XBox Live director of programming Larry Hryb moves to reassure subscribers to the expensive online service about upcoming “silverlight” advertisements:
“I need to let you know that you don’t need to worry about a huge influx of ads across the dashboard. One of our core principles is to enhance, not interfere with the gaming experience, and we work directly with our partners to only deliver experiences that are relevant to the Live community.”
“Enhance”, Larry? Advertisements would only “enhance” Xbox Live if they reduced the price. TO FREE.
But, based on the precedent of existing Xbox games now featuring real-world advertising – which are just as, if not more expensive as they used to be – that seems unlikely.
What you’re planning to do is use this “rich media” technology to make the ads that are already on Live more annoying – with attention-hogging animations, noises etc.
Microsoft thinks that now that you’ve shelled out for a bunch of online Xbox games, you’re stuck with them FOR THE REST OF TIME. Which will make it that much more satisfying when, the day after it happens, I upgrade my computer and go back to PC games.
