Google Acquires Adscape Media, Industry Veteran Bernie Stolar
Google refused to elaborate upon the terms of the acquisition, describing them as "confidential" and the deal "officially closed."
"Over the past few years, the video game experience has become richer and more interactive," read Google's statement. "We think this rich environment is a perfect medium to deliver relevant, targeted advertising that ultimately benefits the user, the video game publisher and the advertiser."
Posting on the Official Google Blog under the title Dean of Games, Stolar related the high cost of game development, claiming "it can cost $25M [USD] to produce a game." Stolar then explained Google and Adscape's strategy of "non-intrusive and targeted advertising" as a way "to make gaming accessible and affordable for all."
"Our charge at Adscape has always been to honor the game that was developed and find new ways to enable that game to continue so others can enjoy it," he continued. "That's why we are so stoked to join Google--because these guys get it, and are committed to helping us continue our mission."
In the past, Stolar has been supposedly involved in many controversial decisions within the gaming industry. As the former president of SCEA, many attribute him with the oft-rumored policy against 2D games in the PlayStation's early days. After joining Sega of America, he was quick to axe the Saturn platform, leaving many fan-favorite games in Japan while focusing on the upcoming Dreamcast hardware. Furthermore, many believe losses caused by his announcement that the Dreamcast hardware would retail for $199 USD resulted in the company's eventual decision to restructure and pursue third party development. Stolar and Sega parted ways three weeks before the launch of the Dreamcast.-
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Oh piracy again... Hugest red herring ever.
If ANYTHING, this will make people who actually would buy the games were there not any ads in them, to go the piracy route because I'm pretty damn sure the warez dudes will have no trouble stripping the advertising out of the games.
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I expect in-game ads to have zero effect as far as reducing prices. The price will continue to be whatever consumers are willing to pay for a game. The additional advertising revenue is for exactly that--additional revenue.
Any other justifications are pure PR spin.-
Agreed.
The commercial density would probably be unacceptably high to change the buisness model.
For example, how many ads per half hour would people need to see in WOW to cover monthly fees? And would there be advertisers a year from now to cover costs then? -
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As painful as it is for me personally to adjust to the idea that in-game advertising is here to stay, there is precedent for it. Look at movies which for years have augmented their production costs with in-scene placement ads, not to mention the growing volume of theatrical ads shown before movies. We as movie goers have tolerated it, why should games be any different?
The short is . . . everyone is doing it. Its just a matter of time before game options without ads are fewer than those with; and those of us "hold-outs" will have no choice but to either deal with it or abandon our hobby.-
Good point. Although not all forms of entertainment are quite like that. Books aren't quite the same, for example, except for the "trailers" in the back of some paperbacks.
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I don't understand the big deal. Who cares if they are advertising? You don't have to buy the product. Want to show that you don't support it? Don't buy the product that they are advertising. I just don't see why it matters.. it doesn't take away at all from the gaming experience, imho.
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That doesn't even make sense. How will the ads bring about more competition than there is today? There's no price competition going on NOW, so why will there be later, just because there are ads in the product?
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Well... it makes me sad, FWIW. I don't have any big ideological stand to take here; just after a few decades of advertisement bombardment I've become allergic to it.
For one reason or another I've stopped watching network TV, listening to commercial radio, or reading print magazines or newspapers. Netflix, podcasts, and (with adblock) the web have taken the place of those media sources. I can't say that advertisement was a major, conscious part of those choices, but it is a major part of what keeps me from switching back.
Now that I've filtered out, as much as possible, all the advertisement that I can't block or fast-forward-through, funnily enough it seems that my 360 is _already_ the largest source of advertisement in my life. And it is honestly annoying. I don't claim that my annoyance is rational, but there it is.
If tools become available to help block and strip ads from PC gaming, I wonder if my gaming hours will start shifting back toward the PC again.
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