If you have an IQ of over 80 and know anything about marketing then I strongly suggest heading down to Sony’s head offices and insisting they hire you as once again they have shot themselves in the proverbial foot.
If you are a Wipeout fan you would have noticed that there is a new patch out that ads a new gametype to your game for free. But not only does it add a new gamemode it also inserts invasive ads into your gametime without warning.
Now don’t get me wrong here, I have always been a supporter of ingame ads as I feel it can add to the realism of the title and give it greater longevity, so racing past a McDonalds billboard or having my prizes sponsored by Spur would be fine by me. What isn’t fine is delaying the start of the race so that I can watch some jackass video about how I can switch and save money with my credit card.
What makes this even worse is that not all races start this way so if I am playing multiplayer then some of the guys will be stuck watching adverts while the rest of us just stare at a blank screen waiting for them to join.
The Youtube comments section is quite amusing with claims of Fraud being bandied about as the game was purchased without the ads and they have now been added in, while I think that is a bit much you can sort of see their point.
What’s worse though is the PS3 fans on YouTube who are claiming that it’s fine as the game takes forever to load anyway and that the comparison video (here) is a forgery as the game would never load that quick… Is that a compliment or an insult?
So you tell me, is this fair play from Sony or should someone be dragged outside and shot? And no, there is no middle ground.
[Update] Sony has rightly pulled this invasive online advertising, according to a brief statement from Sony“The ad has been removed from WipEout HD and we are investigating the situation to ensure that any in-game advertising does not affect gameplay,”
Maybe it’s about time to throw some anti-PS3 bias against Sony themselves, surely this is now proof that they hate the PS3 as well?
Last Updated: August 4, 2009
nazcanlines
August 4, 2009 at 08:41
shot. it would be like if mnet started running ads during movies. You are paying money for this product, it isnt free and ads being a neccesary byproduct to earn revenue for the free product. Sony should offer a refund for all parties who are offended
easy
August 4, 2009 at 08:42
its the way of the future unfortunately, and is going to be more prominent as time goes by.
but i do think its despicable that having paid for the game you are subjected to creating further revenue for whoever it may be. if it were a free game, then by all means i fully support in-game advertising.
koldFU5iON
August 4, 2009 at 08:45
in game advertising is not meant to be intrusive, I thought there were law’s against this stuff? so lame boo
easy
August 4, 2009 at 08:54
there are no laws for advertising… only loop holes
Ozzy
August 4, 2009 at 09:08
youtube blocked for me so i cant see their example. no lazyboy, nobody will be dragging anybody out. wipeout is a ridiculously good game and even with adverts, its still light years ahead of anything on our much loved xdooses.
what i want to know is where exactly are these so called ads? i have played the updated version of wipeout hd (fury) and have not even seen one glimpse of an advert apart from maybe billboard type ad at the side of the track?
so where are they? i played almost the whole weekend and never saw a single one? multiplayer only?
spl0it
August 4, 2009 at 11:10
Didnt the orignal wipeout have Redbull advertising
XL was a sweet sweet game
LazySAGamer
August 4, 2009 at 11:15
Apparently the adverts are in the single player and multiplayer versions of the game and are shown during the level loading screen.
I also fail to see what difference the quality of the game makes? Just because the games good we should accept intrusive advertising?
WitWolfyZA
August 4, 2009 at 11:31
Well if advertising is added, then the games should be cheaper in my opinion. Those guys paid thousands of dollars to add it in there, so the game company can breathe easier with production cost.
Buggers they like having their bread buttered on both sides
Ozzy
August 4, 2009 at 11:33
but you generally fail to see quite a lot lazy.
needless to say, this topic is highly over dramatised here (suprise suprise).
in your mind it may be horendous for studio liverpool/sony to do such a thing but people like me look at things for what they are. wipeout hd is an excellent/brilliant game offered at a very low price. most full games at full retail prices, offer what wipeout does at a fraction of the cost. so if throwing in a bit of advertising helps to offset the cost of selling it more expensive, then bring on the advertising i say!
LazySAGamer
August 4, 2009 at 11:47
Agreed, but they should have made this the case from the start. By selling a game devoid of advertising and then adding advertising at a later stage they have acted unethically.
The game was sold for full price without advertising remember, it’s not like your account has been credited since the adverts appeared.
But since it’s a game on the PS3 we can’t criticise it, it’s just to precious for anything to be wrong with it. :getlost:
Ozzy
August 4, 2009 at 12:09
full price for a ps3 game is anything up of R599.
i didnt even pay R200 for mine off psn so what do you mean by full price? and if you refering to full price on psn then again you mistaken because warhawk and puzzle quest are more expensive.
stop sulking lazy your getlost smiley dont phase me at all, you free to crit the ps3 as much as you want, but put things into perspective first. putting adverstising in a high quality game that is sold at such a low price not an act of the devil.
however despite my disagree with you i can can say for sure that if i buy a retail game like prototype or infamous and they update it with such an advertising patch then i might not be so objective as i am with wipeout 😉 in fact i will be quite upset.
Geoff
August 4, 2009 at 12:46
Sony have removed the particular pre-race in-game advert, admitting it was invasive and got in the way of the gameplay.
The less invasive ones that don’t increase game loading remain, which is fine – as we don;t have a problem with those.
Good on Sony for actually listening.
SlippyMadFrog
August 4, 2009 at 15:05
“its still light years ahead of anything on our much loved xdooses.”
The PS3 is just perfect, isn’t it Ozzy? Bless Sony and their kind hearts! Burn, Msoft, Burn!
easy
August 4, 2009 at 15:59
lets be honest… neither sony nor ms have our best interests at heart. </3
thats why you should get a wii, nintendo love everyone <3
RSA-Ace
August 4, 2009 at 16:57
what kind of analogy is that? i mean mnet (mnet movies) is one of the only broadcaster who do not have adverts between movies. its common practice to actually put the ads between (all american tv stations do this). you pay money for series yet its common practice to have adverts between and you dont moan?
i think they messed up and well they did take it away. its a silly move. i’m 100% up for having real ads in games, as long as its unobtrusive and doesnt have any loading lag.
RSA-Ace
August 4, 2009 at 17:00
why not update the story accordingly?
SlippyMadFrog
August 4, 2009 at 17:19
I’ll tell you why RSA-Ace, ’cause this site is anti Sony. The PS3 makes them sick :sick: . LG kills a baby for each PS3 sold.
(note the brilliant use of the emoticon)
Geoff
August 4, 2009 at 17:25
It’ll be updated by Gavin, who is fast asleep in Australia right now.
LazySAGamer
August 4, 2009 at 22:59
The getlost statement is just the code for the smiley and nothing to do with your statement. I just found the image to be fitting.
And as for Full Price I think it’s pretty self explanatory. If Sony are selling the title for R150 then that is full price, if they want to then sell a version with invasive advertising I would expect that price to be lower. That’s all.
LazySAGamer
August 4, 2009 at 23:00
Story updated, apologies for the lag.