Sony patent would interrupt gameplay to display ad

Sony has filed a patent that would introduce in-game ads in a whole new way: by interrupting gameplay.

51

Sony has filed a patent that would introduce in-game ads in a whole new way. First discovered by an eagle-eyed NeoGAF member, the application was posted last year. The patent describes an ad delivery service that would actually interrupt gameplay to display an advertisement. The process would show a warning message indicating that gameplay would be suspended. Once the game is paused, it would show an advertisement. Once finished, the game would rewind "at least a portion of the interactive content," so that you can undo that horrible gaming blunder caused by the abrupt interruption of your gameplay session.

The publisher has been experimenting with a number of unique in-game advertising partnerships. Most recently, it offered MotorStorm RC as a free download to Vita owners, thanks to a partnership with Scion. However, its most criticized ad campaign involved Wipeout HD, where game loads were purposefully delayed to show video ads for State Farm.

As with any patent, there's no guarantee that Sony will ever implement this idea in a real world product. Given the potential fan backlash, it doesn't seem like a worthwhile endeavor to pursue. "The day Sony puts ads up while Im in game is the day ill never buy a Sony console again," one commenter noted on Eurogamer. However, there certainly is an appeal to a completely ad-supported free-to-play game...

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

Filed Under
From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 25, 2012 12:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Sony patent would interrupt gameplay to display ad.

    Sony has filed a patent that would introduce in-game ads in a whole new way: by interrupting gameplay.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:30 PM

      Fuck this shit.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:30 PM

      Fuck the world.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:31 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:40 PM

      Sony has filed a patent that would diminish Sony's gaming hardware/software sales: ads that interrupt gameplay

      • reply
        May 26, 2012 3:42 PM

        i heard they're gonna change the ps3 boot sound to "fuuuuuuuck yooooooooou"

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:41 PM

      I wouldn't mind adverts if they were played during a firmware/game update, at least it would be more exciting than the loading bar.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 12:51 PM

        I'd mind. A lot.

        • reply
          May 25, 2012 1:26 PM

          Why? It would affect you in exactly zero ways.

          • reply
            May 25, 2012 1:29 PM

            It would affect me or they wouldn't show me an ad in the first place.

            • reply
              May 25, 2012 1:33 PM

              I guess this might bother you if you have some irrational hate of advertisement in general but other than that who the fuck cares?

              • reply
                May 25, 2012 1:55 PM

                Considering the price of a game is usually $60 (with special/collectors editions climbing from there) it's fair to expect an advertisement free experience. Now, if it was $29.99 for the next Uncharted and you could pay another $29.99 to remove advertisements (keeping it at the $60 price point), that would give people choice and increase sales overall (probably) due to the lower price point.

                • reply
                  May 25, 2012 2:03 PM

                  Did you miss the part about the advertisement being during an update process? You would still have an advertisement free experience while playing the game. Who cares about the other things? Fuck, it's even less intrusive than the new ads in MS's metro UI on xbox.

                  • reply
                    May 25, 2012 2:07 PM

                    What? No where in that article does it say anything about the ads being during the update process only. It says directly "The patent describes an ad delivery service that would actually interrupt gameplay to display an advertisement. The process would show a warning message indicating that gameplay would be suspended."

                    • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
                      reply
                      May 25, 2012 2:10 PM

                      THIS ENTIRE SUBTHREAD IS ABOUT THAT
                      I wouldn't mind adverts if they were played during a firmware/game update... - Eskimo Keith

                      • reply
                        May 25, 2012 2:12 PM

                        And Conan said he'd mind, a lot. SO I put in WHY someone might not want any ads if you consider the full price of a game these days.

                        • reply
                          May 25, 2012 2:46 PM

                          Yes and your reason doesn't work because
                          A) update screens are not part of the game itself, they're part of the console OS
                          B) they don't affect gameplay in any way whatsoever. The game you're playing is still an advertisement free experience.

                          • reply
                            May 25, 2012 3:04 PM

                            I don't want any goddamn advertising anywhere near any game I paid for, how's that work for ya? A) Fuck and B) Off.

                          • reply
                            May 25, 2012 3:11 PM

                            [deleted]

                            • reply
                              May 25, 2012 3:16 PM

                              I honestly don't care that much if update times are slightly increased. They're already long an obnoxious and a few extra seconds aren't going to be that big a deal.

