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The advertising technology scans your computer, finds out where you live

Electronic Arts today announced that Battlefield 2142 has shipped to retailers in North America and Europe for the PC. After ripping open the box, but before putting the disc into their systems, gamers may notice a slip of paper with a disclaimer written on it. CGW Podcast read the disclaimer on air, which we have transcribed below:

"The software may incorporate technology developed by IGA Worldwide, the advertising technology. The purpose of the advertising technology is to deliver in-game ads when you use the software while connected to the Internet. When you use the software while connected to the Internet, the advertising technology may record your IP address and other anonymous information. That advertising data is temporarily used by IGA to enable the presentation and measurement of in-game ads and other in-game object which are uploaded temporarily to the your PC or game console, and change during online gameplay. The advertising technology does not collect personal or identifiable information about you."

Essentially, the in-game advertisement system in Battlefield 2142 utilizes methods that most spyware use. By analyzing your computing and browsing habits, EA/IGA uses that data to provide targeted ads. It is unknown if spyware scanners detect and classify Battlefield 2142 as malicious.

EA announced in late August its agreement with IGA Worldwide to provide in-game advertising across a portfolio of games.

"Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences," said Frank Sagnier, Vice President for Online and Strategic Relationships for EA in Europe. "The agreement with IGA is a first step in a detailed strategy to deliver advertising in a seamless format. We are continually looking at how to bring more connected experiences and services to consumers, and working with a network like IGA is a start to building this dimension of our business."

This is a radical shift from previous instances of in-game advertisements, where advertisers would purchase billboard space or product placement that would remain a part of the game forever. For example, Nivea is teaming up with UbiSoft to place its skin products and Philips Norelco shaving products in game-space bathrooms.

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Congrats EA
By ilkhan on 10/17/2006 8:25:12 PM , Rating: 4
Congrats EA. You just permanently lost me as a customer! Enjoy your advertising dollars at the expense of my software dollars.




RE: Congrats EA
By Josh7289 on 10/17/2006 8:32:16 PM , Rating: 4
EA lost me long long ago, and they've just given me another reason to not come back.

It's getting harder and harder to figure out which one has the worst public opinion right now: Sony or EA? ;)

Oh, and I agree with bobsmith1492 below me. Nice pic...


RE: Congrats EA
By nerdtalker on 10/17/2006 8:39:33 PM , Rating: 4
I guess the only lingering question was how many people truly were even going to buy BF 2142 after how much BF 2 suffered through patch after patch, a rollback, and more broken updates than real fixes.

EA seems to live to kill itself here. Paradoxical, indeed.

With any luck, disabling this crapware-like behavior and AD delivery should be as easy as adding an entry in the HOSTS file.


RE: Congrats EA
By danz32 on 10/17/2006 8:46:57 PM , Rating: 2
I have really enjoyed the Need for Speed games, as well as EA Sports. It is unforunate that they have to do crap like this.


RE: Congrats EA
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 10/18/2006 12:54:49 AM , Rating: 4
But your model for ad revenue just doesn't add up. How will they know I am looking at a advertisement? I might just be camping a street that has a AXE billboard further down the road. Or will they now put it that after every game you have to select which ads you liked looking at best? Perhaps maybe everytime your crosshair goes over an ad a pop-up screen appears showing more info... Either way, this just does not sound appealing.

Don't forget, this is the same EA that required you to either pay money to go play a racing game online that you bought or give your E-mail address to them so they can fill up your mailbox with spam... And I don't recall a warning on the box that time either.

So like I said, the only way it makes sense is if they scan your Temporary Internet Files folder or IE cache, etc to find out what you like looking at or going to so they can spam you in-game with things that they think would peak your interest.

One more thing, what modern ads can they possibly put into a game that is set 150 years in the future that cannot subtract from the atmosphere... I mean here you are driving a two legged mech and you come around a corner face to face with a ad showing the latest Honda....

-------
Chillin


RE: Congrats EA
By Chillin1248 (blog) on 10/18/2006 12:59:03 AM , Rating: 3
One more thing I have to add after reading IGAs response, how do you know that they are not scanning elsewhere outside the game. I mean it does say, "other anonymous information".

-------
Chillin


RE: Congrats EA
By Chernobyl68 on 10/18/2006 12:35:37 PM , Rating: 2
wow, and here I was thinking I played games to get away from all the advertising on TV...!


RE: Congrats EA
By MadDogMorgan on 10/18/2006 4:21:54 PM , Rating: 2
One can only SPECULATE what "other anonymous information" could mean. Does that mean, your Favorites list?, your email address book? Your adjusted gross income from your saved Turbo-Tax files? All these things are not "personally identifiable" when not connected with your name. Thus, they would fall under the disclaimer you agree to by installing this software.
If I was the AD company, I'd be VERY INTERESTED in your Adjust ed Gross Income, it would certainly allow me to target the ADs to your buying ability. You think they haven't thought of that??? Do you really think they have any qualms about digging for that information?


