Sony at it AGAIN !

[icestar2]

Read 2 peices of news this morning that have got me really annoyed. Just after sony start making there mark they decide to start there yearly roll of mistakes which will kill them should they carry on like this.

Getaway and Eight Days Cancelled.
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/04/the-getaway-and-eight-days-have-been-cancelled/
In another Sony announcement made today, it appears that two games being developed by the internal London studios have now been canned. The Getaway and Eight Days are now officially no more, thanks to budgetary redistribution. Gamesindustry.biz have the full statement from Sony, in which they state that "this decision was made following an internal review of all games and it was deemed that with the incredibly strong list of exclusive first party titles coming up both this year and in the near future, resource should be reallocated to enhance those projects closer to completion."


In game ad's
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/04/sony-announces-in-game-advertising-possibilities-ea-jumps-on-bo/
Sony has announced today that they are opening up the PS3 with regards to in-game advertising. With the emphasis clearly placed on seamless "dynamic" advertising (read: no billboards in fantasy titles, etc), game publishers and advertising firms will be able to buy and sell space within games in order to reach the "elusive 18-34 male" demographic. They will be able to do this through Sony's in-game advertising partner, IGA Worldwide. This partnership exists with both SCEE and SCEA, so expect to see advertisements appearing on both sides of the pond.

[cimt]

You've got to be kidding me! Sony are idiots! They cancel amazing games yet announce they're to bring out another PS2 (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/a97418/sony-unveils-new-red-playstation-2.html)?

These guys really don't know what they're doing!

[Paranoimia]

I'm a bit miffed about The Getaway, but Eight Days not so much. Still, development has been stopped, but that doesn't necessarily mean cancelled. I'm sure The Getaway will arrive somewhere down the line - they've put a lot of money into it, and it was only reported a few weeks ago that it was going into full production.

As for the ads - generally speaking, I hate advertising, but I can (a) see the point of it, and (b) see it being entirely workable.

In-game advertising is a logical step. Production costs are going through the roof ($11 million for Killzone 2, and that was a year ago), so unless gamers are happy to be paying £60 or £80 per game in the not-too-distant future, this is an unfortunate necessity.

Many games already have advertising in them anyway - racing and sports titles have had it for years, and they haven't been any worse for it. The world of GTA could be improved with real ads - although the fake ones are part of the humour, real ads would add to the realism of the game.

It all depends on how devs set about it. Adverts on hoardings in games will be fine - menus and loading screens plastered with "Sponsored by..." will be too much. It needs to be done carefully, but it could definitely work.

[icestar2]

In-game advertising is a logical step. Production costs are going through the roof ($11 million for Killzone 2, and that was a year ago), so unless gamers are happy to be paying £60 or £80 per game in the not-too-distant future, this is an unfortunate necessity.

I can agree with that. As long as its done right then I can live with a couple ad's. I didnt mind them in the NFS series they actually made sense(billboards in city) and looked right. However saying that the ad's in Battlefeild 2142 put me off ingame ad's. They had billboards avertising things like Ghostrider. This was meant to be 2142 and they were advertising films from the past lol. If the ad's fit the game they can actually work. My worry is once they make this step then the ad's could become a giant spoiler to a great game.

I just hope they do it right.

[Paranoimia]

Completely agree. It has to be done right, but it can be done.

I believe they've already said words to the effect that they won't appear in games where they don't belong - so you won't for example get adverts for Flymo in the middle of the next Final Fantasy game.

It's not an ideal move, certainly, but the reactions I've seen today from some people around the web have been completely disproportionate and OTT.