| |
| |
|
|
Games & Gaming Information |
|
|
|
Malicious Advertising
Advertising is a necessary irritant in the world today. You can't drive down the street without coming across an ad, either a billboard suspended over a road or a large poster plastered down the side of a bus. If you walk into a shopping centre it doesn't matter where you look, you see an advertisement of some kind. Even the tables in the food court now have ads embedded in them, and on my last trip to Melbourne I noticed that they were starting to embed flat screen TVs into the tables to deliver the full commercial experience to your meal. If you jump on the Internet you have to contend with pop-ups and banner ads, with some advertising agents being ruthless enough to write malicious code that embeds the ad into your computer so that you still receive the pop-ups even when you're not at the original site. In the past, pop-ups and banner ads have been easy enough to avoid with the right software installed (incidentally, am I the only one who finds pop-up ads that advertise pop-up blockers tremendously amusing?) but now the software developers have worked their way around that little problem. The solution was simple; sell advertising space in your software, not just on your web page. As much as I like to complain about this new idea, it does come with a significant upside. These days, not all Shareware applications drop out after a limited period of use, nor do they constantly remind you to register. Having ads in the software provides the application developers with the necessary funding to live but leaves the user free from having to pay to use the software. It ends up being in the developer's best interest to ensure that the user continues to use the software for as long as possible, because that means an increased income. In my opinion this was a brilliant idea, and I wholeheartedly supported it until they started building unblockable pop-ups into the software. The gaming world is getting in on the act as well, which could be both positive and negative. The Internet provides the functionality for games to constantly update the virtual world with new billboards, TV ads, clothing and so on, keeping the content fresh and the ads current. From an advertising standpoint it's an amazing idea, people are spending less and less time watching TV and more and more time immersed in virtual worlds. The interactive nature of the ads means that they will remain in a player's mind for a lot longer than the TV ad break that can be walked away from, flicked over or simply ignored. The game developers on the other hand now have an added source of income, meaning that they can take more risks without the fear of losing money. Advertising in games is not a new idea, the soft drink '7-Up' created a game many years ago called 'Cool Spot', which had the player controlling a red dot with sunglasses in his quest to collect 7-Up logos. The game was remarkably solid, leaving the players to enjoy the game while still getting its message across. I played it a long time ago as a child, but I still remember how much fun it was and exactly what product it was pushing. Pepsi released a Playstation game called 'Pepsi Man' that involved a blue and white striped super-hero running around collecting cans of Pepsi. Red Bull got in on the game with 'Wipeout' featuring 'Red Bull' banners and a loading screen bearing the phrase "Increase your reaction time with Red Bull". 'Worms 3D' featured Red Bull as a power up. 'Crazy Taxi' had customers jump in the player's taxi and holler "Take me to KFC!" or any of the numerous other licensed locations in the game. 'True Crime' had the characters dressed in 'Puma' attire, with the main character changing his outfits several times throughout the game. Until now I've always thought that the ads in games were amusing and, so long as they didn't interfere with the playing of the game, I was all for them. However, there are new ideas afoot that seem set to change my mind. The main problem I have with ads in games now is the same as my issue with Pay TV. You're shelling out a lot of money for a product (new games being sold for upwards of $50.00 U.S.) and you're still getting ads. If developers are going to start flooding my entertainment with advertising, I'd like to see a significant drop in the price of games. The other big issue is that of spyware. Until now, spyware has been a hated part of existence. This malicious software digs its way into your system and collects information about you: your Internet surfing habits, the contents of your hard drive(s) and even the unblocked ports available on your computer. This has lead to the necessity of loading a system with anti-spyware utilities to run alongside the pop-up killers, anti-virus programs, firewalls, registry guards and whatever other protective measures a paranoid PC user has to implement. Now paradoxically, someone has had the 'fantastic' idea of building spyware into software, and games in particular. In the future the games that you've just paid such a high price for will sit there monitoring you in the background, watching your every virtual move. Then they can target ads that are more likely to have an impact on you based on the contents of your hard drive or your Internet surfing habits. The best part about it is that as soon as you click 'I Agree' and install the software, it becomes legitimate and you've agreed for them to access information about you. Many software products already feature clauses in their license agreements that have the user permitting the developers to collect 'anonymous information in order to provide the customer with a better experience'. The other part of this that irks me is the fact that I'm going to have to have my computer connected to the Internet and chew through my download limit just to play a single-player game. In the end, I suppose that there's no way to avoid advertising in our current world. Having it implemented into software and games was simply the next logical step. I suspect that I will be looking to download the inevitable 'Ad Blocker' cracks that I imagine will appear shortly after the wholesale introduction of advertising into the gaming industry, but I do believe that with appropriate tact and respect for privacy, advertising could turn out to be a positive addition to the interactive experience. Daniel Punch
