Apparently a blogger digging through patent documents has just found out that Sony has patented ads which interrupt media streams (including games, but not limited to those) in various ways. Here's a link. The article is very short, I suggest to read the patent if you're interested (it's linked in the article).

I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this. I consider ads that interrupt an experience as pretty bad, so I don't like seeing a major producer of entertainment materials going into this direction. On the other hand, this kind of development was probably inevitable, and if a corporation like Sony has a patent on it, it might cause other developers/publishers to refrain from using it, due to the licensing costs. Which might make the patent a good thing.

Thoughts? :)

darn if they are really desperate for money they should have used subscriptions.

If it is ever used it will be for a streaming service, not for full priced games, so I don't really give a shit. We have already seen examples like that free ad-supported Far Cry release.

Speaking of which:

http://www.geek.com/articles/games/sony-to-announce-onlive-or-gaikai-deal-at-e3-20120524/

Sony is apparently making a deal with either OnLive or Gaikai.

we werent talking about witches

can we at least burn Sony?

I have to imagine something like this would be used for F2P stuff rather than fully commercial games, so I can't say I'm too worried about it.

sure

oh Sony.

i hate your treatment of your customers/employees as much as i love your R&D Dept.

It's a patent. That doesn't mean they will use it, it just means they own the rights to this idea.

This might be a good thing. It prevents other companies from actually doing it.

I remember when sony tried something like this in Full games like Wipeout HD, they were almost eaten alive by the community

this is probably most likely an opportunity to play games for free with ads inside of them

If I want to be remembered for something awful, I'll go patent a method to get more warts.

hmm, yes... taking out time and money for R&D and getting the patent to then just sitting on it for the greater benefits of mankind... seems plausible to me.

A lot of companies have patents on things they don't use. Patents give you power in court once you get the change to sue someone for using your idea.

Not a big deal if the game is free or streamed, we're already seeing this in stuff like GG Void and those old ad-supported Midway titles.

Completely intolerable for a game you pay for, however. In-game ads (like those in Homefront, Bionic Commando and Alan Wake) are one thing, but interrupting the user experience goes too far for something you've already spent dollars on.