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Left Behind - No Spyware, Just the Future of In-Game Advertisement

A recent article on Digg (written by Technica) tires to convince people that the innovative in-game advertisement software in the game Left Behind, is spyware. It clearly is not. From the article:

"The game comes fully loaded with what some would term built-in spyware, in the form of in-game advertising that tracks the amount of time ads are seen, how often the game is played, and the player's geographical and personal information."

They say that some would term.

From Dictionary.com "spyware - (Or "adware") Any type of software that transmits information without the user's knowledge." I'm sure if you read that fine print when your installing, it will tell you about it there.

Even this quote by Double Fusion, quoted in their article, explains that it isn't:

"All Double Fusion campaigns provide detailed campaign reporting for full accountability, and, unlike other media, advertisers only pay for the time their ads are seen...unlike TV, unlike the web, and unlike print. No medium is more accountable and measurable in terms of the actual time spent with advertising."

"Double Fusion's In-Game Ad Engine is a software component that gamer developers insert in their games. The Ad Engine is the seamless interface between the game and the advertiser servers, and works as a broker between the two, calling advertising creative elements as needed, providing them to the game to be displayed as ads in the game, and tracking impressions and views and reporting back to the advertising management servers."


This is just simply great news for the gaming community. Why? Because this could mean lower costs for games. Also, as it becomes more common, good news for open source games as well. This could provide a way for them to step into the arena and compete better with major studios.

Also, they wrote in their article, "...surveys of gamers show that advertising in games is effective and generally unobtrusive if done properly..."

The advertising in Left Behind is a good thing, and hopefully a sign of things to come. I can't wait to see it in action.


-Dustin (en3r0)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

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As for me, I like professional anti-spy software like Anti-keylogger by Raytown Corporation LLC.
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SJR said...

This statement is posted from an employee of Left Behind Games on behalf of Troy Lyndon, our Chief Executive Officer.

There has been in incredible amount of MISINFORMATION published in the media and in online blogs here and elsewhere.

Pacifist Christians and other groups are taking the game material out of context to support their own causes. There is NO “killing in the name of God” and NO “convert or die”. There are NO “negative portrayals of Muslims” and there are NO “points for killing”.

Please play the game demo for yourself (to at least level 5 of 40) to get an accurate perspective, or listen to what CREDIBLE unbiased experts are saying after reviewing the game at www.leftbehindgames.com/pages/controversy.htm

Then, we’d love to hear your feedback as an informed player.

The reality is that we’re receiving reports everyday of how this game is positively affecting lives by all who play it.

Thank you for taking the time to be a responsible blogger.