MORE RESOURCES:
Photography - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Play a Cool Jeep Game Online If there were anything that could excite a Jeep enthusiast more than a 4x4 trail run, it would have to be a Jeep game! Jeep games are as close to the real thing as you can possibly get without actually being in a Jeep. The best part about Jeep games online are they are completely free, so play away to your heart's content. Halo 2 Multiplayer Tips for Beginners and Advanced players Here are some general tips from an advanced player for all of you who are looking for an edge in this game. You may know some or all the things in this article depending on your skill level. Free Pocket PC Casino Game Casino Gambling Wherever You LikeAre you absolutely crazy about pocket pc gaming? One of the very best things about pocket pc casino games is that nearly all of them are free games. There is a free pocket pc casino game everywhere you look on the Internet. Popular Electronic Games - They Are Not Just For Kids Anymore Superheroes battle monsters and space invaders in fast action games. Players take on the role of these superheroes in epic battles. Playing Games Like Its 80s Do you miss the good old 80's Amiga and Commodore games? You are not the only one. In fact, creating remakes for popular eighties games is all the rage. Are You A PC Gamer And Want The Best Out Of Your Graphics Card? IntroductionIn this article you will learn how to get the most out of your graphics card by installing new drivers and tweaking Windows. The guide is based around Windows XP Professional Edition but you can use the same guide to tweak other Windows operating systems. $20 Buys a Lot of Game These Days Watching the evolution of sports games has been like watching a retarded child grow up to become a handsome and brilliant Master of the Universe. Now I'm not saying ESPN's NBA 2K5 is the pinnacle of sports gaming, but I will tell you why it comes pretty damn close - especially for all of us basketball fanatics. Theories Behind Magic Trinkets in Video Game and Virtual Reality In Gaming we deal between Simulation, Augmented Reality, Fantasy and Virtual Reality. The best fantasy has some reality basis behind it. Best of British: Gizmondo Doomed To Fail? The Gizmondo combined media player, phone and gaming gadget went on sale in the last month for £229. The device sports an impressive spec: - It can be used to play games, music tracks and movies, it can take and store digital photos and can send SMS, MMS and emails, GPS, GPRS and Bluetooth for multi-player gaming. Go Digital and Groovy... and Save Trees! Have you inherited your Dad's trading card collection - ie. pieces of printed cardboard that come with a piece of gum that looks like it tastes like cardboard too? Well today's trading cards have evolved to include, wait for it. Rome Total War: Battle Strategy Guide A. FormationsIt's pretty much common sense to come up with a good formation for your army but the basic idea in most situations is to have your infantry in front, ranged units behind, cavalry protecting the flanks and your general right behind the infantry. Aerial Blimp Refueling of UAVs Aerial refueling from blimps might be easier than we think. Currently we use C-130s to fuel Boeing Attack helicopters and Large Cargo Type helicopters, which can be a dangerous operation. Review - Sony PSP I'm fairly certain there are folks at Nintendo feeling some serious self-loathing right about now. You see, back in the mid-90's Nintendo contracted Sony to develop a CD-ROM drive for the Super Nintendo. Create Computer Games - Get Started on Creating Your Own Virtual Worlds I've always loved video games, ever since I first played them on a friend's computer in the afternoon after elementary school. There's something almost magical about the fact that we can move images around and interact with virtual worlds, a living fantasy presented for us to interact with however we please. Games To Encourage Thinking Skills There is no doubt about it, using computer games is a great way to encourage children to expand their realm of thinking. Your options for entertaining your child may seem numbered. Laying Smart Dust With Smart Munitions We believe that we need to make the Smart Munitions even smarter and incorporate their decent to the target to include the release of smart dust. We believe this is important as more often than not the battlespace includes urban areas where non-combatants and citizens not involved in the conflict reside. The Future of Video Games I've recently been thinking about where video games could be going in the future. I'm hoping to work in the game industry one day after I've finished university study and I've been wondering about it a lot. Guns Dont Kill People - Videogames Do! "Ban these evil games", "Videogame violence corrupting our nation's youth", "video games stole my husband". It seems everyday that the media are making more and more claims about the evils of videogames. 7 Simple Steps to Avoid Being a Newbie in Online Games It doesn't matter if you are new to online roleplaying games. The road to becoming elite isn't easily traveled. UAV Swarm Reconfiguration for computer war games The modern battlespace is changing in the real world and in the very near future swarms of UAVs with be a tactic and weapon of choice. Is your computer game software ahead or behind the curve of inovation.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