                              Not to mention that they don't have to affect loading times considering that the console is already pulling down ads in the background for their normal advertisement stuff. Both xbox and ps3 do this already.

                          • reply
                            May 26, 2012 2:22 AM

                            You realized you just incentivized developers/publishers to update games more often right?

                            Dev: "Awesome, we're ready to roll out the newest game update!"
                            Pub: "Good, now break that update up into 3, no 4 parts over the next few weeks!"

                            • reply
                              May 26, 2012 1:24 PM

                              How? The ads in question aren't part of the game. How would the publisher of a game profit from them at all?

                  • reply
                    May 25, 2012 2:24 PM

                    And the ads there bother me, too. Clearly I care or I wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place.

                    • reply
                      May 25, 2012 2:48 PM

                      It must suck to be you and be so continually upset at everything then.

                      • reply
                        May 25, 2012 3:12 PM

                        I love that your argument basically boils down to "it doesn't bother me, so what's wrong with you?"

                        • reply
                          May 25, 2012 3:17 PM

                          My argument boils down to "The things you're complaining about are so trivial that letting them bother you must make your life a living hell." That or you're 16 or something and just angsty at everything.

                          • reply
                            May 25, 2012 3:20 PM

                            I'm terribly sorry about the sanctity of your AAA game update screen being sullied by the likes of corporate greed on your Microsoft Xbox 360.

                          • reply
                            May 25, 2012 3:37 PM

                            No, I'm fairly well adjusted. I just said "I'd mind". You're the one posting multiple replies to everyone.

                            • reply
                              May 25, 2012 4:32 PM

                              [deleted]

                              • reply
                                May 25, 2012 5:05 PM

                                I find the attitude that advertising is inherently bad regardless of impact to be worthy of scorn. I did get a little annoyed when people began replying who obviously hadn't read the subthread.

                            • reply
                              May 25, 2012 5:03 PM

                              I post multiple replies fairly often. It has very little to do with whether or not I'm upset and more to do with realizing I have more to say.

                        • reply
                          May 25, 2012 3:24 PM

                          Here is a humorous comic that sums up my concept of you in this subthread.

                          http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/05/11

                  • reply
                    May 25, 2012 2:46 PM

                    Seems that you missed the part about what advertising is in the first place. Advertisements have traditionally been a method of subsidizing production. If you don't care about that, are you Eddie Vedder? Pearl Jam loves to point out how there are no Budwiser banners anywhere near their stage but they don't seem to at all notice what their tickets cost their fans. When every other business that brings advertisements into their products lowers the price, possibly even to the point of a free product, why would you not care about an advertisement forced into your game with no ease-up on your wallet for the golden arches in your face?

                    • reply
                      May 25, 2012 2:47 PM

                      At what point is the advertisement forced into your game if it's only during an update screen when you're not even in the game to begin with?

                      • reply
                        May 25, 2012 2:58 PM

                        At what point does advertising serve its purpose if you never get your subsidy? It's still advertising and you still have to see it. Okay, so you don't find it offensive, okay, it's during a loading screen or an update. Okay. Sony gets the break from it but you get to bend over?

                    • reply
                      May 25, 2012 3:14 PM

                      Like it or not, games are expensive. They're only getting more expensive to make and the companies making them are getting more and more competitive. There are a few things that can happen for those companies to continue making games in that environment: They can make cookie-cutter games with guaranteed success, they can advertise, and they can increase the price of the games.

                      All three of these things will happen regardless of any of the other two, but I don't see what's wrong with preferring the parts of the three that are less offensive than the others. You're simply not going to get companies to not advertise where they can, you might as well save your energy and outrage when the advertisements actually affect the game quality.

                      In the case of Wipeout, they did. In the case that this subthread is about, I can't see how they would. Hence why should you care about them?

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:42 PM

      well, that means that other companies would have to pay royalties to do the same thing, so Sony will be the only ones to interrupt gameplay for ads.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 12:57 PM

        It will be Betamax vs. VHS all over again!