RE: Congrats EA
By otispunkmeyer on 10/18/2006 5:19:01 AM , Rating: 3
lol yeah, but i guess if u looked exclusively at porn all day then maybe you get billboards of naked hotties while your driving your mech?

or you round the corner in your futuristic hummvee in gimp suit, to see some girl on girl action :D


RE: Congrats EA
By UserDoesNotExist on 10/18/06, Rating: 0
RE: Congrats EA
By Wwhat on 10/18/2006 10:12:16 AM , Rating: 4
Apparantly you can block ports 1274-1275 to block the ads, but I would not be surprised they then make it jump to another portrange later on.


RE: Congrats EA
By soydios on 10/17/2006 9:31:31 PM , Rating: 2
Same here. Personally, I do not want to install spyware with any games on my computer.


RE: Congrats EA
By Wwhat on 10/18/2006 10:13:31 AM , Rating: 4
You'd be surprised how many games install hidden crap on people's computers and don't remove it when you remove the game.
Mostly copyprotection schemes though.


RE: Congrats EA
By kdog03 on 10/18/06, Rating: 0
RE: Congrats EA
By del on 10/18/2006 3:10:17 PM , Rating: 4
I'm not going to buy BF2142 anymore because of this.

Thanks, DailyTech! ^_~


RE: Congrats EA
By carrotroot on 10/18/2006 6:31:08 PM , Rating: 3
Paying $50 USD for game AND having to get spyware ads is just wrong.


Too bad
By Dustin25 on 10/17/2006 11:50:47 PM , Rating: 3
This is just pathetic. I was gonna preload the game tonight, but after hearing this, no way. EA's decision has already lost them money today, my money. I'm so pissed that they did this. Oh and thanks for the nice little slip of paper EA, would I have had the same notice if I had downloaded it tonight? Doubtful, and if so, it would have been after the download purchase. EA knows this shit isn't right, that's why they are trying to hide it until after purchase. I'll bet the paper is even wedged into all the other advertising crap in the box so most would never see it.




RE: Too bad
By michal1980 on 10/17/2006 11:57:28 PM , Rating: 3
i'm glad daily tech finally picked up on this. (I gave you links at 5AM!!!!)

heres the IGA canned response http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?st...

When the hell did I wake up and NEED IN GAME ADS?

WTF, give me the game for free/cheap then I'll watch your stupid ads.

Ads in sports games are natural.

Ads in a war-torn future battlefield? oh ya, I remeber all those wars sponsered by pepsi?! wtf


RE: Too bad
By Spinne on 10/18/2006 2:23:31 AM , Rating: 2
Some needs to send this ****** (Justin Townsend) some spyware. He is full of it.


RE: Too bad
By wallijonn on 10/18/2006 12:39:13 PM , Rating: 3
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?st... :

"In addition, IGA's in-game ad solution does capture the time of day that the user started to play each gaming session - Townsend mentioned, as an example, that "if the brief says 'Males 18 to 34'", the ads may only be served between 6pm and 9pm on a weekday evening or similar, to replicate 'primetime' viewing.

The time that each ad [b]impression[/b] takes place is also recorded by IGA, alongside what type of ad content it was (billboard, megaboard, or video stream), the duration (how long was the ad [b]seen for[/b]), the size of the ad relative to the player, and [b]the angle of deflection [/b](what angle the ad is viewed at)."

So figure that when you sign up that you will have to provide proof of age since "a brief" will be compiled for your IP address. I guess all the 12 year olds will now say that they are 21 so that they can be exposed to cigarette, booze and call girl ads.

Will there be bonus points for destroying every ad? The ANGLE OF DEFLECTION is being sent back. Think about the resources which must be employed to measure where you are in-game at all times. (It's one thing to compute within the game engine and another to stream that data outside the engine.) I would think that this would be a bandwidth resource hog. What is being measured is how long you look at an ad and if you are going out of your way to read the ad. You are now a human guinea pig.

Will there be a cache of cookies inside the game folder? Will you have to clear the cache before and after you start a game? Will it be as hard to clear as AOL's cache? Will the game account need Administrator privs to run? In which case you are leaving yourself wide open for abuse.


RE: Too bad
By DrMeerkat on 10/19/2006 9:57:21 AM , Rating: 3
Actually they COULD make it realistic, just have them sponsored by Exxon, Shell, Texaco, Halliburton...


RE: Too bad
By FITCamaro on 10/18/2006 12:40:19 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
oh ya, I remember all those wars sponsored by pepsi?!


You just don't hear or see them. They happen though. They are the wars we all must fear.


RE: Too bad
By Dustin25 on 10/18/2006 1:07:51 PM , Rating: 5
Battlefield 2142: The Cola Wars


Not spyware
By jatm on 10/18/2006 4:41:43 AM , Rating: 1
The author of this article is only guessing what the software does.

According to DICE, it will NOT scan your web surfing habits, only measure how you view the in game ads and download new ads. This can not be done without using your IP-address.

You are all going off on a tangent based on guesswork and rumors, not fact. The language used does not support the notion that the software must be spyware. It does not say it is NOT spyware, but clarifications from EA and DICE assures that it is not and until I see evidence to the contrary, I will believe them.

The only reason people are so fast to label this as spyware is that it involves advertising, which people don't like.




RE: Not spyware
By AppaYipYip on 10/18/2006 9:13:18 AM , Rating: 2
You are exactly the type of consumer they want. Easily persuaded and gullible.

