Re: Alan Wake
 

In game advertisements? No thanks, I'll pass on this one unless it becomes extremely cheap/free.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Really? When you're driving past billboards in a game, does it really matter if they have real or fake companies on them?

Re: Alan Wake
 

Yes it does because if I'm being shown ads I shouldn't be paying full price. If it was a free or extremely cheap game no problem.
If it really doesn't matter, then why are they there in the first place? Clearly it matters to someone.

It cheapens the experience.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I guess I might agree with you if it was unnatural or really impacted the experience. I don't have a problem with it at all when it's something that looks completely at place within the game world. I didn't even notice that some of the billboards had real companies on them until I was in the last third of the game. Anyway, the only difference I can see between an in-game billboard having a fake or real company on it is that if it's a real company, the publisher gets to make a little profit. I'm perfectly fine with that, especially when the final product is as outstanding as this game is.

Re: Alan Wake
 

How does it cheapen the experience to have real ads? The game has a realistic look and feel, doesn't having real life ads just make sense in the context? If anything it cheapens the experience when developer go out of their way to make a fake product with some sort of lame pun or knock at a real life product.

Re: Alan Wake
 

You do get an achievement for watching a Verizon commercial on TV.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Ask yourselves this question: if the ads don't make any difference, why is someone paying to put them there?

Re: Alan Wake
 

I sincerely doubt anyone is so naive here on this forum to think it isn't so the developer can make some extra money.

Personally, if the ads are not intrusive, fit within the context of the game, and don't "pop" so as to break my state of suspended disbelief and immersion... then go ahead and throw them in. If my character is walking past a telephone pole and there is a bumpmapped piece of paper with either: text too blurry to read, text for a fake local pizzeria, text for Dominoes. Then i say take Dominoes money.

1. The chances of me even noticing the ad are slim.
2. If i do notice them i would 100% rather have a realistic period appropriate ad rather than some cutesy pun of a made up company or the blurry unreadable text option.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Weird. I saw a video of that and thought it was a joke. I got the achievement for watching every tv program and never saw a verizon commercial.

Brand recognition? To associate themselves with the game? Are you insinuating something more nefarious?

Re: Alan Wake
 

It's advertising. I'm not saying it's nefarious, but it's valuable. Personally, I go out of my way to be exposed to as little advertising as possible, that's my preference and right. Generally if you are going to be advertised at, then the content is free or greatly reduced price because of this. If you pay a premium, then the expectation is that you won't have to endure advertising. This is a pretty familiar concept, yet some companies like Microsoft are trying to have their cake and eat it too; charge a premium yet also include ads. They are already doing it to an increasingly obnoxious extent on Live. Same thing with ads in front of movies or DVDs; fortunately this is less obnoxious than that, but it could easily get more intrusive over time.

Re: Alan Wake
 

One of the reasons I'm having a hard time understanding your point of view is that the above is blatantly false. Product placement has been huge in tv shows and movies for ages. If you go to the theater, you watch previews for other movies and see posters in the lobby. Anywhere you go that serves concessions has large logos from companies like Pepsi and Coke. Never has there been an understanding that this results in lower prices for concerts, ballgames, films, dvds, amusement parks, etc., etc., etc. If anything, video games without product/branding placement are fairly unique compared to the rest of the world.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Sorry but not playing one of the best games of the year, some will say of this generation, because of some ads it's one of the dumbest excuses I've ever heard.

They are not in your face ads, you are not missing anything from the story if you don't see them. Some will say they make the game more realistic, but I really don't care either way.

Seriously, driving a Ford car, or walking and seeing an ad for a known brand won't affect your game play either way.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Do we know how the DLC is going to integrate into the game? Is it going to be like Heavy Rain or will it be like Mass Effect (ie, if I wait to play until the DLC comes out, it will be incorporated into my gameplay.)

Also, did anyone end up with an extra theme code or male avatar shirt?

PS My favorite in-game ad so far has to be the Obama billboard in Burnout Paradise.

Re: Alan Wake
 

:up:

Re: Alan Wake
 

Preach it.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Agreed.

But seriously...the tv ads were goddamn lame. :rolleyes:

Re: Alan Wake
 

I havent played Alan Wake yet, but in-game ads wouldnt be so bad if developers would do them right. If they would get multiple sponsors it could really help the game to be a little more realistic. The problem is when they only get one company advertising and the entire game is covered with ads for Axe Body Spray.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I feel sorry for Alan Wake, releasing the game on the same day as Red Dead Redemption totally destroyed their sales. Really bad timing.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Do u have a link to the source?

