Deus Ex: Human Revolution gets in-game adverts
Deus Ex: Human Revolution has had loading screen adverts added in a new patch.
Rumours have also begun to spread that adverts will appear on in-game billboards too, though Square Enix has yet to respond to our request for comment.
The adverts which are currently visible are small, appearing as little tabs in the corner of load screens. Currently promoted products include the blu-ray re-release of Star Wars.
Wily modders have already created a means to disable the adverts, however.
A full change-log for the patch is pasted below, but before you read it why don't you check out our Deus Ex: Human Revolution review for more information on the game?
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Fixes:
- We have addressed various issues that can occur for players that would result in ‘stuttering’.
- Stutters that are the result of graphics driver shader processing are now removed or significantly reduced.
- Stutters that are the result of data streaming have been removed or significantly reduced.
- Performance has been improved and made more stable on dual-core systems. This could previously also result in stuttering.
- Fixed issue where some players couldn’t complete the Motherly Ties side quest.
- Fixed an issue where doors in Omega Ranch sometimes wouldn’t open.
- The TYM medical card should no longer fall through the table if an NPC’s body comes into contact with the card. Players already stuck in this area will need to revert to a previous save before the card fell through.
- Occasional hangs for some players during video-playback have been fixed.
- A crash on startup when running DX11 on a single-core CPU has been fixed.
- An issue causing Eyefinity setups to not be correctly detected for some players has been fixed.
- Fixed an issue where the HUD would get permanently disabled for some players.
- Fixed certain issues that caused the mouse cursor to be able to leave the game-screen on multi-monitor setups.
- Fixed an issue that caused the mouse cursor to not be visible in-game when the user has mouse trails enabled in Windows. We still recommend disabling mouse trails for a smoother in-game mouse cursor.
- Fixed issue where ammo count for collected guns is incorrect when Adams weapon is augmented.
- In DX9 mode:
- Fixed error message for some users when trying to use FXAA Medium or FXAA Low anti aliasing modes.
- Fixed shadow-mapping ‘lines’ on some graphics hardware when using anisotropic filtering.
Feature Additions:
- The Enter and Numpad-Enter keys can now be bound to game actions in the keyboard control menu.
- Intro logos can now be skipped on all but the first run of the game.
- Added windowed mode.
- Selectable in the menu, and can be toggled between windowed, fullscreen, and fullscreen windowed using ALT-ENTER.
- Added an option to change the text language of the game. This setting only changes the text language, the audio is controlled by the language option in Steam.
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http://blog.gib.me/2011/08/23/deus-ex-human-revolution-no-ads/
Hardly the end of the world but still a slight against gamers. It's not like it's a F2P product that relies on advertising for revenue, this is a premium AAA title at full retail price.
It's a shame considering the game is so awesome in most other ways.
Look at Blade Runner, those advertising airships didn't detract from the movie experience (I know it was all fictitious ads but the principle is there), in fact it added to it.
Advertising is so endemic in our culture that this is inevitable. By including real world ads, so long as it's done with subtlety shouldn't detract from your gaming experience. And as advertising is so rife now, surely a game set in the future should have ads in it?
Unless you are the easily suggestible type, in which case you need to give me all of your money.
Just when I thought game publishers couldn't get any lower than Ubisoft, Square Enix pulls out a winner from the "screw customers by stealth and deception" draw.
Square Enix has now introduced us to a new low in consumer fraud with the "ex post facto bait and switch". So you thought you had bought Item X? With the application of a forced update you have a new refreshed Item X with unwelcome Y attached. Of course the additional Y is of no benefit to you whatsoever, but by forcing it on you we get to have Friday afternoon money baths in the office. The only down side is that money baths don't wash off the slimebag stench.
I bet pirates don't have to put up with this crap, which is why it is still The Better Choice(tm) for the fifth year in a row.
i played and beat it (fantastic game) I'll probably go back and make a non-stealth character this time.
Fun game, haven't seen the adverts but can't imagine it being overbearing
Apart from foisting it on their customers by stealth?
That aside, I'm...really...fed up with constant advertising everywhere, all the time. Everywhere I go, everything I do, it is there offending my senses. Just when you think you are desensitised to the visual and auditory pollution, a new way is found to invade your life, forcing you to focus for that nano-second it takes to insert their brand into your awareness.
* I took a piss a few months ago in a venue toilet and the back of the stall had advertising on it.
