The designer then proceeds to rave about specific parts of the game that I won’t spill.

We may be days away from the onslaught of Halo 3, and the Bungie shooter may break new sales records (then again, it may not). Halo multiplayer matches may again rule Xbox Live, but aside from slightly updated graphics, what new thing does Halo 3 have to offer?

Bioshock may not have multiplayer like any Halo game, but it gets Cliffy B.’s vote for GOTY. It’s rather ironic that the designer known for making great multiplayer games is choosing a full-blown solo experience for such honors.

What’s your vote for GOTY?

Post from: EveryJoe

Cliffy B. says Bioshock is his Game of the Year

Neil Postlethwaite, managing director at Splash Damage, explained that the developers want to keep supporting ETQW and not just “walk away” after releasing the game. Postlethwaite thinks in-game advertising would help maintain the persistent stat servers and the community site, in addition to the updates and improvements that they planned.

It all sounds great, but where will the ads be placed?

According to the Splash Damage executive, the ads won’t be intrusive and you won’t have to interact with them. The ads are planned to be part of the normal environment, and might actually add to the game’s immersion. Container trucks, for example, would have ads on its sides. Postlethwaite assures us that if the ad isn’t appropriate or it’s distracting, it won’t go in. No personal data that can be used to identify you will be stored. They said you’ll be tracked on how long you look at the ads, nothing more.

The problem with this is that the developer decides which ad is distracting, not the community.

Splash Damage could handle this aspect well, or they could ignore distracting ads and argue that it’s not—all for the sake of revenue.

It’s odd though that Counter-Strike: Source, one of the most popular multiplayer games, doesn’t use in-game ads, and Valve (and Turtle Rock Studios) has continued to support the game for the longest time. So far, Splash Damage has also been mum on the effect of in-game ads on the game’s retail price.

All these things considered, would you tolerate in-game advertising?

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Post from: EveryJoe

Quake Wars will have in-game advertising