Personally, I don't feel sorry. Who in the hell thought it'll be a good idea to release this the same day as Split Second, Prince Of Persia, and Red Dead Redemption? They could have held off for 2 more weeks and had a shot at decent sales. Unless word of mouth carries, this game will probably be a flop sales wise.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I dunno, despite the poor timing of release, I don't think it will be a flop.

Re: Alan Wake
 

no link, just my prediction based on my friends list and other things.

Re: Alan Wake
 

As for the 'in-game ads', I'm a big fan of them actually. I love how they are in Burnout Paradise. Also, I hate watching a TV show and they have a Pepsi can, but Pepsi is stickered to say something like Popsie.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Well I will probably end up playing the game anyway since it was bought by another member of my household today.

Re: Alan Wake
 

You should not play it out of principle for those ads!

Re: Alan Wake
 

I had no idea this game had "ads" I only played for about 4 hours but never noticed one :)

Re: Alan Wake
 

Finished this up last night. Still processing.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I finished last night, I slept only 5 hours but it was worthy.

I just read the wikipedia page for the game and I'm still not sure if I "understand" the ending. From the wiki page it seems I didn't miss anything from the game.

I'm going to check the spoilers in this thread now.

Oh and after finishing the game I confirm everything I said after playing the first chapter. I give it a solid 9, but those NPCs are like from two generations ago. But I still liked Barry. :)

Re: Alan Wake
 

Finally put this in last night and couldn't stop playing. Got most of the way through Episode 3 before I went to bed.

I'm loving it, and it's far more engrossing to me than Red Dead has been.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I've come to this conclusion: This game deserves to be played.

But as a personal preference... Deadly Premonition > Alan Wake.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Finished chapter one today. Really liking it so far.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Having played through all of Deadly Premonition and about 1/3 of Alan Wake, that sounds crazy.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Saints Row 2 really pissed me off with ads (the only time I even cared about it) why? Because they specifically make you wait to "apply an update to this game" so they can add the advertisement in. It's not too bad as they are not around every corner but the fact that they actually make you DL them is bullshit. With that said.....I still like SR2.

All this good talk about AW has me reconsidering a purchase......I've really heard nothing but great things (and nothing less than that) from a lot of people who have similar tastes in video games as I do.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Well, Alan Wake is clearly the better "game". But for me, Deadly Premonition was the better overall "experience".

Re: Alan Wake
 

Fair enough. I'll have to finish Alan Wake before I can really weigh in with an opinion.

Re: Alan Wake
 

And really it's probably unfair for me to compare the two. At a glance they might seem similar, but aside from being set in the Pacific Northwest, they are NOTHING alike.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Just finished two playthroughs in two days - one on Normal difficulty, one on Nightmare. I really liked it a lot and would probably give it an 8 or 9 out of 10. Very atmospheric, and quite unsettling on your first playthrough. I don't think I've ever been as scared to explore for collectibles as I was in this game. :lol:

Speaking of collectibles, this game has too many. Two playthroughs and despite a good bit of exploration I still haven't found all the chests, signs, or coffee thermoses, although I've come very close (which makes it that much more frustrating). I did manage to find every manuscript page on my own.

Thought that occurred many times while playing: this guy sure does drop all his stuff a lot. Seriously, I've never played a game where you lose all your equipment as frequently as you do in this one. I found myself saying "hold on to your gun!" whenever the latest vehicle crash/tumble down a cliff was about to happen. He never listened.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Get a job, ya bum! :mad2:

Re: Alan Wake
 

Wow!!! 2 playthrough in two days!!! Were you wearing Depends? ;)

And yeah, that was frustrating to me too. The worst part is that I was saving batteries, bullets (rifle/shotgun), etc. and then I would lose everything. So in the last episode I just used all my powerful weapons until all the ammo was gone.

Re: Alan Wake
 

Am I alone in finding the game to not really be "scary" at all? I think a lot of the scare impact is taken away when the action would go into slow-mo whenever an enemy was coming at you. It was tense, and still had a few moments that surprised me, but I certainly didn't find myself creeped out at any time as I would in any given Silent Hill game.

Re: Alan Wake
 

I never used my flare gun because I figured I needed to save it for something big. And of course I kept losing it. And of course there was a giant box full of flare guns right in front of the final boss.