News Room Contributor  Posts: 1863 Joined: 19 Aug 2006     | |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 1813 Joined: 8 Apr 2008     | I can only dream there's a Gieko caveman ad... Slightly off-topic, anyone else absolutely love the Merc2 TV Spot here in the U.S? |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 572 Joined: 23 Jun 2008     | I think this is the greatest idea ever. Advertisers know that players are looking at their ads (and how frequently they react to them), and us gamers get to blow up more stuff. Win/Win as the article put it. IMO this is the way in-game ads should be done. |
On the Record  Posts: 5978 Joined: 7 Feb 2008    | Mercenaries is set in the modern world, why not have real ads? This is awesome. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 595 Joined: 26 May 2008    | More reasons to buy this fabulous game. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3902 Joined: 4 May 2008    | I will buy it. I was going to buy it before, but now one of the first things I'll do is ride a Jeep through a billboard. Because I can. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3923 Joined: 15 Aug 2008   |
I do! I love the light hearted song put to the destruction of a city. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 983 Joined: 21 Feb 2008   | This game is just getting better and better. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 208 Joined: 15 Jun 2008   | A logical and satisfying solution to a market/profit relationship. WIN/WIN |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2275 Joined: 13 Sep 2007    | Cool! |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 4297 Joined: 20 Dec 2007  |
OMFG! *bumps up the game on the "OMFGHYPEBBQ!" list* If I can nuke that stupid caveman then I'm going to hardly play the actual games campaign. If it ain't in there, I'm gonna mod it, just replace an in-game ad with the geico image. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 2904 Joined: 12 May 2008   | This is good game design. This is like...Valve grade. |
On the Record  Posts: 6230 Joined: 10 Mar 2008    | I'm totaly getting this game now...sometime in the future, atleast when the reviews are out. Either way, I'm getting it eventually if only to be one of my guilty pleasures of the "Blowing Shit Up" genre. |
BANNED  Posts: 829 Joined: 9 Aug 2008   | Sweet mother of Swayze. *5 minutes later* Pre-fucking-ordered, baby. User was banned for: Half-wits to the left of me, Wankers to the right. (Permanent) |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 2904 Joined: 12 May 2008 | I remember the black guy being my favorite. He was witty. Witty=Fucking Awesome. |
Beat Writer  Posts: 157 Joined: 11 Nov 2007     |
I do! I think the ad is amazing. and destructible ads makes it seem more real, and kinda satisfying. Hate the product? destroy the ad. |
Muckraker  Posts: 229 Joined: 12 Mar 2008  | I'll agree with everyone in saying that the destructible ads are good. I do have one question though, and that it about the game's rating. I saw an ad for the game on the ol' boob tube the other day and I heard it was rated T. Am I missing something here? I would have thought this would be an M. Can someone explain why it's only a T? |
News Room Contributor Posts: 1863 Joined: 19 Aug 2006 |
The violence isn't graphic, no real swearing either. |
Press Junketeer  Posts: 490 Joined: 23 Nov 2007  | No, that ad annoys the crap out of me. I can't help but think, the way that dude's wasting inventory, he doesn't deserve to get paid. On the other hand, I would love to see a Mercenary Tycoon game, where you have to manage procurement, recruitment, contract bidding, the bonding authority, etc. |
Gone Gonzo  Posts: 3664 Joined: 21 Jan 2008   | Good move by Pandemic. As stated in the article, 'win-win' for both. |
Pulitzer Laureate  Posts: 773 Joined: 7 Jan 2008   | Cute, but not really THAT clever. After all, it's just logic. Now, if you'd get a trophy/archievement/unlockable for destroying every Ad in the Game, that could make things interesting. |
Infamous Scribbler  Posts: 607 Joined: 17 Oct 2007     | LOOK OUT! ITS A TRAP! When you blow up those signs you'll think "HAHA! TAKE THAT MCDONALDS" (or whoever you blew up) And you will keep remembering that moment AND THAT COMPANY! And thats how they get you |
Muckraker  Posts: 239 Joined: 24 Jul 2008  |
That's what advertising is. Make you remember the name. Even if it's just some annoying song on the TV you'll remember it. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1100 Joined: 25 Feb 2008  | Why can't they just quit the advertising altogether? Ads for unrelated products piss me off destructible or not and i doubt they gain enough money to cover for the implentation and upkeep of the massive servers. |
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Destroy In-game Ads in Mercenaries
Pandemic is allowing gamers sweet revenge against their archenemy- in-game advertisements - by letting them blow them up in Mercenaries 2.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is doing its best to provide a realistic war zone for players, including destructible environments and billboards advertising real-world products provided by game advertising firm Massive. Combine these two features and Massive says you have a "win-win" for both consumers and marketers.
"It's purely a byproduct of gameplay and this notion of a highly destructible environment," said Jay Sampson, vice president at Massive. "Sticking to our ethos of 'do no harm to the game,' we tagged the parts in the environment for ads and like everything else in the game, they can be destroyed. It's mirroring what the studio wants out of gameplay and making the most of it...If we did anything that wasn't destructible [in Mercenaries 2] it'd be awkward. It's taking advantage of the full environment."
Surprisingly, Massive's clients don't have any issues with images of their products being blown to bits if it makes their placement seem more natural.
"[Having the ads be destructible] doesn't have much to do with the go or no-go. It has more to do with the gameplay. Destructible ads actually sell quite well; [advertisers see it] as a way to be engaged with the consumer," said Sampson.
The only reservations come from the game's setting in war-torn Venezuela.
"[The reluctance] has more to do with being involved with a game set in a foreign war-zone," commented Sampson. "They have to be a multinational brand; they're not going to be a U.S. regional player, they have to be ubiquitous."
Source: GameCyte, GameDaily
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