* With PVRs and digital downloads people aren't viewing advertisements in TV programs any more so some networks are inserting advertising in the bottom third DURING the show (because that isn't at all disruptive) or inserting offensively overt and intrusive product placement during sporting events and "reality" shows.
* FFS, school newsletters go home with advertising on them now, and companies provide corporate-branded indoctrination and re-education kits...no, sorry I meant to say "educational resources" for classroom lessons.
* My doctor's waiting room now has a TV monitor with looped Flash-like (it may be Flash) advertising segments, because I'm a captive audience while I wait and wait and wait.
* They even insert advertisements for Lightspeed Briefs into your dreams. Into your dreams! Or was that just a Futurama episode...
http://theinfosphere.org/images/thumb/e/ea/Lightspeed_briefs.jpg/225px-Lightspeed_briefs.jpg
The military has a joke: "If it moves salute it, if it doesn't move paint it".
Advertisers probably say: "If it moves put an advertisement on it, if it doesn't move put an advertisement on it".
Except they let it be known from the outset there would be in game advertising
.
Seems a bit of a storm in a teacup to me the ad itself is fairly unobtrusive appearing only in the loading screens and even then takes up less than 1/20th of the screen.
Unfortunately, as much as I love it, this is the downside of Steam: The ability to change a game in ways I don't like, after I've bought it. I liked TF2 at launch, I bought it, they changed it, I don't like it now.
There were rumours after the new AvP that some of the more violent scenes might be patched out. Any game on such a digital platform could be adjusted the same way. Imagine if George Lucas had his hand in all the Star Wars games, he'd be ****ing them up again & again every few months.
Filthy Mother****ing *******s!!
Maybe I will see one and go "oh, its a tiny thing in the corner I don't even notice" lol but as it stands from reading the above this is a new low.
I never saw any mention of in-game advertising in the press leading up to launch, and as a Deus Ex fan I was interested in news reports.
How convenient that the in-game advertising is put in the game AFTER the press reviews are done.
At least now we have the reason for the abysmally long loading times. It's not as if having the advertising up longer would net any more money or anything. I'm sure it is only on TV that a 1min long ad bring in more revenue than a 30sec ad.
Wait, what? The last time I played TF2 was about a week ago and I don't remember seeing any advertisements during the map loading screen.
Pay money = get game experience.
Free game = put up with ads in game.
I paid for an ad-free product, which I got (ignoring the unskippable ones at the beginning). Now Square Enix/Eidos Montreal have changed my product into something else, something less than what I paid for.
Maybe some here don't find the loading screen ads a big deal, and the in-game ads unobtrusive. I found that when playing in a darkened room the never-ending loading times of DE:HR forces me to stare at the screen. On most games the loading screen doesn't take me outside of the game. That is what the advertising does. It may not ruin a game, but it does lessen the immersion value.
If they think I'm going to pay for The Missing Link DLC (which is just content cut from the game and doesn't even include a new hub) or any other DLC after this then they are mistaken.
+1
It depends on the server you're playing on. Some servers have adds prior to the team selection, but most don't.
As for in game advertising, if the game is free, sure! If the game is paid for, go **** yourself! It reminds me how my family used to have cable TV when it was all the rage. No adds, heaps of channels! Then slowly but surely, the adds crept in, prompting us to drop our subscription.
If someone is to not play a game or refuse to buy it over that, then I am sorry but you are missing out on a really good product. It is a very good game, I'm fine them making some more revenue on something I won't even look at for more than a second.
I see people complaining about the "Go Compare" man and how annoying it is but the advert was a high success because even though you hate the advert itself the brand of "Go Compare" is now firmly lodged in your head and you are even giving them free press by talking about it to everyone and refreshing their memories of it.
same, what is with the "OMFFGGG IMM NOTTT GONNAA BUYY THISSSSS" rage because of ads?, I really don't care at all as long as it doesn't ruin my gaming experience like when I press a button to jump suddenly a window appears and says "OH you pressed jump, want a Jolt Cola there big boy?", now that is annoying , but really - "OH SSHIITT AN AD IN THEE LOAADDINNGG SCREEEN", where Instead I could just have... hmm. wait what do we do in the loading screen again? yeahh, stare on.... yeah.. art! , really, it is not that a big deal.
If it's an in-game billboard, it's(shock, horror) appropriate.
If it's in a loading screen... well.... on my rig the loading screen is~5 seconds and i'm looking at the story recap.
