Monday, September 19th 2011
Game Hacks and Cracks: In-Game Ads Next
The "Scene", self-styled "Robin Hood" hackers of the computer world allegedly fighting for you and me, who first made the no-CD crack and then the cracked DRM, are starting to target the intrusive adverts that are now appearing in today's hottest game titles such as the latest Deus Ex:
That Star Wars ad adds nothing to the gameplay and looks somewhat jarring and out of place there, doesn't it? Ads are generally perceived to be unwanted and annoying by the target audience, so it's not hard to see a gamer's frustration at having to put up with them in a game that they paid good money for. Unfortunately, there's a nasty trend now to sneak in intrusive ads with no warning before you buy the game. This is likely to alienate a significant percentage of people and reduce their future game spending with that software house, so the strategy could backfire. However, the problem with ads, is that they're integrated into the story and gameplay, so unfortunately, it may not be easy or possible to just exorcise them like you can with DRM, without leaving a big hole. From now on, this reporter will most certainly be checking game reviews and forums carefully for the presence of these ads and their intrusiveness, before purchase.
If you'd like to know more about this, there's an interesting and detailed article over at TechCrunch.
Source:
TechCrunch
51 Comments on Game Hacks and Cracks: In-Game Ads Next
www.gamepur.com/guide/5316-how-disable-deus-ex-human-revolution-loading-screens-ads.html
i think that its about cracking or cheating the game
i busted :roll:
Of course its all about how you do it. All nonchalant that adds realism to the game is cool. But in your face like maybe showing ads at loading screen. Hell no, no thank you.
But stupid Star Wars bluray ad banners..... The endless ad campaigns and reworks of Star Wars have turned me off to the whole Lucas* empire. It dirties Deus Ex.
But it is absolutely absurd for me to pay full price for a game that has ads in it. If you are going to get paid every time I load up this game, then I should get a discount or a share of the profits. It's only fair right? Hell Amazon will sell you an ad supported kindle for a discount, but we have to pay full price? Not only that, but its ads added AFTER the launch of the game without our knowledge..lame.
Anyone remember that free version of FarCry that came out full of McDonald's ads? That was annoying, but hey it was completely free.
Admittedly this time its not a bad ad, but if it is allowed to continue it will only get worse. I can see a real opportunity to release ad supported games at a discount, and full price ones without them. Works very well for android and ios devs, no reason it cant work on PC.
I also don't mind adverts during the gameplay either, as long as it fits. For example, I played a FPS game years ago(I'm talking more than 5 years ago) that had built in ads that appeared as posters on the walls of the levels. They were tackfully placed and you didn't really notice them because they fit with the scene, but they did definitey rotate advertisements. I don't mind those at all either.
Now I won't buy that game.
The only adverts I liked were Office Space stuff in some of the CS:S upgrade packs, having some demotivators in there too was awesome.
In short: it's disgusting. It's justified if the game were free (they got to pay for it some how) but Deus Ex: Human Revolution is not free. In fact, it's rather expensive considering you could only buy 14 gallons of gasoline for the same price.
What I do after they got the money is my business and my business alone. When you buy a Nike shoe, does Nike make sure you never change the insoles or paint it a different color? The only, only thing they need to concern themselves with is that I'm not producing counterfeits and selling them off as original.
And like FordGT90Concept, I feel that once I buy something I should have full fair use ownership. No I shouldn't have the right to rip it and give it out to everyone on the internet, but I should have the right to modify the game how ever I see fit. Weather that means I remove useless ads or I create new content such as weapons, skins, maps, etc. It shouldn't be illegal to modify a game, in any shape or form within fair use.