Former Xbox program manager: ‘Sorry for all the ads’

Courtesy of ArsTechnica.

"The Xbox 360 may have blazed a trail in connecting console players via online gaming, but with that service came an unpopular side effect: banner ads, designed to be downloaded and updated on a regular basis by all of those online players. As the 360 tiptoes toward its tenth anniversary, Allen Murray, a former Xbox programmer, used his own 10-year mark in the games industry to get something off his chest. Banner ads are his fault, he said, and they came after he argued with coworkers who actually didn't want them on Xbox 360."

In other news, yesterday's thread about Sony's arrogance in regards to buying exclusives was probably way too sensational.

"So do we feel the need to go out and buy outright exclusivity? Probably not," Ryan said. "You saw last night [at Sony's press conference] that before the media briefing we showed updated videos of games that we had revealed at E3. That's because we wanted to keep the show itself full of new, fresh things. We think that gave us a good, strong, convincing portfolio of exclusive stuff, and we're happy with that."

Hardly as cocky as certain people wanted it to sound :)

Discuss.

I dont mind the ads that show things available on XBL. I've found quite a few indie games I had no idea existed that way.

That seems to have originally been the point, not to mention that the bigwigs specifically feared conusmer reactions to traditional advertising.

Also, from the Sony article:

"So basically, Ryan is saying that Sony doesn't buy exclusivity for PS4 games... except when it does, for indie games."

I was amused that Ars called Sony out on this.

I don't mind any ads when related to games, I actually love them since I can get notified of any upcoming relatively unknown games and free downloads. I, however, dislike the excessive amount of ads related to TV, movies, and music stuff. They are not of my interest at all and I'd rather have those tabs filled with more game content ads. After all, I bought a gaming console.

Yea, the way Sony carries themselves just rubs me the wrong way. They're hypocritical and short sighted.

Can't say I feel that strongly about it ;) Between the consoles, I actually favor Sony; just thought I'd be fair.

@mems_1224: huge difference in buying exclusivity of indies vs games that are probably already established.

it's pretty much Sony funding and giving them an opportunity to expand.

if someone did that for me, i'd take that opportunity and become loyal to them.

"That's because we wanted to keep the show itself full of new, fresh things."

...That they moneyhatted. Sony are just sounding butthurt because they can't afford a proper third party blockbuster.

He didn't say they don't buy exclusivity of games. He said they don't need to. MS slurping up Tomb Raider is an act of desperation to try and spark some interest in a console by an existing fanbase. It backfired massively, but hey.

Indeed. Whoever made the thread about Sony last night, painted a somewhat grimmer picture than warranted.

Ars calling the PR BS was still funny :)

Just download the adblocker oh waiiiiit. An xbox is like using internet explorer, dumb af. More ads than content ftw.

I always thought inserting those ads on Xbox LIve would mean Xbox Live MSRP prices would go down, but they went up last gen from $50 to $60.

Sure, you can save money by waiting for sales, but typically the cheaper the MSRP, the cheaper you can find deals/sales on a product.- Sucks I have to insert this second sentence in there due to the " inb4 I buy XBL on sale-crowd".