The fact theres in-game advertising on a game I paid for is neither here nor there. What *if* the game would have been £2 more without the advertising? We wouldn't notice, we'd just think it cost more.
over-reaction. (IMO)
Ads tastefully done inside the game in billboards etc might even be pretty cool
Now for example, if they only display during loading screens and never impede the flow of the game then surely this isn't a problem whatsoever.
The problem for me comes when the adverts would make the loading screens longer.
Although adding in the adverts after people have bought it is a bit sneaky and as someone else said, either you ask people to pay for something or you fill it with adverts and give it away for free. to do both just seems greedy.
I can fully understand the frustrations, you pay for the game, and you get adverts too.
But, as long as they are not intrusive and don't impact on the experience, who cares?
I remember BF2142 having billboards with advertsing on. I thought that was kinda cool. Didn't bother me in the slightest.
What bothers me more is when you buy a magazine, pay a fiver for it, and the magazine doesn't start until page 7. Then has full page adverts every 3 or 4 pages. Thats annoying, but funnily enough we don't all get forum rage because of it.
Sent from Bittech Android app
For ****'s sake.
enjoy those principles
Didnt get this game on release because cancelled the pre-order from an UK store due to the region locking thing. Now that lock was solved, was expecting the price to drop.
And now this comes...
I am ok with advertising in the ingame billboards, totally object to advertisings in loading screens.
I see a mod already exists to kill the ads, thats nice, but why should I pay for an ad-delivery tool?
Especially with the backlog of games I still to have play\finish?
Sadly so.
I do, very much, thanks!
He said he couldn't buy it ;) not that he couldn't play it.
+2
But I have to laugh at the Rage in this thread, about a small ad in the corner of a loading screen.
Seriously Deus Ex HR is an extremely good game and I would recommend it to anyone and one tiny thing that does not detriment the game should not be a reason to miss it, or pirate it.
Internets is Srs Bsns
http://i55.tinypic.com/35k6gyv.jpg
This is my objection to this move.
**** off.
Even if I wasn't convinced this is the start of an obvious slippery slope, **** off very far indeed.
If I'd have noticed the ads, I might be annoyed. But probably not. I don't get annoyed at ads at the start of films, or in between tv shows. I ignore them.
If you were using a ssd, you wouldn't be seeing this for as long :D
Fine, you didn't pay for them.
People are paying for the game. Would you object if you bought a DVD and there were ad breaks?
Corporations have few, if any, morals. Foisting adverts upon us is a very minor thing that they can do, and they've done it in the most subtle way possible, even if they were in the actual game on billboards it wouldn't be a huge difference.
Count your blessings, they can do a whole lot worse. The game is still unspoilt, the publisher's reputation is slightly tarnished, and all you can do is whinge about is how it affects the quality of the game? Complete bull, the game's still freaking awesome.
TL;DR Quit your whining, we got a free patch with a non-existent inconvenience.
(Also, buying a DVD with ad breaks is non-analogous to this, the ads do not prevent you playing, or affect anything at all, other than your own, very specific, perceptions.)
as mentioned i'm not gonna refuse to play the game and i'm sure as hell not gonna condone or justify piracy because i'm not a selfish overprivledged whiner but considering the game has no online component or upkeep costs other than the odd patch over steam i am somewhat appalled they chose this game to pioneer an in-game ad system we certainly won't have seen the last of - free multiplayer servers fair enough but don't detract from my singleplayer fun.
Point being is that people raged, cried yada yada. Its a game set in a future realistic world, even if the ads where on billboards its not really that intrusive. In fact most make people feel connected more to game that has relevant ads.
It would be a different story if they had ads that were in a jungle setting pasted all over the trees. I'd say just pick your battles and if you feel strongly enough about it dont buy or support their software. You do have a choice in the matter...
There is certainly no way I`m going to want this. It`s starts off small and then starts to pervade the entire gaming universe. It starts small and "helps add realism" then it becomes product placement. I was going to buy deus ex when I built my new pc, now I`m not simple.
Agreed. But it's Eidos, who love nothing better than to manipulate reviews. It's similar to the Tomb Raider stunt they pulled a few years back, where they paid a PR company to try to cajole reviewers into delaying the release of the game's reviews by a month, so that any bad reviews were released too late for people to do anything about it.
I wonder if bit-tech'll changing the game's score? Thing is, reviewers often set themselves up for manipulation like this.
Personally, I do not like paying for people to try and sell me things.
I bet they sold the advertising space, but then couldn't get the tech to work correctly in the game without resource problems, so they've had to come up with another solution. It's not pretty, but if it prevents Eidos from being sued then fair play.
