Denny, we’re aware of the hairs MS likes to split between external advertising and internal promotional items. I’m sure that’s a big deal for internal accounting, but as a user the distinction is meaningless.
LMN8R
4411
I’m sorry, but can you actually name an online service that you can buy content from which doesn’t promote said content thoroughly and pervasively? The Playstation 3 and Steam certainly aren’t those services, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Playstation 4 has a lot more of it.
On PS3 and Steam you have to go to the store section to see ads and promotions. In both cases for me they are set to take me to my game collection by default.
Personally, I don’t think the ads themselves are that bothersome. I do find it grating that Microsoft’s official response to criticisms about the level of advertizing is trying to convince people certain ads don’t count. It comes across as duplicitous and creates more problems than simply admitting, “yes, we use screen space to promote new content we believe our audience will find of interest. The Xbox One’s interface is so fast, and the voice commands are so convenient that keeping our users abreast of new releases or upcoming events in no way negatively impacts their experience, and in fact improves it.” So many of the Xbox One messaging problems Microsoft has had this year were born out of this misguided desire to convince people they weren’t doing what they were doing.
wumpus
4413
Um, no, the default in Steam on every computer I have ever installed it on is to show me the store. I see you are trying really hard to be outraged at this, so keep fucking that chicken, I guess.
Steam --> Settings --> Interface --> “Favourite Window”
Whatever that is set to becomes your homepage. Brad has obviously set that to ‘Library’ so he never sees the store, hence the lack of advertising in his Steam experience.
Those show as blank if you block the Xbox ad server at your router (at least on the 360 last time I booted it up)
Peripherals
It seems odd that MS isn’t offering a steering wheel at launch, given that Forza 5 is one of their highly tauted launch games.
Also I’ve grown enamored of my TB X41 headset, even when my wife isn’t home. Apparently that won’t work any more, or at least the mic. I don’t think TB is set to have a replacement at launch.
I’m guessing that has more to do with the XMB interface that Sony never changed much. I fully expect the PS4 to have its fair share of ads.
The Vita’s ads are about as minimal as the PS3’s, and only promote PS Store content that you can use on a Vita.
stusser
4419
Amazon shows those ads on Kindles. They aren’t ads for State Farm insurance, they’re internal promotional links to content on Amazon’s storefront. The difference is they specifically state the advertisement subsidizes the hardware’s price, and allow you to pay $30 to disable the ads. Most people, even the vast majority of people, don’t pay. But it’s important that the option is available.
LMN8R
4420
Every time I turn on my ps3 the xmb is promoting content next to the default selected tab.
Like Steam, and unlike the Xbox, it’s an option that can be changed in the system settings. The highlit option on my PS3 when I turn it on is one of my folders of installed games (it would be the inserted disc if my PS3 read discs).
The ads are mandatory on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The only ways to not see them are to have your system boot directly to a disc, use the guide menu to get to different sections of the system, and never use the dashboard for anything, or disconnect your box from the Internet (unless that method involving blocking Microsoft’s ad server in your router still works). Furthermore, unlike stusser’s Kindle example, you continue to see ads even if you pay for their premium service.
liminal
4422
Are you allowed to explain the All State, uh, ad? I don’t know what else to call it. Unless it’s been Photoshopped into the picture or - God forbid - has gameplay attached to it, then it’s an ad.
Clanan
4423
Why is this such a big deal?
Wolff
4424
As long as ads are unobtrusive I don’t mind. Steam and ps3 I don’t even notice the ads. On the 360 I feel they are always in my face and slow down the ui. An ad filled experience when I am paying a fee feels wrong.
stusser
4425
For me, “unobtrusive” is synonymous with “unnoticeable”. So, like, on page 2 when you never go past page 1, or so tiny you miss it. If I see it, I hate it. IMO, obviously.
RickH
4426
Not to mention the ones that auto-play sound and video should you mistakenly place your cursor over them. Which happens all of the time now that they implemented the new awkward & unintuitive navigation scheme so we could enjoy those mandatory MS cubes.
Cyrano
4427
When I go to a “Movies and TV” tab that shows me pictures of Movies and TV shows I can buy, I’m happy. I especially like it if I go to a Games tab and see some indie game I wouldn’t have otherwise heard about. It’s the insurance and car ads that really bug me. They bug me in the Bing news app in Windows, too. I paid for Xbox Live and Windows. Get those out of there.
They’re still not as bad as when my Dish DVR puts commercials on my list of recorded shows. That’s the worst.
stusser
4428
Not me. If I go to the Movies and TV page, I want to see links to content I actually want to watch on services I subscribe to like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu+, front and center. I want it to show me that the new episodes of Supernatural are available on Netflix or my favorite caster is streaming live on Twitch, or whatever.
Discovery is cool too. “You like Supernatural, have you watched Firefly? It’s on Netflix too!” The only paid content on page 1 should be stuff I actually subscribe to. If I paid for a season of Supernatural on something like iTunes, as opposed to watching it a year later on Netflix, that belongs on page 1. I’m OK with other paid content being on page two, or somewhere elsewhere clearly designated as a store.
Same deal with the Games page. I want to see games I already own and haven’t finished. I want to see multiplayer games that are already installed, that I play frequently. That stuff belongs on page 1. Purchases and all promotions, internal or otherwise, should be (ideally) separate or at most on page 2, requiring a deliberate effort for me to see them.
