Sony Patents System for Interrupting Your Game With Advertisements

[News Portal]

This one is not exactly breaking news, but troubling none the less. It seems that back in 2006, and then later in 2011, Sony applied for a patent for a system of advertising that will interrupt gameplay to show you an ad. The game will slow down, warn you an ad is incoming, show you the ad, and then resume the game. There is also talk of being able to rewind your game, in the event you missed something crucial or screwed up due to the distraction. Check out the patent for yourself over here.

Source: Eurogamer

Read full article by GON News

[meji]

The smoke clears, before you lays the crumpled body of Darth Malgus, rasping his last breaths, he looks at you with intense hatred, lightning begins to crackle from his hands and leak from around his eyes, with a twirl your lightsabre is swung then begins to plunge.....

*advertisement incoming*

DO YOU NEED A BIGGER PENIS!?! MAYBE SOME HAIR REPLACEMENT? WELCOME TO SONY E-TRUSIVE! DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN GAMES WERE NOT INTERRUPTED BY ADVERTISEMENTS? SONY-RIDGE FARMS DOES! SO WE PATENTED IT! AND NOW GAMES RETAIL FOR $200 USD AND WE GET ROYALTIES FROM THESE SPECIFICALLY TARGETED ADVERTISEMENTS THANKS TO ALWAYS ONLINE DRM INVADING YOUR PRIVACY, THAT YOU UNWITTINGLY AGREED TO!

*game recommences*

Darth Malgus is cackling as you reload a previous checkpoint (2 hours previously).

[elliotENGi]

My guess is it would only be used in f2p's or game demos. If a system comes out that has that in real games, I refuse to buy it.

[Disco LT]

My guess is it would only be used in f2p's or game demos. If a system comes out that has that in real games, I refuse to buy it.

I hope so, but if they attempted to implement it into current or next gen consoles I can see them dying a quick death.

[meji]

In all seriousness I imagine that it would be for things like "x-box arcade" style of games and not your top tier AAA titles. I guess it depends on whether it is restricted to the games they create or to part of the licensing agreement with developers for their consoles etc..

But as Disco says, it wouldn't go down well at all. Then again maybe if they are only in F2P versions they might find a steady market.

[PinothyJ]

My guess is it would only be used in f2p's or game demos. If a system comes out that has that in real games, I refuse to buy it.

Sony added ads to the loading screens of Wipeout HD/Fury and the **** hit the fan. The next patch removed it.


Unless the game tells you that advertising is included before you buy it than the above will happen (with the lawsuits that were threatened)…

[Jez]

Hard enough to find immersion in games as it is...

[SA soldier]

The smoke clears, before you lays the crumpled body of Darth Malgus, rasping his last breaths, he looks at you with intense hatred, lightning begins to crackle from his hands and leak from around his eyes, with a twirl your lightsabre is swung then begins to plunge.....

*advertisement incoming*

DO YOU NEED A BIGGER PENIS!?! MAYBE SOME HAIR REPLACEMENT? WELCOME TO SONY E-TRUSIVE! DO YOU REMEMBER WHEN PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN GAMES WERE NOT INTERRUPTED BY ADVERTISEMENTS? SONY-RIDGE FARMS DOES! SO WE PATENTED IT! AND NOW GAMES RETAIL FOR $200 USD AND WE GET ROYALTIES FROM THESE SPECIFICALLY TARGETED ADVERTISEMENTS THANKS TO ALWAYS ONLINE DRM INVADING YOUR PRIVACY, THAT YOU UNWITTINGLY AGREED TO!

*game recommences*

Darth Malgus is cackling as you reload a previous checkpoint (2 hours previously).

YES! One of the funnier and witty comments I've stumbled upon while on GON recently. Well done sir, well done.

[DeathMist]

maybe.. they are patenting it so it won't happen in games...


HAHAHAH WHO THE **** AM I KIDDING? WE ARE DOOMED.

[gyoken]

Anyone getting the feeling that ... lately whatever Sony touches .. kinda turns to dust ....?

I wonder how they recruit their hare-brained strategists / marketing department...

via a patented hare-brained detector no doubt.

[SaNE]

Anyone getting the feeling that ... lately whatever Sony touches .. kinda turns to dust ....?

Their 3.2 billion dollar loss is a lot of dust.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/2 ... 65417.html

[M a x]

You think always online DRM gets gamers angry....ads in-game would make that look like two 5 year old bickering over a lolly!

[SaNE]

You think always online DRM gets gamers angry....ads in-game would make that look like two 5 year old bickering over a lolly!

Bull cookie, it's the way in which you have the ad's in games which gets people angry.

BF2142 had the idea, billboards ingame as part of the map, it doesn't take from your experience and makes the maps look more 'realistic'.
There's no reason they couldn't do it in any game and use decals, billboards, etc.

[TRB]

Exactly.

Its about subtlety.
I'd actually not mind at all subtle product/signage placement, so long as the graphics used and items make sense for where they appear.

[Bluefire]

LOL!
I have no faith at all in "the masses" ability to "not buy it" because it has adverts.
None at all.
They will release it with a major title that a large number of gamers want to play.
IE: Origin with Battlefield 3
And you lot will bend over just like you did last time... And the time before that.
Give it a few years and every game is going to be released with system logging, always online, overseas cloud served games with 2 minute adverts every 15 minutes.
And know what.. 90% of you are going to buy them no matter what you claim on here.