The ads in the dashboard panes are really starting to piss me off. I pay $50/year for a Live gold account, for this?
At first they were a little less obtrusive, but now… McDonald’s? Sprite? Shark Week on the Discovery Channel? FUCK YOU, YOU DUMB BITCH, GET OFF MY CONSOLE.
It’s extra annoying because there are now a lot of panes and different buttons and things aren’t really where I would expect them to be, so I end up flipping around a lot looking for things, and the ads are always grabbing at my attention, thus interfering with this process and making it even more annoying.
I would bet that Microsoft is actually losing more money, via making the console a less compelling experience, than they are gaining in ad revenue. They should be aiming for an iPhone-like compelling experience, but instead it appears they are shooting for an IGN-McGriddles-ish, meh experience.
Eh. I hate to not validate your anti-ad screed, lord knows it bothered me to see Splinter and Rainbow pimp themselves out for Ax body spray, but I don’t find the 360 dashboard ads all that bad.
I never really tune into them regardless of what they are. It’s not like I watch my 360 dashboard. If I’m online, it’s to play a game, download content, cue up some music or watch a video through the extender. I just don’t even focus on the ads.
It’s really only on two panes, not really that annoying. Unless you also don’t like to see the ads for new games which usually pop up there too. I kind of like those. They had them for most of the major XBLA releases as well as an ad for the E3 content. One click on the ad took me to the downloads for them.
If it really bothers you, set the console to boot to the play disk. That way you don’t see it unless you’re playing XBLA.
I actually like most of the ads. Like the ads reminding me that some new game is out, and I think “Oh, that’s out already? I should go to the store”. Or the ad to do with Shark Week “Oh, Shark week has been going for 20 years now? Geez, that new program looks interesting, better program that into my DVR”. Or BurgerCon “Austin Powers for free? Yes please”.
But I hate the ad in the main panel that you can’t click on. I hate not being able to click on it!!! There’s a new demo out for MLB 2K7? Why can’t I click on you? Damn YOU!!! Damn you for making me search through new demos in Marketplace to look for your demo when you could have been easily clickable.
I think showing something about whatever new game comes out is okay, because that is something relevant at least. It would be even better if they did recommendations based on what I have bought. However, I should also have the option to turn that stuff off.
Unfortunately, many of the new-game ads they’ve put up have looked cheap and tasteless – not something I spent $400 + $50/year to see.
I really hate the “squeeze you for every dollar we can” vibe that I get every time I turn on the 360. Pay money for a console so that I can pay money for online gaming so that I can see ads for movies that I can pay money to see. Enough, already!
I suspect that the day will come when I buy a PS3 and prefer PS3 games, just to stay away from the Microsoft Marketing Machine. (Of course, if I buy a PS3, Sony will promptly plaster its UI with ads starting the very next day. :>)
Have you ever subscribed to a magazine or newspaper? Or paid for cable TV? (Edit: I see that ElGuapo made the same point).
I just don’t get the difference. Especially since the ads are passive - you don’t have to click to dismiss them, or wait until they are done before you can play or anything. Buncha whiners.
For me, the only issue I agree with is this:
The pane interface sucks - nothing is where I expect it, and it bugs me that I download from one place then have to hunt up the game somewhere else. I still don’t really understand how it’s organized - videos in multiple places, etc. Are good UI designers that hard to find?
How you anti-ad people make it through the day without having a mental breakdown is beyond me. Seriously, why not just fucking ignore them? How long do you sit and stare at the Dashboard anyway?
Here’s the difference: For $0.25/day, I get a gigantic pile of paper delivered to my door. It’s got dozens of articles in it. The mere act of carrying this monster to my doorstep is probably worth $0.25. It might be packed full of ads, but those ads pay for it. The actual subscription fee is a sideshow.
XBox Live is a pretty good service. It’s quite possible that it’s worth $50/year.
Microsoft doesn’t agree, however. They think that $50/year isn’t enough to pay for that service–they need my $50, plus my eyeballs. And I disagree. I think that’s greedy, and it pushes Live from “probably worth it” to “overpriced”.
Edit: And as for the cable analogy–so, you’d be cool with HBO tossing ads into the middle of movies?
I must’ve missed something - which games has Microsoft tossed ads into the middle of?
I look at ads on the dashboard kind of like DirecTV putting ads in a corner of the program guide - it’s something to catch your eye while you’re figuring out what you want to watch. It’s not analogous to interrupting a movie to put ads in there.