Way to go! You really know how to lay down and take one for the team, pal.


RE: Not spyware
By jatm on 10/18/2006 12:13:23 PM , Rating: 1
I didn't say I like ads. I am saying there's a difference (vast) between how DICE and EA says the ad ware is working and how it is described (as far as I can tell only based on guesswork and rumors) in this article. I don't see any fact or first hand observations to support the conclusions in this article and until I do, I consider those who trust it to be the easily persuaded and gullible.


RE: Not spyware
By BladeVenom on 10/18/2006 1:05:00 PM , Rating: 3
Then why do you need to disable a Windows security update to get the game to run reliably?


RE: Not spyware
By UserDoesNotExist on 10/18/2006 9:26:06 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
only measure how you view the in game ads and download new ads


Sounds like spyware to me.

This has gone too far. I'm not some liberal conspiracy theory wackjob who thinks that George Bush is monitoring all my calls and Karl Rove is sifting through my garbage can. In many ways, the American idea of "privacy" is absurd, i.e. bitching about the government monitoring phone calls of terrorists yet they'll give away their complete biographical information to any company that holds a raffle for a Honda.
I don't mind in-game static billboards, since that's a permanent part of the game. As a matter of fact, I love the Axe girl in GRAW. She's fun to decorate with bullets.

But when I buy a game from a company, I expect that to be the termination of our transaction (unless it's a MMORPG, which I don't play anymore anyway.) I give company money, they give me game, happiness abounds. EA's basically getting something for nothing: I don't receive any goods or services from the in-game ads, but EA receives a constant profit source from me. As a matter of fact, I'm negatively affected by the ads. Bandwidth is cheap, but the fact remains that EA is using my bandwidth without my express consent so that they can make a profit. Installing a game is *not* express consent, EULA's have never held up in a court of law. For God's sake, EA doesn't even run the servers, so they can't even claim server upkeep. Yeah, they have *some* servers, but the vast majority are user owned and operated.

I was planning on buying BF2142, but not now. EA, you've lost a customer for good.

P.S. This was done to help alleviate development costs? What development costs? The game is basically a very good mod for BF2.


RE: Not spyware
By jatm on 10/18/2006 12:16:41 PM , Rating: 2
This is no different from commercials in tv, radio or newspaper ads or product placement in movies.

And EA already uses your bandwidth to monitor almost every move you make in game. It's called the ranking system.


RE: Not spyware
By fumar on 10/25/2006 1:24:26 AM , Rating: 2
But TV and radio are free and newspapers are very cheap. Those forms of media make all their money through advertising. This is a full price game. Most games make their money on hardware sponsors and retail sales. I would accept the advertising as ok if the game was, say $30, not $50.

The ranking system is a benefit to the player. These ads provide no benefit to players.

Where are these ads anyway? I haven't seen any in the game and I've played a lot over the last 5 days.


RE: Not spyware
By Soviet Robot on 10/18/06, Rating: 0
RE: Not spyware
By Procurion on 10/25/2006 1:52:47 PM , Rating: 2
You're missing the point. They are installing a piggy-back to the game, using your resources on the computer, your bandwidth, and you have no control over it....it's YOUR computer-you paid for it, not them! Where's the user fee? They are using equipment YOU own for free! No, you paid them for that priviledge, actually. Why do they NOT specify what those "other" pieces of information they gather are? If it was insignificant info then they would spell it out, but they don't. They are acting like a bull in the china shop, trampling our sense of values and privacy, gambling on enough people wanting to play more than protect themselves from incompletely identified programs involuntarily installed on their computers....


So what if...
By Jesse Taylor on 10/17/2006 8:51:07 PM , Rating: 2
Your computer was full of porn, what then would they advertise to you? I think that there are appropriate and inappropriate times and places to insert in game advertising. I think that there is an intelligent way to go about this. Advertisers need to think innovatively about new forms of presentation for their clients products, create things that we want to see. But then everyone wants to see different things...or do they?




RE: So what if...
By Dustin25 on 10/17/2006 9:22:50 PM , Rating: 2
I agree, I am a die hard BF2 player and I will never buy 2142 because of this. Couldn't they at least put the warning on the outside of the box so you could make the decision before buying?!? EA, if you want to advertise in-game, do so with static adverts that are sold during the making of the game and just have them there permanently. Then knock $10 off the price of the game for the service the players are providing you. This is beyond bullshit. You charge for every meaningless new map and army update, now this? I can only hope that a hack comes along that will disable this crap so I can play it.


RE: So what if...
By AlexWade on 10/18/2006 8:20:58 AM , Rating: 2
There is NEVER an intelligent way to insert ads into something I paid for. People are inundated by ads, and the companies wonder why people resent them and tune them out. Everything upon everything has a corporate sponsor. Ads are everywhere.

Ad makers need to get innovative alright. They need to invent less ads, and maybe then I'll pay attention to them more.

Like I always said about EA ...
"EA Games, you don't have a choice"

If the game was free, I'd be willing to tolerate this. But ads in pay content do not belong. And yes, that includes cable TV. If Viacom wants to show ads on Comedy Central, they shouldn't extort the cable co. or DirecTV or Dish for any money for the right to air that channel.


