Does product placement bother you in games?

Azureth

Azureth

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I know that product placement is a bit of a contentious issue, but is it something that bothers you? Personally, I really don't understand why people view it as such a bad thing. Granted, while I do agree it would be real stupid in something like Skyrim, I really don't see how it is such a big deal in say racing games, or games that take place in a modern setting. It doesn't seem anymore offensive to me than made up generic joints like EartNGo, or other made up things.
 
We should all have glasses on that show ads in the lenses 24/7. There just isn't enough advertising I feel and we need much more exposure to the products of the world. You cant know you need it if you never see it.
 
It depends on the game for me. If it is a game going for realism and being in the modern world, then I'm ok with it. As you mentioned though, in Skyrim, no, just no.
 
As long as its well done I like it, I recall whatever that new time travel game is had product placement so overdone it was annoying. One Mod I have a great appreciation for is RealGTA which changed all the cars to their real world counter parts and all billboard etc to real ads. It looked really good. Do they have something like that for other GTAs? idk.
 
It bothers me in games almost as much as it bothers me in movies
 
Did anybody play Shenmue? Wasn't this game among the first of its kind to implement brands in the game? I thought it was an excellent idea at the time and I am not bothered by the brands appearing in the Yakuza series either. Both these games try to emulate real life, so I guess it isn't comparable to ads showing up in Skyrim etc.

I actually do remember as very little (6-12) seeing commericals and foolilshly thinking the brands that were shown were the best quality. I assume there is an age restriction for games that show advertising in games? Is it 13 at the minimum?
 
Product placement doesn't bother me in films or in games.
 
Really depends on the game or movie. I don't think I've ever noticed a product placement that actually bothered me though. It's generally implemented in a way that isn't totally obvious but enough for your subconscious to recognize it/remember it.
 
TMNT the arcade game and NES had lots of ad placements for Pizza Hut. They made sense, and didn't hinder the experience in any way. I am just fine with that. Billboards in GTA? Sure. The back wall in a baseball game? Ok. But yeah, when you are talking about games like Skyrim, the Witcher, probably even Halo, the ads wouldn't make sense.
 
Depends on the game and depends on how the product placement is done.

If I run across a Nike ad in Final Fantasy, yeah, dumb.

If I'm playing an FPS and a bomb tosses a Mountain Dew machine across the street, no, I'm cool with that.
 
I think it's cool as hell if done right.

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Depends on how its done.

If its like some Madden games where it says "Todays game is brought to yo by Snickers" then that annoys the shit out of me. If its a billboard or a coke can sitting on a desk thats fine. But, when they go out of their way to annoy me, fuck yes that bothers me.
 
I can see it now..

Fallout 4: New Quest alert. Help Abernathy farm.

Connie Abernathy: Truman, we are having problems with a pack of feral ghouls wandering around. Please take this special knife and dispatch them.
Blake Abernathy: Wait a minute. Connie, is that the new Chef's Pal?
Connie Abernathy: Why it sure is Blake! Chef's Pal is a grater, dicer, and peeler all in one! It cleans up quick, and dispatches ghouls with little mess. Truly a great value at 214 caps!
truman_1115738c.jpg
 
Eh..I can't really get myself worked up over it. I mean if a game paused, and then forced me to watch a commercial, sure I would be pissed. Otherwise, I don't really give a shit.
 
Unless it's a straight up commercial like in I, Robot where Will Smith is talking about how much he loves his Nikes or whatever, I rarely notice product placement.
 
Yeah, obvious product places are annoying, if blended with into the scene/environment I don't mind them at all.
 
For the most part I don't care, but i just started playing Rainbow Six Lockdown yesterday and there are a hell of a lot of posters all over the place for Future Soldier. Quite annoying and distracting when I am try to be tactical and shit.
 
What I think is lame is when a movie has super generic type products in it such as soda cans with "cola" written on them or "beer" written on them.. or maybe absolutely nothing written on them... unless it is supposed to obviously be that way because of the story line.

Seeing obvious product brand removal also seems really stupid to me. Like in some movies with Dell or other computer equipment that I immediately recognize and can tell that they got rid of the branding just because.
 
Not really, no. I prefer when it is done creatively over shoving it in your face, but eh. I actually like product placement in games that take place in the real world. Seeing a racing game or heavily traffic areas of big cities without ads feels really weird and me and gives me a bit of a disconnect with the game world when I notice it.
 
It really depends on the setting. GTA has fake radio stations, fake town names, fake cars and fake products, it would be silly and mood-breaking to find some real products being advertised. Whereas Rainbow Six, which takes place in the real world, its more fitting.
 
As others have said it depends on how it is done. If its just in passing as real people drink coke and someone happens to grab a coke whatever. But if they go to any length to stick it in your face and ensure you know exactly what it is yeah its annoying as it removes you from the setting to say HEY, LOOK AT ME!

GTA poking fun at that is a lot of fun.
 
At this point I've gotten pretty good at automatically tuning out ads, I probably don't even notice most of it.

If I do notice something, its unlikely to influence me to buy it unless it was something I was already buying regularly.
 
doesn't bother me in games but for some reason I'm annoyed when I see it in those 3DMark benchmarks- guy wearing an Asus wingsuit, flying past a Gigabyte ship etc
 
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