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:44 PM

      I'm cutting up my ps3 right now with a blowtorch and will be mailing it back in bits to Kazuo Hirai

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:45 PM

      i know we throw this around a lot but i will seriously never buy a game that stops me in the middle to advertise like on tv or whatever.

      i don't care if i have to give up gaming. i'll find something else to do.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 12:56 PM

        It will be like that Simpsons episode where Marge gets to give her input on making an Itchy & Scratchy episode after protesting how violent they are. The resulting episode is so boring that all children go outside into the daylight and play,

        Lisa: Itchy and Scratchy seem to have lost their edge...
        Marge: Well, I think it conveys a very nice message about sharing.
        Bart: I think it sucks.
        Marge: Aren't you going to watch the rest of your cute cartoons?
        Bart: Naah. Come on, Li.
        Lisa: Maybe there's something else to do on this planet...

        The scene is repeated in TV rooms all across town, and (to the strains
        of the first 53 bars of Beethoven's 6th Symphony) the kids step outside,
        rub their eyes, and proceed to do wholesome childlike things.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 2:50 PM

        [deleted]

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 5:59 PM

        Yeah, at this point I've got a huge stockpile of games I'd be okay replaying eternally.
        Fuck any publisher who tries to interrupt gameplay with ads. Fuck them in the ass with sandpaper condoms coated in bleach.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:47 PM

      the only way this would be ok to me would be

      1. its a F2P game
      2. You are warned in advance.


      and even then......probably gonna play something else.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:49 PM

      [deleted]

      • Ebu legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
        reply
        May 25, 2012 2:12 PM

        Just as soon as this damn AD is over >:(

        *clickclickclickclickclickclickclick*

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:50 PM

      [deleted]

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:53 PM

      Sony and Nintendo debut their HGE today, at a ceremony in Tokyo. "The HGE (Hate Generator Engine) is the ultimate power source fueled by the raw nerd rage produced by millions of gamers worldwide." said a company executives. Key to the device's function, says Sony representatives, is the in-game advertisements that interrupt gameplay on its PS4. "Combined with our partner's vitality sensor, we'll be able to completely eliminate Japan's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 12:55 PM

      Rest in peace video games. :(

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:03 PM

      Yeah, I can see that working so well while I'm playing Super Meat Boy.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:04 PM

      now I know why old people always long for earlier days

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:09 PM

      Guys this is a good thing because it means nobody else can do it!!

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:13 PM

      I wrote this patent. I am pleased to announce that all gaming will be QTE enabled. every 5 minutes.

      PRESS X TO ORDER BAWLS

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:15 PM

      D:

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:18 PM

      As long as the game they put it in is anticipated enough (say Diablo 4) gamers won't mind and will actively defend it.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:33 PM

      I would quit gaming for sure if that happened. When an add interrupts a youtube vid, I quit that too. Shit is fucking annoying and greedy.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 1:34 PM

      [deleted]

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 1:42 PM

        That would be fair, if you are on a fence about a game you can just spend 10 bucks and get the add supported version, that's around the same price as renting anyways.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:14 PM

      This could be good for encouraging more games to have demo versions.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:18 PM

      Why not just put ads in loading screens? I've got nothing else to look at anyway, and wouldn't mind seeing something new every so often.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 2:28 PM

        Sony actually tried that with Wipeout HD, and it lengthened load times. Gamers weren't happy.

        • reply
          May 25, 2012 2:33 PM

          It's awkward to add that kind of thing to a game people have already paid for. I bet it would work if the experience was designed for it from the ground up (and priced appropriately).

          • reply
            May 25, 2012 3:51 PM

            Particularly if it was single picture ads, or something that was designed to not increase loading times. All games have some picture or simple graphic during load times - seems a predownloaded set of pictures would be easy and give something for people to look at during an otherwise boring time.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 4:30 PM

        i think ubisoft did that, they released a bunch of games like farcry 1 for free and it had mcdonalds ads during the loading screens for about 30 seconds.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 4:34 PM

        [deleted]

        • reply
          May 26, 2012 11:40 AM

          Just because it has been done in other places like cable doesn't mean we aren't sick to death of it. We are bombarded daily by branding on clothes, billboards, and tv/radio/periodicals/internet ads to the point that they won't let us have a moments respite from them. They know we are in essence a captive audience every time we want to do something even remotely enjoyable or required.

          There is a reason why people are flocking to premium services that don't have advertisements and PVR/DVRs. The moment they add interrupting/intrusive advertisements to games is the moment it isn't worth it any more. The consumer won't ever see a noticeable difference in price or value because of these advertisments. They haven't so much as lowered the price in games that have currently implemented them like EA/DICE for instance said would happen with BF2142.