RE: So what if...
By FITCamaro on 10/18/2006 9:25:35 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Like I always said about EA ...
"EA Games, you don't have a choice"


Mine is "EA Games. We own everything." One of my friends told me about one a classmate of his said but I'm not allowed to say it on here.

I don't know. I really would like to play this game because I love the Battlefield franchise and while DICE is now owned by EA, I'd like to still support them since they do good work. I think EA has just screwed them up like everything else they touch.

I'll probably go get it but look at finding a way to stop the adware from running. I agree with the comment on how do you place ads that don't detract from the game when the game is set over a 100 years from now. I don't mind seeing a tattered billboard with a run down Coke ad on it or something like that. But if I see a brand spanking new billboard advertising a brand new car or soft drink, then yeah I'm gonna be mad.


RE: So what if...
By fumar on 10/25/2006 1:31:33 AM , Rating: 2
I personally like "EA Games, we dictate your life."


RE: So what if...
By Jesse Taylor on 10/20/2006 5:16:31 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
There is NEVER an intelligent way to insert ads into something I paid for


Well consider car racing games, for example NFSMW. All the products that are related to upgrading the cars are real world products. If each of those products can mirror their real world performance, then I think that is a credit to the manufacturer of that product.


confused?
By maevinj on 10/17/2006 9:48:34 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
IP address and other anonymous information



I didn't think an Ip address was anonymous.




RE: confused?
By peternelson on 10/17/2006 10:30:47 PM , Rating: 2
Well it certainly isn't in my case as I'm using a block of static IPs.

However if ONLY used to determine country that would not be so bad eg don't advertise gambling to Americans (after recent law) that would waste the opportunity to advertise something they could buy.

I'm more concerned that they should explicitly spell out precisely what they mean by "OTHER anonymous INFORMATION".

Depending on what that is I might be disinclined to buy the game.


RE: confused?
By 9nails on 10/17/2006 11:45:39 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
I'm more concerned that they should explicitly spell out precisely what they mean by "OTHER anonymous INFORMATION".


Yes, I absolutely agree. I would like to mention that the consumer shouldn't be surprised by this AFTER they open the box; and it's too late to return it to the store.

I'm glad this warning came out before too many consumers got nailed by this dirty trick.


RE: confused?
By Wwhat on 10/18/2006 10:17:44 AM , Rating: 2
Might? are you so sold to a game that's a cheap and not that great BF2 mod that you are willing to sell yourself out AND pay the full price for the privilege?
Incidentally the people that did buy it say that they can't stay connected for longer than 5 mins due to masterserver issues on their forums.
Perhaps they need all bandwidth for the ads? :/


Ads in games => free games dammit!
By UzairH on 10/18/2006 2:46:59 AM , Rating: 4
Where does EA get off on charging customers $50 for the game, and then including spyware-based ads in that game? Or any ads for that matter.

Ads make sense only in free content, such as we get on TV broadcast. Ads in sports sims are also ok, they increase the realism if they match the ads in real-life venues and race tracks. But ads in shooters? And that a futuristic shooter? What next, ads in RPGs?

I think I'm starting to dislike EA even more than Sony now. I will pay good money for a game which contains ads in it.




RE: Ads in games => free games dammit!
By UzairH on 10/18/2006 2:52:01 AM , Rating: 3
EDIT: I will VEVER pay good money for a game which contains ads in it.


RE: Ads in games => free games dammit!
By Saist on 10/18/2006 4:24:10 AM , Rating: 2
I made the comment a couple of years ago now on the Planetside boards that any MMO that had to accept in-game advertising dollars in order to run, had failed.

If your total expenses are not met by the sales of your game, then you do not need to be making or producing the game to begin with. If you cannot cover payroll, production costs, license costs, and other costs with your expected returns, and you must turn to advertisers to pick up the slack, then plain and simple, you. have. failed.

Now, I admittedly still play Planetside because it is the only MMOFPS out there, and after the changes made to Tabula Rasa, and what Huxley has been shown as, Planetside will remain the only persistant MMOFPS. I do not have any other choices than Planetside for that genre of game. I don't like that at all and I wish somebody else would fill that void, but oh well.

In the case of Battlefield though, and BF2142, the market is full of products that offer similar gameplays in that genre. There are several mods avaible for other Non-Genre games like Unreal Tournament and Quake4 that offer similar in genre gameplay.

And I don't think EA realizes that, or didn't realize that. I, personally, agree, I refuse to spend money on games that incorporate real time ad systems. The game that doesn't incorporate a system will always be my choice.


By WhiteBoyFunk on 10/20/2006 2:13:32 PM , Rating: 1
I could NOT disagree with you more.

In-game ads open up new avenues for gamers in an awesome way. Have you thought about the possibility of a designer releasing a popular title to a vast audience (for example ET:QW) but not charging a dime for the game? It is quite possible the game would aprk interest in far more players. The easiest way to make a profit from the game at this point would be to advertise.

Now I'm not advocating this new era of in-game spyware or advertising. As long as it doesn't eat up my bandwidth to a whole new level or spy on me I really couldn't care less since I didn't have to pay for it.

