EA Sports...going too far. Again

[rated pg]

Pretty sure I heard the NASCAR Kart Racing game for Wii had a powerup that plastered an irritating ad on the screen for a matter of seconds. Typical EA. The ads in Burnout Paradise weren't too bad, but EA always seems to go overboard on the in game ads. I'll agree that some of the ads in Fight Night/Madden might be there to make it feel more like Sunday night football, but enough is enough at some point.

 

[CeeJay]

I'm now eating a Big Mac

 

[Antiparticle]

Popup ads in console games?! Totally uncool!! Let's hope this remains an isolated incident!

 

[Kelbear]

Fight Night 4 has this in pre-fight loading screens and between rounds. This is a LOT of advertising considering that a round is only 3 minutes long.

Thankfully it's not in /every/ fight, but when it does happen, it's annoying as hell. Except for that retarded BK coach, it was better in FN3 where the companies would sponsor the fight. It's NORMAL for businesses to sponsor athletes so that they can get their brand recognized. It should be done in a natural way.

I didn't mind the Axe advertisements in Rainbox Six Vegas. When you're on the streets of Vegas, you will naturally see big billboards, and adboards on the street. That's normal and appropriate ad placement, I took cover behind the Axe adboard on the street and got a big close-up of it and it didn't weird me out at all because the ad was exactly where it was supposed to be. If the logo was planted on the back of a Rainbow agent's helmet, then that would be a problem.

 

[pp2]

And now...the popup is gone. I just played a few games in my franchise with nary a sight of the offensive ad.

And like you said Kelbear, if its part of the environment the ad is no big deal. Billboards and what-not, stuff you might notice or might not. But this was over the top.

 

[SimuLord]

I've never had a problem with ads in sports games because as a sports fan I know that intrusive advertising is part of sports telecasts, and as EA has said for over a decade now, "if it's in the game, it's in the game." It'd seem less realistic without them.

Meanwhile, all of you whining about EA Sports' constant cash grab should remember that EA's investment in new IPs and newfound willingness to take risks is a direct result of the steady revenue the company gets from sports and The Sims. Without Madden there's no Mirror's Edge (or any other new IP from EA)...and quite possibly no Crysis since EA might've decided it didn't have a big enough potential installed base thanks to its system requirements to be worth publishing.

 

[Littaly]

EA has been doing a lot of this lately. There is the whole deal with the store in The Sims (yes, I play The Sims) and now Madden (haven't played it myself but you are not the first one to complain).

I guess if we just buy loads and loads of copies of Brütal Legend maybe they'll go back to the much nicer EA Games that we saw last fall ^^

 

[Jimmyjames]

Far be it for companies to try to make up for decreasing profit margins with in-game advertising.

 

[tomtom94]

I do feel sorry for Americans, at least with British football (ie proper football / soccer) you have the Pro Evo series giving EA some damn competition.

On the subject of in-game advertising: billboards cool, but obtrusive pop-up ads irritate me beyond measure.

Always remember though, it's not EA's job to make a good game: their job is merely to make as much money as possible. A good game merely helps their cause.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

You sound like you're giving a rebellion speech in some revolution film or something. This is obstrusive advertising in its very weakest form, trust me.

 

[pp2]

Take new risks? This is EA we're talking about, right? The only "risks" I've seen EA take in their sports games is to make us pay for features that used to be standard (online franchises) or cheats. Or to have extra golf courses for TW available for purchase on the day TW releases. Remember back when the number of golf courses included in TW was a bragging point for the series? Now its a dozen (maybe) and pay extra for the rest.

And Mirror's Edge was not good, neither was Crysis. We all could have lived without those.