They probably should have checked the in-game adverts would work before getting customers in though!
Oh dear... patches are not free and never are. When you invest in a product, you expect support for when things go tits up. If there is a fault with the product it is up to them to correct the fault.
Why when they have DLC on the way do they think it's ok to soak some ads into their games? Is it a sign they don't expect the DLC to do well?
Well, they can't, because I'm not going to buy it! They're completely powerless to do anything to me at all.
Why would they change the score on the game, when the actual game has not changed ? you don't review loading screens..
But you can take away points from a game with long loading times and annoying adverts. ;)
This.
Also; just because there is advertising doesn't mean that I'm going to run lemming like to the shops and make a purchase.
struck me as rather odd, I wonder how many people with a single-core CPU can even attempt to run the game in DX11 mode?
You can not really compare the two. The ads in Blade runner were not for real products, no-one paid for them to be placed there, and they did not appear after you had bought and watched the film through once/twice/etc on DVD/Blu ray/digital download. They were fun and added to the realisim.
The ads in DE:HR however are for real products, that someone has paid Eidos to include and that appeared after I had bought and paid for the game. They were sneaked in when fixing issues with the original game. I'd much preferr ads that hinted at more of the game worlds settings, like product or recruitment adds for stuff that would fit in the DE universe.
Now it is questionable how much or how little they affect the actual game but this is really about the underhandedness of Eidos/Square Enix, they are trying to get more money out of a single sale item, it's like the prospect of getting away with charging for DLC now is not enough. The more we allow them to do this the more it will happen and each time they will push it just a little bit more until we are in the situation that the film industry is at; far too much product placement.
Yes Hard Reset uses this time to give you story, so instead DE:HR does what?
I understand you have principles, but I think you are off the ball on this one.
They don't impede for a start. I haven't noticed them yet. I'm reading the story recap.
Essentially though, whilst I agree with the point that I don't want it interupting, I do think you are missing part of a larger picture. The gaming industry as big as it is, needs more cash injections. If a developer knows they can secure more funding there is less pressure on them. This will mean, devs know the game has to be good as it will generate more future revenue for them, meaning that with ever increasing budgets it makes more sense not to compromise on their promises or the potential. It could make the difference for smaller studios the most too.
So, to recap, I agree. I don't want intervals that break up my gaming and suspense of disbelief. But you are, in my opinion, making yourself a gaming pariah and martyr for perhaps illconsidered reasons.
Loads the game, shows a few images and tips which you don't have to pay attention to....
Adding to the realism, let's hold on to that thought. My comparison here was a direct artistic one between a movie about a dystopian future and a game about, well a dystopian future.
At the end of the day, throwing toys skyward because of what appears to be an unobtrusive (as it stands with the loading screen pic) is rather excessive. Even if billboards advertised real world items, you don't have to stare at them. I'm sure I would still enjoy Fallout 3 / Vegas if the billboards advertised Mr Kipling's finest instead of Fancy Lad's.
I don't know if ads in DE were announced beforehand, if they were then maybe some more attention should have been paid. If they weren't then it is certainly a little underhand.
But it's actual impact on the game is negligible, the characters don't break character and try to sell you goods like in 1950's shows - "When I'm hacking security systems I need reliable hardware, so that's why I chose Apple products". (Yeah I'm goading the haters a bit there...)
If the ads on loading screens bother you, use that tie to grab a can of Cuke...
So your opinion = fact...
Here's a thought, gaming is subjective therefore if someone doesn't like an aspect of it they are entitled not to like it and don't need you to tell them what is negligible...
No my opinion is my opinion. You opinion is yours. Should I not voice my opinion because it bothers you?
I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say here, but it appears to come down to the idea that the studios making more money will encourage them to create better games.
This is fatuous on so many levels that it practically represents a singularity of thoughtlessness, but I'll limit my response to: thankyou, Ayn Rand.
Two of the most commercially successful titles at the moment are Modern Warfare and Call of Duty, both of which are meritless bilge of the highest order. Care to revise your thesis?
You used words like negligible and state it as a fact rather than say "my opinion is", so...
How does an ad on the loading screen affect gameplay? If it does change the way the game plays, then I shall renounce my own use of that word.
Maybe I wrote my reply with a little too much humour (it's there for those who are willing to look). Maybe (for your benefit) I should have written "Herein lies an opinion". Wait a minute, an opinion on an internet board!? Somebody call the semantics police.
But I note that I also did not use the word "fact", and that is one.
A fact that is.