It seems that some posters before me had touched on the issue as well.


/...
By thescreensavers on 10/17/2006 10:26:53 PM , Rating: 2
Sh!t I preordered this game and was goign to pick it up now I an not goign to touch that. What a waste of $10




RE: /...
By microAmp on 10/17/2006 11:23:04 PM , Rating: 2
Got to where ever and cancel it, you should get your $10 back.


RE: /...
By wien on 10/18/2006 7:11:11 AM , Rating: 5
...and make sure you let them know why you're canceling it.


!
By Scabies on 10/17/2006 8:45:36 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
"Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences,"


I thought the goal was advertise to sell the game. OK I bought it, what more do you want from me? Sure, I'll play it, and if I like it I may tell my friends. F*ck you for trying to get even more money out of my $50 commitment (which I downloaded, therefore that saves you, EA, $.04 on printing a disk, $.15 on printed materials inside the box and the ox itself, and $.30 to ship it to the store down the street from me.)

ALSO: If you're going to host multiplayer games, maybe you should test the code to see if it works (see 10-17-06 BF2142demo server mayhem)




RE: !
By UsernameX on 10/17/2006 8:52:36 PM , Rating: 3
I can only completely agree with you Scabies. I was actually going to download BF2142 when I got home tonight. Thank you DailyTech for saving me $50 dollars. Not only does advertising in games piss me off, but to top it off with spyware based advertising!? WTF!? EA will not get my money. Good day to you sir!


RE: !
By The Sword 88 on 10/17/2006 10:46:05 PM , Rating: 1
Advertising is one thing. I dont care if there are billboards or other ads that are in the game , so what if I see an only a certain type of product in the game, but spyware advetising? That is too far.


Weird World, EA is the DEBIL!
By feraltoad on 10/18/2006 12:25:58 AM , Rating: 4
I'll find it ironic and sad if one day you stand a better chance of getting a clean game(no spyware) off a bittorrent site than you do actually buying it off the store shelf.




RE: Weird World, EA is the DEBIL!
By GoodRevrnd on 10/18/2006 12:43:56 AM , Rating: 2
No joke. Talk about fuel for piracy.


If you don't like it...
By L33tMasta on 10/23/2006 2:25:13 PM , Rating: 2
then don't buy it/install it/play it. I'm fine with this. if EA wants to check my IP region (which is all they're doing) then it's fine by me. It's worth it for a game like this. I don't see ANY ads. AT ALL! NONE! I see a billboard with "IGA" on it and thats about all. Now stop your whining and make the choice.




RE: If you don't like it...
By m 8u5 746 1 on 10/23/2006 5:29:36 PM , Rating: 2
In part I agree with you. It's just a game. Vote with your money and shut up. I have made my choice and returned the game.

Minor point: EA itself admits to more than just checking IP region. It says that IGA "...records other anonymous information" and may "from time to time" send it out of the country. Probably no big deal.

I'm not really convinced that those billboards you see will always be empty. I think the whole idea is to find some revenue generating purpose for them. Strategically it's probably best for EA to ramp up slowly. If everybody saw McDonalds, Nike, and Pampers on day one EA would be getting a lot more heat.

I hear you when you say "It's worth it for a game like this." It was painful to have to return it unused. But why does it have to be "worth it?" Why do you have to put up with this having your activities in your home tracked for the privilege of giving EA money?


RE: If you don't like it...
By L33tMasta on 10/24/2006 11:32:55 AM , Rating: 2
Well in part I agree. But I don't think that the info they're giving out is all that bad. It's all just in the name to make a couple of cents while I see a real world ad on a destroyed billboard. It kinda makes you think you ARE in the future with allthese ads and things destroyed. if I see a pampers billboard with a big hole through it, I'm more likly to laugh than go out and buy pampers. As for Nike, I don't spend $100+ on shoes. My shoes are $20 CDN. yep. I buy my shoes at Walmart. Theyarn't expensive, because they don't have to be. Ads just don't work sometimes so I don't mind them. The kinds of info they are sending about my shopping habits are nothing as well. because I do very little shopping online. When I shop I do it mostly on EBAY or STEAM.


By Le Québécois on 10/18/2006 12:36:04 AM , Rating: 5
It's about time peoples react on the "Ads problem".

If only peoples would have realize this sooner. We have been surrounded by Ads in our live for a long time people. At first it was just some billboard and news papers, then some radio, then came TV. Now it's everywhere. It's normal from a company point to have ads so they can advertise their products. What is now a common thing and shouldn't be tolerated is when you have ads in a product in PAID for. But since peoples never reacted to this, like all the ads before it, it will soon be everywhere you look and accepted by our society.

Next thing you'll know is we will begin to have ads cutting our movie in the theaters, in a middle of a DVD or in a Book.

That the next logical step.

And for that they are right to use spyware to know what to advertise you.

The time were "Big Brother" was watching us is now over, now we have "Big Brother and Big Nasty UncleS" watching for everything we do.




Pattern of behavior for EA
By m 8u5 746 1 on 10/19/2006 1:44:50 PM , Rating: 3
This is the second time in a row that EA has used the "get the money first and only then reveal the unacceptable usage language" tactic on me. First time: EA Downloader.

