Sony patents new way of adventising

irei1as

Teto's Territory
First, take in account that this may never be used in a real product. Don't hate (/love) Sony for something they may never do.

The "new" idea Sony has patented is the display of advertising in the mid of the videogame experience.
The idea is to actively pause the game, show a product ad and rewind the game a bit to try to get the feeling of the play again -and maybe avoid to be killed by the unexpected stop-.

The patent can be seen in
http://www.gamefly.co.uk/news/article/212700/sony-patent-would-interrupt-gameplay-to-display-ad/#.T8XtBVJkSSp
(It also has a link to the original patent for full info.)



I can see how it can break the game flow extremely (imagine a Pepsi ad in the middle of exploring a Resident Evil mansion) or even backfire on the announcer if actually the ad breaks the concentration and ends in a frustrating death giving the player a reason to hate.

But is it really only bad?
It actually seems to rewind the game a bit so it may be helping in situations were to know is to have an advantage or may even subvert an inwinable situation into the previous step (just like Prince of Persia with the time sand).
Or what if the interruption is actually fitting in-game and enjoyable to see? Wouldn't you laugh if the stoic character of the RPG suddenly appears in a Ray·Ban ad while exploring a kinda-boring city? Or a security campaign for drivers in the middle of driving in GTA?
And even if it's not good for gameplay, it may be a way to lower prices in DLC and online playing.



I personally think you should get the full game as you have paid for it in the store so DLC* it's a way to milk dry the cow as rudely as possible so adding interruptions in exchange for DLC is like punching a man and being puzzled of why he's not grateful because you didn't rob him.

*I'm ok with DLC if they're extra expansions like a full new campaign. They have the right to make money with their work, after all.

I don't see the money they may win may be worth it if the competition decides to not imitate the model (between a PS3 game with ads and a XBOX360/WiiU game without and both games being the same, what would you choose?).
But, of course, if everybody ends doing it this may be as well the future of gaming.
 

Meta

Ruko's Ruffians
Defender of Defoko
The main problem I see with this is that having an ad pop up while playing a game would break the feeling of immersion. I know from experience that building a game is centered around immersing the player in that world. Through a sudden ad up while they are deep in the game, and suddenly immersion is broken and they remember they are only playing a game.

So I honestly really hate the idea. The only good that might come out of it, I think, is that if the ad was integrated somehow, like you said. Like in GTA, if the ad was on a billboard are came on while listening to the radio, that would make sense to me, because it would actually have a chance of strengthening the immersion, being you'd be able to relate that world with the one you live daily.

Mah 2 cents
 

taikina

Momo's Minion
No no no no [...] no and no. Come one! Please! Ugh! UUURRGGHH! Oh! *groan* Like, come on! really? No.

I'm sorry i don't have any coherent thoughts on this one but i think you can still agree with me.

edit: coherent thoughts: you must not make the game pause in the middle of action without the players consent. ever. no matter if it kills the player or saves the player, it ruins the flow, the immersion, atleast half of the whole game. ads inside the game world have been done already, and that is totes cool and not botherful.