But I'm done with this so you can claim win if you like.
I'm off to buy some cakes I saw mentioned somewhere...
A win is a win.
Ads are a bother, that is what they do (and if they don't bother you, maybe they have accomplished their goals?), what they are designed to do, to nag at or sometimes convince (damn you just for men!) you to buy a product.
You also used the term "at the end of the day", not a fan.
Do we expect a official statement on this patch come Monday afternoon?
It's an intrusion into the world of the game. Computer games (often, probably usually) strive to present a continuous, unbroken world - either through the micro-levels of something like Half Life, or simply by showing the player a consistent visual style. The game in question shows an image of the player character during loading, for instance. Now, you can view loading breaks in a computer game as a title card for the upcoming gameplay, in which case it serves a purpose in the same way a title card might be used to establish a location in a film. Or, you can view it as a necessary but undesirable interruption. In neither case is it an appropriate time to distract the player from the game.
But we don't need that justification, to be honest. When I buy a computer game I'm paying for an experience, and to overlay that experience with advertising is cheap, frankly demeaning to the company. Are they that desperate for money that they have to deface their own work - good work, by all accounts - with commercial blandishments? It's pathetic.
http://forums.bit-tech.net/picture.php?albumid=882&pictureid=11632
Has bittech ever created an article on the revenue that the gaming industry creates? I would be interested to see what they really make. My mate works at rockstar and mentioned that GTA3 earned something like 3 times more than titanic which was the movie box office hit at the time, not a bad earning I would have thought.
Whilst every gaming house isnt going to be able to create a blockbuster like that take a look at the shelves in your local game shop. I can guarantee that I wont be looking at 97% of the crap on the shelves, the gaming industry has become saturated with vast quantities of mediocre rubbish. Surely they gotta be losing revenue on B list or c list titles? One cost saving technique would be stop making crap, then again if theyre not losing revenue then surely they`re not losing any off the A list titles?
Is it just a case of they`re not making as much as they think they should? So some guy in a suit is coming up with more and more productive ways of cashing in? It wont be long before we get energy drink power ups and "insert brand" trainers +1 haste.
127.0.0.1 doublefusion.com
127.0.0.1 *.doublefusion.com
It's not as if you are obliged to look at them or buy the product advertised.
In a sci-fi game where advertising isn't out of place, I really don't mind whatsoever if it means that developers get a little extra money to help make a good game.
Advertising has a single goal, to place in your mind the idea that somehow your life would be better off buying a product you don't need.
While there is a history of advertising in games, the vast majority are advert free. It's nice to indulge in a virtual environment free from the trappings of real life where no one is trying to get you to do anything IRL. Realistically, how big is the leap from adverts for shitty Star Wars re-remixes to having Carol Vorderman ear-****ing you for personal finance in your favourite FPS?
Aye. If it's in the game, it's reviewable. Paying money so that Eidos can get more money from other people ain't my idea of a fair deal.
What I'd like to know is just where ad servers are located - it's only gonna be MORE annoying if, like pretty much 90% of the internet, is US-centric ("THIS WEEK ONLY: 50% OFF ALL .44 MAGNUM AMMO AT WALMART!")
Oh, and six months from now I predict we'll be hearing about how a) this game was heavily pirated, and b) didn't make enough money.
And so it's ok because you assume the revenue is going to the developer?
I still wouldn't be happy even if ALL of the revenue was given to Charity. It's my choice how to spend my money and time, this game shipped with no ads.
Guess I won't get it, looked interesting but not fussed about playing as don't really have time anymore.
If something this small gets you wound up that much then you have deeper issues, its a awesome game, who cares about a advert ON THE LOADING SCREEN, and if they put some in game then cool, I for one thought it was a bit odd with all the made up brand names and products in the game, give me real brands and real billboards and for me it will improve the game.
Whose money? Mine, or the advertisers'?
And I'd be careful about throwing the word "idiot" around with a post like that.
Careful? its my opinion so I am happy to use the word, if you don't like my opinion that's your problem not mine :)
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-09-19-deus-ex-boss-battles-outsourced
If this is accepted by most people; "oh it is just a small banner!" it is the beginning of the end...
It is the same damn processes as tv commercials. First it was 30 seconds around news bulletins. Then it was 3 minutes between every tv item. And now it is like 10 minutes every 15 minutes. It is a goddamn waste of your time.
Good for you. It makes a change not to be the only person who won't side step what they believe in just because it's inconvenient.
Is it ok to illegally download this game since they get money from ads.