Normally I just click through the EULA like everybody else, but after purchasing a BF2 expansion pack something about EA downloader was giving me the creeps. I encourage all of you running this little gem to glance at the EULA and see just what you have agreed to (among other things ea's "right" to go spelunking around your hard disk and see if they approve of other game installs, also to allow it to communicate your computer usage habits to ea and allow them to disclose that info to others). You are not presented with the EULA until AFTER your purchase and you are instructed not to install the product if you do not agree to it's terms. When I wrote EA informing them that I did not agree to the EULA and wanted a refund, they of course refused on the basis that software download sales are final. I had to make a big production and threaten to dispute the credit card charge in order to resolve the issue.

I decided to buy a shrink wrapped retail 2142 and deliberately avoided the preload since I already knew I could not agree the the EA dowloader terms of use. It was with great annoyance and absolutely no surprise that I read the In Game Advertising spyware notice contained INSIDE the game case. The shrink wrap is now broken and I'm sure you can all imagine the scene at CompUSA as I try to return an opened game.




RE: Pattern of behavior for EA
By m 8u5 746 1 on 10/19/2006 5:49:28 PM , Rating: 2
Update: CompUSA was very gracious about accepting the return of BF2142. All I had to do was explain the situation to the manager. I would encourage all of you to return your copy for a refund and be sure and document the reason on the return form.

EA, I keep trying to give you money, if you would quit trying to get into my pants I would let you keep it.


May not be *THAT* bad
By Daijobu on 10/17/2006 11:29:11 PM , Rating: 2
I first would like to say that EA definitely should have alerted the consumer somewhere on the package, visible before purchasing, because a slip of paper in a software box after purchase is a really really disgusting display.

But I would like to offer a small counter point to this argument. If this additional programing simply monitors only "in-game" behavior then I have no problem with it whatsoever. An IP address is logged everywhere and on every server I play on anyways, so I do not mind that IGA partnered with EA knows what my IP is as well. So if I get more Coke ads in-game because I like Coke and look at the "in game" ads more I do not mind. HOWEVER!, the second I get a Coke pop-up on my browser, or I find that this addition software runs while 2142 is not running I am gonna go ape-sh*t.




RE: May not be *THAT* bad
By Targon on 10/17/2006 11:50:17 PM , Rating: 2
The game could download advertisements regularly and it would allow EA to collect money continually. The problem is this garbage of spyware/adware type code will drive people away. This type of thing is also a case of EA being paid to put the garbage in there, but only a one-time type of deal to bundle it.

I don't mind in-game advertisements, I just don't want this spyware style of it.


By EA
By AppaYipYip on 10/18/2006 12:11:31 AM , Rating: 2
I WAS going to purchase this game. EA lost me as a customer as well. This is rediculous....do they actually think we would support this???




RE: By EA
By edge929 on 10/18/2006 4:33:54 PM , Rating: 2
Ditto. Not buying it now and was so looking forward to it. Just another reason to hate EA.

EA is totally getting something for nothing here. They saw the dollar $ign$ and wet their pants.


Does Demo "dial home"?
By feraltoad on 10/18/2006 12:21:44 AM , Rating: 2
Maybe it is normal behavior but has anyone else's firewall complained about BF2142 demo trying to access the net even when it is not being played?




RE: Does Demo "dial home"?
By themusgrat on 10/18/2006 1:34:40 AM , Rating: 2
I doubt the demo has this crap in it... You wouldn't want to warn people about it until they already bought the game and opened the package, would you?


Greedy EA...
By ira176 on 10/18/2006 3:39:02 AM , Rating: 2
EA is fleecing me of my $50.00, for a game, is that not enough? No, they need to get advertisements to "help offset" the cost. I am insulted, we are paying top dollar to EA, and they are surley making a healthy profit, without ads. It's just like regular television, "This program was brought to you by the makers of Gold Bond and Tampax Tampons". I will not be getting their latest installment of battlefield.




RE: Greedy EA...
By fxnick on 10/18/2006 3:48:58 PM , Rating: 2
this whole thing would be ok with me if they LOWERED THE PRICE of it to like 20-25 bucks

what a fuckin ripoff


Greed
By Hakuryu on 10/19/2006 12:12:21 AM , Rating: 2
This is nothing but pure greed on EA's part. Although expenses rise when creating games, they cannot actually expect me to believe a BF2 mod (of which 2142 basically is) really hurt them so much financially that they had to result to this. What this ad-placement is paying for is EA's acquistion of Dice.

I was not going to buy BF 2142 simply because I know I can expect the red-name bug and other carryovers from BF2, but in the last week I thought I might buy it simply because nothing else is being released soon. Now I'm definately not going to buy it, and in addition I will seriously research any future EA game to make sure this type of crap is not in it before buying.

I am biased toward Quake Wars, since I love the Enemy Territory gameplay, and eagerly await that game. Id and their partners consistently show how a developer should act in my opinion. You never see EA holding a Battlefield lan party where the dev's come out and talk extensively and play with the fan base. In fact I've never seen a Dice or EA employee reply to forum posts, but is a regular occurence on Splash Damage's forum.