      • reply
        May 25, 2012 4:42 PM

        If you built it in such a way that your console (assuming console, not PC for a moment) downloaded advertisements the instant you turned it on in the background so you didn't *ever* have to wait for buffering and it never made load times longer, I'd be ok with it.

        If it didn't have any fully cached advertisements, you'd see nothing. That said, now you're using my bandwidth to download shit I don't want to watch in the first place so we have a different problem.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:21 PM

      I dare you, Sony. I double dog dare you.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:30 PM

      In turn, I will interrupt purchasing Sony products. I already patented it with not purchasing the Vita.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:31 PM

      Holy shit, not being able to get past trailers and shit on a dvd is bad enough. This is just stupid.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:44 PM

      I'm so pissed at this thing that does not exist!

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:50 PM

      PRESS "X" TO JASON - sponsored by Mt. Dew!

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:50 PM

      Why not also add DRM that signs you out during your game and you have to stop playing to log back in? The justification... what if someone is at your house playing a game on your computer they didn't pay for? HMMMMM? Sounds good doesn't it Sony?

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 2:53 PM

      I love ads this is a great idea.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 3:00 PM

      I hate big business. Can we get some fucking regulation on this shit?!

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 3:07 PM

      If the game was free I would be ok with it...if it's a game you have to pay for it just don't buy it, problem solved.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 3:22 PM

      If its going to be on the PC lol i will just go get a crack file that stops it if its on a PS3 or 4 when they make it i will not care as i do not own them.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 4:35 PM

      I thought that their Vita slogan was "never stop playing"?

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 5:04 PM

      all this internet rage over a patent. oh, internet.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 5:10 PM

      Should you really be able to fucking patent something this nebulous and generic in description?

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 5:12 PM

      Most iOS f2p games handle this well, but when I pay for a game and they nag me with shit for other stuff I become enraged.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 5:24 PM

      Look at the bright side, at least this will limit other game systems from trying this.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 5:58 PM

      Way to break immersion.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 6:08 PM

      And I thought the 360 dashboard was bad with that shit...well on the plus side maybe ONLY Sony will do this shit because they've patented it.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 6:22 PM

      Let's see how well this will fit in my lifestyle:

      - I don't watch any TV, aside from sporting events, and I mute the sound, change the channel, or turn the TV off when ads appear.
      - I listen to only NPR on the radio, shut them off when they're doing sponsorship messages or fundraiser drives, and otherwise listen to CDs or my iPod in the car.
      - I don't play MMOs, free-to-play games or ad-supported games (aside from Killing Floor having those stupid Massive ads in the status screen, which I use as an excuse to run away from the status screen as far as possible).

      Would I approve of this? NO.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 10:03 PM

      As mentioned in the story, as long as this was only implemented in free-to-play, I don't see the problem.

    • reply
      May 25, 2012 10:18 PM

      Maybe they patented it so that no other companies could do it and then they wouldn't either. Sony: the hero video games deserve

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 2:07 AM

      lol who comes up with such shit. Do they even know what they are doing

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 2:41 AM

      I'm personally glad they're doing this. The price Sony is charging for games is too low, and I wish I could pay more. If this helps Sony get more game contracts in the future I'll gladly watch the ads.

      /Netflix

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 5:18 AM

      This could really just go three ways, the first Sony never implement this, second they do and fail costing them dearly and the third Sony and developers get behind this, it lowers the price of games and people get long with it just like tv.

      • reply
        May 26, 2012 3:05 PM

        I can't see any one accepting this in a multiplayer or MMO situation. I can see them experimenting with this in sport games since the real life equivalents have advertising in-grained at every level. Beyond that it will annoy users to no end. You would end up losing customers to competitor games that don't have it.

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 8:59 AM

      At least Sony have patented it so M$ can't follow suit.

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 9:28 AM

      hasnt EA already done this with their free mobile games?

    • reply
      May 26, 2012 2:09 PM

      This is the Stupidest Fucking thing I have ever heard. The death of Gaming is near...

    • reply
      May 28, 2012 9:20 PM

      "I will buy a video game console that interrupts gameplay with ads huh huhahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

    • reply
      May 31, 2012 1:41 AM

      Guy's ads or no ad's my mind is immune to them, i've got a pretty big bullshit filter and firewall in my head and it keeps getting stronger :)

      I've never bought anything as a result of ads, they're pretty ineffective.

Hello, Meet Lola