruhi-suzumiya-1/

Exactly. For a free game, ads are fine. For a game you pay for, it's unacceptable. I was very close to buying WipEout HD Fury too, but I refuse to buy it because I loathe in-game ads.

With a TV you have the option to turn it off when the adverts come on. There should be an option to do this. At the very least, after you've seen it once.

Damn, and WipeOut is one of my favorite games, I guess I won't be buying the Fury pack then.

Prototype has GameStop ads, though this is quite different.

Canadian Xbox 360 Dashboard has advertisements now. And yet we still pay for XBL.

The XBL Dashboard is the most ad infested thing under the sun. I'm surprised I can figure what is which when trying to navigate it

I don't like this and I was going to tip websites but was too lazy to record a video of it or compare normal loading times. But I don't know how everyone forgot that DVDs, which you pay for, do have ads for other movies at the beginning. Of course you can skip them but they are there. There are also loads of ads in movie theaters, after paying $10-$15 to watch a movie you have to sit through 15-25 min of ads in a movie theater.

I'm not saying these ads are fine, on the contrary I think they shouldn't be there. I think ads should be non intrusive and if they were you should have the ability to skip them. Only in a free product should we be forced to watch ads. I just brought those examples up so that we don't forget those ads exist too. We should also fight the companies responsible for those other ads and all intrusive ads instead of complaining about Wipeout's stupid ads and pretend all others are fine or that they don't exist (like when some said that we don't have ads on dvds).

Yeah, I'm not sure I'm going to buy Fury now. I already paid for this game.

Is this only during online play?

Previews, while still technically ads, are an integral part of the movie going experience! I love previews! Don't think of them as advertisements, think of it as information regarding upcoming features. You must like movies if you're in the theater? Don't you want a sneak peak at what's coming down the pipe?

As for the shitty ads before the previews? Those definitely need to go. And adding ads to a paid game, a year after it was released? Totally F'd up!

I don't have the game but that's f***ing ridiculous!!

I do, and it is F***ING ridiculous! Shame on you Sony for allowing this. This is a $20 game, not $0.00.

I dont have the game and now I know for sure I'll never own it as long as this BS is in place.

OMG, and this is where the advertisers will run into issues with gamers and the slow down the some really cool games. Watch these consoles allow all these advertisers and then end up screwing up our gameplay!

so let me get this straight, you've paid for something… that's racking up money with adverts as well?

thanks studio liverpool, greedy scum

I'd think it was a mandate from the top down. Wipeout Fury probably just seemed the most sensible thing to test it out on.

Expect to see more ads in every Sony first-party sports title.

I agree... As someone who has bought every WipeOut game (anyone remember the first long-box one for the PlayStation? Still on my shelf. Designer's Republic R.I.P.), and even the soundtracks when they used to put those out, I sadly will not take part in this one until this ad silliness is deaded.

I don't blame Studio Liverpool, I bet they had nothing to do with this. I blame Sony and Double Fusion.

People should collectively whip their E's out and beat Double Fusion to death with them.

In game advertisements like that are just wrong. Do it for free games or some shit. Bunch of greedy fuckers.

this comment brought to you by the fine folks at Wiizer's Sweatshop Inc.

Remember: If it ain't Wiizer's Sweatshop, its probably a quality product

^ NICE! I'm gonna tell Sam Raimi to put that on his blog...

What if they were advertising delicious chocolate pudding?

Only Fat Megan Fox's bathwater advertisments could make me reconsider my moral standpoints.

Fair enough...fair enough

Also, I hate to be a self-promoting douche, but could everyone please go back to the Avatar article and upvote my epic "Oh snap" comment :D

kthnxbi

Haha, that was funny. That guy's a douche.

I love how only people that stalk joystiq can possibly understand what's going on here....

....and i'm one of them ;)

Capitalism at its finest!

I am not sure what capitalism has to do with this, I would just chalk it up to human nature? You may actually find that capitalistic principles are what resolves the matter. We vote with our dollars.

According to Wikipedia Capitalism is "an economic and social system in which the means of production (also known as capital) are privately controlled; labor and goods are traded in a free market; and profits are regularly reinvested or invested in new technologies and industries"

Free market is the reason advertising exists, if there were a bunch of monopolies why would advertising be needed.

"...profits are regularly reinvested or invested in new technologies and industries" Last time I checked advertising in games was relatively new and unexplored, especially during load times

Human nature aka greed has a lot to do with it too :)

Come on guys this is the future of gaming...

Wrong! It's only the future of gaming if WE ALLOW IT TO BE! I for one will be making it a point to not give my money to any company that engages in this type of advertising. If we as consumers refuse to accept this and hit developers in their wallet, it will go the way of dodo before you can shake a stick at it. Believe that.

It's hard to vote with your wallet when the ads are put into a game after the initial purchase.

"slowing down a game's performance to present ads"
This doesn't seem to be true based on the article. Wait time is not the same as poor performance. Commercials on a TV show don't make the images appear any worse or anything, they just make you wait between parts of the show.
If the ads caused the game to lag or drop frames or reduce game detail, then that would be a performance hit. This is just an annoyance.
Not saying they should do it or it's okay. Just saying your not being fair to the advertisers by putting that spin on it.

a games performance includes how fast it can load a level/stage/track/etc.

It's not loading! It's playing like a cinematic, except instead of having the characters you know and love prancing around, it's a commercial!
I mean, if that's your definition Final Fantasy has the worst performance of any game ever!

Maybe they could have worded it a little different but you get the gist. Stop whining.

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Sorry, you must be logged in to leave a comment.

Breaking News

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days

Vita 'UMD Passport' won't be offered in US 220 comments
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning review: A tempting fate 153 comments
David Jaffe leaves Eat Sleep Play, layoffs hit developer [Update] 108 comments
Don't call it a remake: Final Fantasy X is a 'remaster,' to be clear 95 comments
Battleship movie adapted into FPS by Double Helix 93 comments

Double Fusion slows down WipEout HD with ads

Reader Comments (166)

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:35PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:01PM whylekat said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:51PM nandokun said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:37PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 4th 2009 2:23AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 4th 2009 2:30AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:36PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:42PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:36PM radicoon said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:40PM Professor Lario said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:40PM MystileArmor said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:42PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:49PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:24PM Jakeybaby said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:46PM Hardcore1 said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:48PM AnteSim said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:04PM Ballistic H said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:23PM Emblazin said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:28PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:45PM GamGams said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 8:31PM Klitorisaurus said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:37PM briax87 said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:35PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:42PM PN04 said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:38PM GamerzTechcom said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:38PM Gonzie said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:49PM Brother Unit No 4 said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 6:16PM hey buddy said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 7:47PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:39PM MystileArmor said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:40PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:44PM Wiizer said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:46PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:50PM MystileArmor said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:52PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:07PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:10PM Wiizer said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:41PM xThePunisherx said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:39PM Danthok said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:41PM Professor Lario said

Posted: Aug 4th 2009 10:21AM Danthok said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:40PM Zombait said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 7:22PM LettucePrey said

Posted: Aug 4th 2009 7:08AM Pharoah4187 said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:42PM Erluti said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:44PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 4:52PM Erluti said

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 5:05PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Double Fine Kickstarter passes $1 million in under 24 hours, breaking yet another record

Featured Stories

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier brings information warfare to the front

Rhythm Heaven Fever review: Crazy into you

Remedy not done with Alan Wake

The most popular postsin the last 7 days

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW

The most popular posts
in the last 7 days