I implore any gamer out there to vote with your wallet and not buy 2142 if you find EA's practices as deplorable as I do.




RE: Greed
By n1Cola on 10/19/2006 9:18:37 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Text
The advertising program in Battlefield 2142 does not access any files which are not directly related to the game. It does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, or surfing history.

BF 2142 delivers ads by region. The advertising system uses a player's IP address to determine the region of the player, assisting to serve the appropriate ads by region and language. For instance, a player in Paris might be presented with ads in French. The information collected will not be repurposed for other uses.

Battlefield 2142 also tracks "impression data" related to in-game advertisements: location of a billboard in the game, brand advertised, duration of advertisement impression, etc. This information is used to help advertisers qualify the reach of a given advertisement.


Skynet....
By Fnoob on 10/17/2006 9:31:58 PM , Rating: 1
Its just the first step.... now they now where everyone playing 2142 is located....

Makes terminating them that much easier.





RE: Skynet....
By Madellga on 10/18/2006 1:55:26 AM , Rating: 2
I think we could accept adds if the game was free.

If it costs $50 bucks, they have no right to include adds.
Since when we pay to read adds? It should be the opposite.

They can stick it (together with the games that charge online fees) where the sun does not shine.....

PS: Perhaps now there is a market for a in game ad-blocker.....


So this is how it's gonna be?
By wien on 10/18/2006 7:26:36 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences
Really? Do they really need to reach us in there? Do you really need to take that one little escape we have from the sickeningly commercialized world we're living in away from us?




Sigh...
By UppityMatt on 10/18/2006 3:38:12 PM , Rating: 3
I just had to say that i am not going to buy BF2142 after reading this article. Thanks DailyTech!




By m 8u5 746 1 on 10/22/2006 7:29:50 PM , Rating: 3
Gamer's, whine about prices, squeak about bugs and squawk about compatibility problems. Gamers go into spastic convulsions when play balance tweaks are made. Gamers post mean things about EA on the internet. There are many thousands of gamers doing this. Worst of all gamers spend money a puny $50 at a time.

In short Gamers are a huge pain in the back side as customers.

Advertisers on the other hand, are discrete and professional, especially if you show up with robust metrics regarding their ads. There are few enough of them to all be handled by a couple of quality sales reps. Best of all they spend money tens of thousands of dollars at a time.

Guess who EA has decided it wants to be its customers.

You are now EA's product. The advertisers are it's customers.




News pic
By bobsmith1492 on 10/17/2006 8:26:32 PM , Rating: 2
I like the picture. :)




RE: News pic
By michal1980 on 10/18/06, Rating: 0
By kowgamer on 10/17/2006 9:27:38 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah, can't figure out EA, I guess they are just going for the lowest common denominator. BF2 showed they have little concern for the innovator and hardcore customer market segment. Much as I enjoy that game, the seeming inability to validate and correct the software on a basic level has me bowing out from BF2142 and looking for a short on EA stock.

This attitude has got to affect the rest of their product line as well, and seems to me a real problem for the entire gaming industry (PC segment at least) that will have real consequences down the line for the PC market in general.

If I can't
1) Get software the runs reliably and consistently out of the box
2) Isn't filled with crapware addin/addon

why the hell should I even consider dropping the coin to upgrade and or even engage with the PC market in general?

I guess most consumers are OK with the offerings, but the industry is losing a substantial profit margin due to poor practice and presentation of many of the providers (I cite Itunes as example #1 IMOO it sux).

I would rather play a low res Backgammon game then deal with POS product, manufactors take notice, some of you are losing the market, and for others the opportunity is wide open..





By JaredExtreme on 10/17/2006 10:16:04 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I was on the fence about buying BF2142. Given the poor patches and support EA had for BF2, I was a bit wary of 2142, but I was thinking about probably getting it anyway over christmas break.

Now I absolutely will not.

Thank you for posting this article, it's too bad EA has tarnished what looked like a promising game.




So.....
By latino666 on 10/17/2006 10:23:39 PM , Rating: 2
is this the first time they or any "respectful" game company did something like this? It just makes me wonder




Crysis Ads also ?
By kilkennycat on 10/17/2006 10:42:13 PM , Rating: 2
Hopefully, there will be so much angry backlash that EA will not attempt to insert any ads in Crysis, either in Singleplay or Multiplay. Crysis is expected to be the next action-game blockbuster for the PC.... and as such is obviously another good target for user data-mining weevils.

Crysis is very high on my buy-potential list and is the only game I am likely to buy from EA in the near-future. However Crysis is likely to be removed pronto from that list if EA attempts by any means (including targeted-ads) to collect user-information from me when playing the Single-player campaign... i.e: no Steam-type umbilical cord for data-collection, targeted-ads, or mandatory on-line authentication of the Single-player component. I may have less say in the collection of user-information in Multiplay mode, but targeted ads again will be a personal no-no. So I shall now be checking the pre-shipment reviews of Crysis like a hawk for anything that smells of any intrusive personal data-collection.




