[Creecher]

People have been talking about this for ages, and we all kinda knew it was coming, Sony has patented in-game commercials for it's console (PlayStation 3) (the patent)


Source/Article
I think this is rather lame, makes me kinda glad that I don't own a PS3, but I think it could make games a bit cheaper, if anything.


Thoughts?

[lordofduct]

I don't care if they put them in the game... they've been doing it for years.

There's where I have a problem with it. Patenting shit that's been done already for years.

[Celerian]

If they fully enforce their patent, would that mean that I wouldn't see anymore ads embedded into flash games, or on any other consoles? Because that would be spiffy, considering I abandoned Sony when they came out with the PS3.

[lordofduct]

This is like Apple trying to patent rectangles... no, actually that's worse.

[modi123_1]

Quote

but I think it could make games a bit cheaper, if anything.

Bwahahaha.. okay.. I just has to laugh at that one. This is not an incentive to make games cheaper.. I mean you already buy them at an outrageous price.. and now a captive audience with EYEBALLS to leg hump as a bonus? Sheee-yeah.. right.

[jon.kiparsky]

You mean, Sony is saying "no other game console is allowed to throw ads at you when you're playing games"?

An interesting move. Some of us might call it a boon for every other game maker...

EDIT: Wow, five posts inside a minute... pretty good!

This post has been edited by jon.kiparsky: 29 May 2012 - 11:02 AM

[SpartanGuy07]

Well if I am looking at the patent information correctly it's suggesting that they will stop gameplay to display the commercial, then resume after it's done.

Personally that would make me very mad (I guess it depends on the frequency of ads). I would prefer to have some kind of ad banner pop up at the bottom of the screen rather than some full commercial block my gameplay.

Then again I don't have a PS3 so if Sony wants to do that I will be more than happy to stay with XBox!

This post has been edited by SpartanGuy07: 29 May 2012 - 11:03 AM

[ishkabible]

Hrm...if it's just like inconspicuous product placement it might be a good idea. then again, it could be a horrible idea.

I prefer that I get a few ads in my products rather than having to pay for them however. Same idea goes for games on my phone...wait....does this mean I can't buy free games anymore that relay off of ads to make money? NO FREE ANGRY BIRDS!!!

hells nah; this has got to go.

[modi123_1]

I thought EA Sports owned this patent just because how they wedge a logo in about everything with their games.

[creativecoding]

I wouldn't care if I'm driving around in some game and I see a billboard ad for some company. Heck, it may make it a little more enjoyable. But if it gets to the point where in order to actually play the game you have to sit through commercials first, I'm done. I will never buy from anyone if they do that. I mean, it's understandable when you pay for TV and still get ads. I get that. There's barely any money left over for the company after they pay for all of the hardware/wiring. But a game company that already releases games at $60, there's no excuse.

This post has been edited by creativecoding: 29 May 2012 - 11:39 AM

[modi123_1]

My guess is it'll go toward cutting down the time between "selling the next bestest console at a loss" and "paaaaar-tay! We gotz the moneyz!".

Quote

Sony's worldwide studio boss, Shuhei Yoshida has revealed that the company is finally starting to break even on the PlayStation 3 and that changes in hardware costs mean that individual consoles are no longer being sold at a loss.

Sony has long since been speculated to be losing as much as $300 on each PlayStation 3 sold, with industry analysts suggesting that the console had only edged towards profitability in the last few months.

cite

[Celerian]

SpartanGuy07, on 29 May 2012 - 01:02 PM, said:

Well if I am looking at the patent information correctly it's suggesting that they will stop gameplay to display the commercial, then resume after it's done.

Personally that would make me very mad (I guess it depends on the frequency of ads). I would prefer to have some kind of ad banner pop up at the bottom of the screen rather than some full commercial block my gameplay.

Then again I don't have a PS3 so if Sony wants to do that I will be more than happy to stay with XBox!

That would have worked well in EA Sports games. For instance, during a time out, substitution, half-time, quarter break, etc. they could display a few commercials on the jumbo tron. Hell, to make it interesting they could have fake graphic displays about the price of hotdogs and sodas at the stadium, marriage proposals and "kiss-cams" like at real stadiums. Half time would be the kicker, because you'd have to watch the half-time show, and then play a minigame where you control humanitarian groups who are outraged about the content of the half-time show. You would have to get supporters, raise money, picket future games. OOoh, the possibilities are endless.

[SpartanGuy07]

Celerian, on 29 May 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

That would have worked well in EA Sports games.

Yeah I like this idea as long as you could be picking your play or managing your team somehow while it's playing. I also like creativecoding's to have billboards in the games that don't actually interrupt the game flow. However if I actually have to stop playing to watch a coke commercial I would be seriously mad.

[jon.kiparsky]

Quote

However if I actually have to stop playing to watch a coke commercial I would be seriously mad.

Nice to know the people are still capable of working up a righteous frenzy when the cause is right and just...
Here I thought we'd become a nation, nay, a world of complacent consumerist sheep. Imagine my relief to know that apathy still has some bounds.

[The_Programmer-]

Wait, will the commercials be when the game starts up or will they pop up in the middle of the game? I'm fine with the former but if they do the latter, I will throw my PS3 out the window.