Sloopydrew

"I cant understand people saying Advertising in games is good!? Its just going to get worse and worse to a point where we will have "commercial breaks" every 5 minutes whilst playing a game. Its crap crap crap crap. But no its like "Real life" so yeah.. coooool...JEEEHHHZUZ!"

What he said. Anyone wanting advertising in games is under 25 and has completely forgotten why corporations are, for the most part, the bad guys.

AOL excluded, of course. ;-)

VC wrote:

"Now now, Sloopydrew. You seem to be forgetting a certain company named Bungie. Was that sniping really fair?"

VC,

In my opinion, the sniping was fair. Rare's Grabbed by a Ghoulie (or whatever it was called) was a disaster. Rare's overhyped Conker remake was a huge disappointment with sales and with critics. Rare's even more overhyped Kameo was also an embarrassment in units sold and critics pleased.

PDZ was a decent seller because it was advertised as the "Halo Killer" (like so many other games before it). Still, it received a lukewarm reception from the critics and many a gamer tend to hate the title.

Before MS bought Rare, there was Starfox Adventures for the GameCube. An average selling Zelda rip-off with lukewarm reviews.

If MS is as in-tune with the market as you're claiming they appear to be, they would have looked at SF: Adventures and said, "Screw this outfit."

Bungie was a GREAT purchase, but that was how many years ago now? And the company has proven itself on the Xbox with how many franchises?

If MS's greatest idea is to pump advertising into its games, it's got a long way to go to become the best-selling console in America, much less worldwide.

I personally think almost every choice they've made was wrong (excluding Bungie). Even games I LOVED, like Oddworld, Jet Set Radio Future and Shenmue turned out to be duds. The company is still new to consoles and it is definitely stumbling. If it wasn't for the money MS has, it would have already failed.

"Microsoft should also be, by this time, an old hand at 'em."

Their acquisition of Rare proved how apt they are at feeling the pulse of the gaming market.

"I'm not sure on this, surely in-game advertising and the possibility of advertisements being integreated into the 360 dashboard is a good way to lower prices even further?"

No. It most surely isn't. When product placements started in film and on video, prices did not drop. I can't see it being any different with games. The corporations will make more money and the rest of us will be stuck watching Lara Croft drinking a Coke as she plans her next mission. In-game advertising, in no possible way (unless you're into the whole advertising side of things), is a good thing.

"We are pounded by ads in real life so make it real in games too."

Yes. Let's do that. Because we don't play games to ESCAPE from reality.

Then let's have games where we can just drive to work. Nothing exciting, outside of a traffic-jam, here and there. And of course the billboards will advertise Axe Body Spray and Jiffy Lube. Maybe they could even advertise "Driving to Work 2: The Sequel to the First One." Why not? Isn't this why we all started gaming in the first place?

"I think this is quite good for the Xbox and Xbox 360 community as a whole."

How is this good for the Xbox and Xbox 360 community as a whole? Is this MS's idea of innovation? Huge amounts of product placements? Back when I was playing Condemned for the 360 (great game, btw -- although too linear), and seeing all these generic ads for cars and alcohol in the subway station, I thought, "I bet we'll be seeing ads like this in the future, for REAL cars and REAL alcohol."

I'm sorry. I don't PAY for advertising. If they don't provide the option to buy a game free of advertising at a higher price (say $60 for an ad-free game, while games with advertising would go for $10 or $20 -- product placements don't come cheap), I won't be buying another 360 game. The same goes for PS3 or Nintendo Wii.

There are few exceptions. I would pay for a racing game with ads, as would I pay for a sports game. Fortunately, I rarely play racing or sports games.

I can't believe MS just paid hundreds of millions of dollars to be ... the best console out there? ... the most innovative gaming experience? No. They paid hundreds of millions of dollars to advertise to gamers. Congrats, MS. How will you cheapen gaming further, in the months and years to come? I can't wait to find out!

The Samsung logo on the load screens for PDZ was a perfect start! I look forward to how you humiliate the gaming world in the future. To think, at one time I supported the Xbox.

Slightly off-topic: Welcome back, Dan! Haven't seen you around in a while. I've always liked your posts. :-)

I was going to send this in as a tip a few hours ago, but thought the Lego Star Wars 2 thing was already addressed. And I didn't think the OT DVDs were video games. I can't wait until the OT DVDs come out (I sent this tip in to numerous sites over a year ago). It will be cool for nostalgia, but I think a lot of the diehards will realize that -- with exception made for Greedo shooting first and the horrible new dance sequence in Jedi -- the Special Editions are better. I own the OT on laserdisc, and it looks really dated.

As far as gaming is concerned, I can't wait for the next Lego Star Wars! The first game was a blast, and the only thing I really hope is improved is the length of the game. Give us at least 15 hours of gameplay, this time. The 5 or 6 hours it took to beat the original just didn't cut it. Still, it was an incredibly fun game. Especially with a few beers and a few more friends playing along!

"71. 'OMFG! Boobies?'

This is the only one I quoted of the 20-or-so comments in the same vein.

Most men find naked breasts sexually arousing. I can dig up studies with Google, but why do that when I can just say... this why a lot of porn emphasizes large-breasted women."

When Hustler releases "Hustler: Busty Green Orc Beauties" or "Barely Wizard," get back to me. ;-)

"If the controller is different and innovative; fine. But I would say that Xbox Live is the bigger innovation. It depends on your definition of innovative. If having a DVD style controller defines innovation; great. I would argue that talking millions of gamers and connecting them with friends and strangers around the world... I'd call that pretty innovative."

Nice to know Nintendo will be doing both.