One problem with ad-supported games is that they will have a tendency towards getting more obtrusive as time goes on. I live in the UK and on ad-supported TV channels there is one ad break in a half hour show, two in an hour show; and they're not *too* long for the most part. US TV channels have a lot more ads per hour, and I would find that very obtrusive, especially seeing an ad break after the start credits. I can see that UK TV is slowly evolving towards more ad breaks, which seems a natural if undesirable (for the consumer) tendency.
The parallel for games might see the beginnings of ad-supported games being fairly benign, unobtrusive - an ad before the main menu or whilst loading the level for example. But over time, will there be a tendency towards more ads? Between every level? Will there one day be a game which breaks every ten minutes for adverts?
Another aspect of living in the UK is the BBC - totally paid for by the licence payers (for US dwellers who don't know, every household in the country that owns a TV must pay a yearly licence fee of around £120 which pays for the BBC - it's against the law not to pay). The general opinion in the UK is that the quality TV shows are BBC shows, and that ad-supported TV panders to the lowest common denominator. I'm not advocating a games licence fee at all - I just wonder how it bears on this discussion...
The parallel for games might see the beginnings of ad-supported games being fairly benign, unobtrusive - an ad before the main menu or whilst loading the level for example. But over time, will there be a tendency towards more ads? Between every level? Will there one day be a game which breaks every ten minutes for adverts?
Another aspect of living in the UK is the BBC - totally paid for by the licence payers (for US dwellers who don't know, every household in the country that owns a TV must pay a yearly licence fee of around £120 which pays for the BBC - it's against the law not to pay). The general opinion in the UK is that the quality TV shows are BBC shows, and that ad-supported TV panders to the lowest common denominator. I'm not advocating a games licence fee at all - I just wonder how it bears on this discussion...