Wow, can't believe they screwed this one up...

"Sony had quite a bit of bad PR on its hands when an update added advertising to WipeOut HD on the PS3, with both the gaming press and those playing the game complaining bitterly about the addition."

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/08/yanked-wipeout-hd-ads-offer-scary-look-at-possible-future.ars

I hate in game ads.  They give extra revenue to the publisher with no benefit to the consumer.

You are pretty late, they removed these already.

Actually it can help host servers which help the consumer play online.

Just because they pulled it doesn't mean it won't happen again.  It sets a bad precedent for the future.

Edit:  Not really a precedent I guess:  "The ads were put into the game by a company called Double Fusion, and the company has claimed that we can expect more ads coming to a "handful" of PlayStation Network titles in the future."

That is ridiculous.

I disagree. The original Wipeout HD was filled with billboards for fake companies in its tracks that fit well and all I kept thinking was that they should have changed the ads to real companies and made some money, would be no different for me and my gaming experience. And that's the crux of the matter, as long as it doesn't change my gaming experience I say go for it, make all the money you can. My issue with the ads they put in is that they increased the load times, but if the load times had remained the same I would not care in the slightest.

--------------Imagine...----------------------------------------------

- You buy a game ( Disk release)

- You play it.

- Just in the middle of a fierce battle, your game pauses...

- and shows an ad...(rather annoying)

-" Do you want to lose 17 pounds? Well then, here you go! * Shows brand name *"

- Then it follows with people saying.

-" I've never thought it would be that easy! I lost 17 pounds a week! Absolutely amazing'

- Then the ad ends with the crazy price...

- The game resumes and you've lost the rhythm and track of the battle.

The boss kills you and you start the whole level over and over again.

--- Now I would be F****** pissed if that happened.

This would increase the time needed to beat the game and help you loose weight.  I don't see the problem.

hahahaha nice one.

A banner ad in a server list (ex- Bnet) or scoreboard ad (cs 1.6) is okay I guess, but I think what bothers me is the potential for an ad to feel out of place that it distracts from the immersion of the environment.

I'm a little uneasy about being in-game and then stumbling across an ad for a real product in the game world though I think it'd work just fine for a genre like sports.