By madgrenadier on 10/17/2006 11:44:47 PM , Rating: 2
What's wrong with you, EA GAMES? As if great games didn't already have enough posters all over the walls, you had to take it a step farther and add spyware? Have you gone mad?

I mean, the last thing I want to see is more freakin' ads, ESPECIALLY during my gaming time! You lost me as a customer. I'd rather give my money to better game producers anyway, not monopolozing maniacs.




Your Ad Here
By zeroslugfm on 10/18/2006 12:53:54 AM , Rating: 2
"Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences,"

--So basically putting ads on the back of boxes, manuals, software bundles, and those little paper inserts weren't enough? Eh, but I suppose most of these "ad" games are those dime-a-dozen sort....




By Randalllind on 10/18/2006 6:38:25 AM , Rating: 2
This will only increase stealing. I am sure someone will figure out how to rip ads out of games. You pay $50 for a crappy game and have to download patch after patch cause they just don't care about the end-user.

No wonder people download crap instead of buying. You play legit and they screw you so what the different between downloading and paying then? Seem to me you get screwed the same way.

I bet you get in trouble for for removing spyware.




so...
By JNo on 10/18/2006 8:02:13 AM , Rating: 2
does this mean that if i do loads of internet shopping for sex toys i will see loads of willies and boobies plastered all over billboards in this futuristic mech war world? funny




Spread the word!
By DigitalFreak on 10/18/2006 8:04:49 AM , Rating: 2
The only way to stop this type of crap is to spread the word! Post on gamespot, gamespy, ea, etc. forums. If EA won't notify people of this before they purchase the product, then it's up to the rest of us to let people know about it.




Vote it down
By hannons on 10/18/2006 8:49:09 AM , Rating: 2
Go to any game review sites you are a member of and give the game a bad review because of this. Less people will buy it with a bad review.




eh?
By Soviet Robot on 10/18/2006 3:23:21 PM , Rating: 2
Does anyone know ebgames' return policy? I don't think I want this game anymore.
I played it for 10 minutes last night and shut it off.
It performs horribly and feels like an expensive BF2 mod.




Nice job EA
By Randum on 10/18/2006 6:01:43 PM , Rating: 2
You lost this customer, and our clan.




Shame shame
By McParty on 10/19/2006 12:00:59 AM , Rating: 2
To me...it just comes down to this...

IT IS JUST PLAIN WRONG!! Sneaking in some little spyware program. Just WRONG.

I doubt I will purchase this game now!




EA on this
By n1Cola on 10/19/2006 9:22:22 AM , Rating: 2
The advertising program in Battlefield 2142 does not access any files which are not directly related to the game. It does not capture personal data such as cookies, account login detail, or surfing history.

BF 2142 delivers ads by region. The advertising system uses a player's IP address to determine the region of the player, assisting to serve the appropriate ads by region and language. For instance, a player in Paris might be presented with ads in French. The information collected will not be repurposed for other uses.

Battlefield 2142 also tracks "impression data" related to in-game advertisements: location of a billboard in the game, brand advertised, duration of advertisement impression, etc. This information is used to help advertisers qualify the reach of a given advertisement.

from Joystiq
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/10/18/ea-clarifies-iga...




Offsetting the costs
By kylemurphy on 10/19/2006 12:21:36 PM , Rating: 2
The only cost EA should be offsetting with its in-game advertising is all the money they should be owing to James Cameron for ripping off the look of Aliens. Of course, that's the case with pretty much everything else out there too (anyone else enough of a sucker to watch 'Doom'...?)




Hmm
By vhx on 10/20/2006 4:22:39 AM , Rating: 2
Isn't the point of ads to make things free/cost effective? (E.G. TV Commercials)

I'm not seeing a lowered price, more content, or other advantages in the game. I doubt they will be making a free expansion for BF2142. (EA is all about expansions)

Well I guess we can all just assume the money is going directly into EA's CEO's pocket for drugs, hookers, and cars.




localized ads
By Kyanzes on 10/22/2006 6:15:40 AM , Rating: 2
It would be a shocker to see the ad of the local milk company ingame.




oh man EA sucks now
By LordTerrin on 10/24/2006 3:19:01 PM , Rating: 2
what. a. bunch. of. cocks! I just bought this game at Fry's yesterday, but I haven't opened it yet. I am returning this to the store ASAP and will never buy another game that has EA stamped on it. Thanks for NHL Hockey '93 for SNES, it was an awesome game.

I think the comment up top about EA shifting its "customer" from us, the gamers, to the advertisers and making us their product was brilliant. I learned in school how to do similar things, always to "make the company more money." No one looks down on it, because whatever makes more money is best for the company, and that is what these idiots will do until a huge backlash comes out against them.

Keep up the good fight everyone!




Correction
By IronGeek on 10/24/2006 4:00:26 PM , Rating: 2
"Consumers are increasingly gaming in deep, virtual worlds and advertisers need adapted ways to reach these audiences,"

Um, no, that's not it. I think the message is:
"Advertisers need to stay the hell away from customers who're paying good money for their entertainment.




What!
By kdog03 on 10/18/06, Rating: 0
"I want people to see my movies in the best formats possible. For [Paramount] to deny people who have Blu-ray sucks!" -- Movie Director Michael Bay











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