Double Fusion slows down WipEout HD with ads

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!]

Reader Comments (166)

Just bought my PS3 a month ago. I was considering buying this because it was on sale and the new DLC looked promising... but with ads? I'm glad I didn't.

Thanks for ruining another Wipeout game, Sony! Thanks a bunch...

Thanks for the warning. I'd been considering picking this up; now I'll know to skip anything with Wipeout in the title for the forseeable future.

It's lame enough there are ads at all (which arent new to Wipeout...) but come on?! State Farm? WTH?! It's so out of place in the Wipeout universe! If it didnt affect loading, I probably wouldnt have a problem with say Red Bull ads, after all, it was Wipeout XL that introduced me to Red Bull!

Is ~20 secs out of an hour's worth of playtime really stopping people from buying this? If so, you're missing out on the PS3's best game. Your loss. I bet most of the people complaining about load times didn't even notice the game loads faster after the update.

If it's the principle of the situation, then ok. Obviously it's not something that I want to see more of in games either, but most racing games have ads these days. Wipeout has had them in the past as well;

http://www.jr-sr.com/uploads/RTEmagicC_wipeout_screenshot_01.jpg.jpg

The price wasn't reduced because they got an advertiser to pay for things, was it? There's absolutely no call for unskipable ads in anything you have to pay for (even BluRay movies are making it hard to get to the movie you actually want to watch, there are so many previews that won't let you go straight to the menu.)

For all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, how many people are actually seeing these ads? Yes, there's a YouTube video, but I played this game for 2 hours today after work (in the USA, and after accepting the 2.01 update last week) and I didn't see a single ad.

Which to you want PS3 users? Free PSN with ad supported games or a yearly subscription fee (ala Xbox Live)? Someone has to pay for all those servers and support. Sony isn't going to do it out of the kindness of their heart, they are a "for profit" company after all.

So suck it up Bucky, unless you want to pay that yearly fee.

but what if i play on the pc?

there's simply no excuse for these ads which you're trying to dig for here. sony already charges devs to upload content and make a fair bit of money off Home from idiots buying non-existant crap. the lack of these ads wont spell the end of psn.

at least with the xbl, people can at least expect ad-free experiences from core games.

*ahem*

I state again Sony is a "for profit" company. That right there says it all.

The biggest impact you as a consumer can make is a) contact Sony and Double Fusion and tell them what you think and b) if you are a State Farm customer, switch to another insurer (seriously, they're one of the most expensive out there). Then call up State Farm and tell them why you're switching. If enough people do this, the higher-ups at SF will yank their ads, word will get out that advertising in this way will lose your company business and Double Fusion gets what's coming to them. That little synopsis of DF's video game marketing plan contains so much of what's wrong with consumer culture.
Oh, and this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDW_Hj2K0wo

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.

sony once again at the forefront at screwing the player without remorse

I was going to get this DLC. But now i think i'll just delete the whole game. Corporate whores. In-game advertising should only ever be used to create a hightened sense of reality. When it starts intruding on the experience of the game it is unaceptable.
Same reason i won't get Sky TV. Pay for TV only to have even more advertising forced down my eye holes.
Choose one revenue source and optimise it.

Double Fusion Contact Info..........get you some!

www.doublefusion.com

San Francisco - HQ

50 California St, Suite 906

San Francisco, CA 94111

USA

Tel: +1 415-975-9991

Fax: +1 415-975-9919

London

10 Margaret Street

London W1W 8RL

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 3159 5031

Fax: +44 (0)20 3008 6171

Chicago

360 North Michigan Ave., Suite 904

Chicago, IL

USA

Tel: +1 312-368-3500

New York

236 West 30th St – 10th floor

New York, NY 10001

USA

Tel: +1 212-290-1704

Fax: +1 212-260-4182

Oooo, why don't you start an online petition too. That'll show them.

Ads are a pox on gaming. Remove the ads or you won't get my money.

Double Fusion slows down WipEout HD with ads

Reader Comments (166)

Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 11:41PM docstrange said

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Posted: Aug 3rd 2009 11:56PM Maxsunset said

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Posted: Aug 4th 2009 12:21AM garnsr said

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Posted: Aug 4th 2009 4:24AM Babu Yagu said

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Posted: Aug 4th 2009 1:08PM euxneks said

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