So no microtransactions… (Gaming)

by MacAddictXIV , Seattle WA, Friday, November 08, 2019, 21:25 (1629 days ago) @ Korny

So Death Stranding has no Microtransactions…

But it has fucking product placement. Which is only a little bit less bad. >:-(

Really? I think that is so much worse. Microtransactions are a choice, seeing advertisement in a video I want to watch is not.

Technically, I guess I could make the choice to not play a game with advertisements in it but that is silly.

Product placement doesn't require 'frictions' and alteration of game design to function.

https://destiny.bungie.org/forum/index.php?id=166639

You literally just said they inserted a monster can in a world that really shouldn't have one. That is an alteration of the game story to fit that in there.

The words “story” and “game design” mean very different things.

I personally couldn't care less about that as a gamer/consumer. That is technical speak in the background of the user experience. If a product placement or microtransaction destroys my experience as a consumer then the developer is doing something wrong.

So this excuse is pretty played out, but it's always been a Kojima thing. Every one of his games contains real-world products, and they're never just background dressing. From a fully-featured iPod to Doritos and Playboy magazines, Kojima has always made a habit of implementing real-world brands into the games (often even giving them a dedicated identifier on screen). It's just one of those fun things that has always been a part of his games' DNA.

And you can even consider the Monster drinks as a part of the lore if you want (assuming it's not directly addressed in-game). In a ruined world, stuff like this is a luxury. If someone found a warehouse or two of these drinks, they'd be rich, or wield a lot of trading power (and they'd have to build up an army to protect their resources).
If you look at the environment, most of that high-tech facility is empty. Those multiple cans are one of the few things available to Sam on his obviously well-funded adventure.

End of the day, you can see it as blatant product placement, and if it takes you out of the game, then that's you, but eh. Forest for the trees.

If that is the case then I think it totally fits! It's all about the history of the game or the story in this case. If it's just random product placement for the sake of product placement that is different. If it's like you said cool. If it's like Nuka Cola in Fallout that's also cool.