John's Blog

Welcome to the final chapter in this epic blogging adventure! This week we will focus on the growing prominence of advertising in console gaming. The next generation consoles, in particular the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 are relying heavily on users connecting online for an enhanced gaming experience. As this BBC article highlights, this is a key opportunity for Microsoft and Sony to bring in third parties for advertising. The article goes as far to say that the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 were built with these advertising objectives in mind. Apparently in the leap to the next generation of consoles there has been a huge increase in the cost of game production. Advertising through Xbox Live and Playstation Online will help supplement these costs. The companies are hoping that the ads will not annoy or turn away gamers. So what about Nintendo? Nintendo will not be joining the online advertising frenzy. The Wii (Nintendo’s system that is marked for a November 06 release in the United States) will not feature the high definition graphics that you will find in the 360 or PS3. Rather Nintendo is focusing on making games that are innovative, interactive, and fun. As a result, they are not experiencing these huge cost increases and have no interest in opening their doors to advertisers.

So what’s my personal opinion? I am not so sure the gaming community will welcome ads with open arms. Unfortunately Microsoft and Sony are not giving them a choice. I am very interested to see the actual implementation. The article said that overall the ads will not be intrusive to the gaming experience – more of a brief spot before or after presenting the sponsor. Even though Nintendo’s console sales have been lagging in recent years, I think they have the right idea; let’s focus on what made the gaming industry so great – the games.

- JJC Jr