There was a girl with hair like a sheep.
She pondered. She thought very deep.
She closed her eyes
And with a "thinking" disguise
She promptly fell fast asleep.
*Written in reference to Verushka being very tired today when I saw her.
(I know you'll complain, and I'm so sorry but "sheep" went with the rhyme and it's funny too. Plus, that's the original line, so we have to keep it for the sake of remembering it.)
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Indiana Jones and the Car Guard (Visually Expressed)
So this situation happened earlier today in text:
Yuvi:
Guard at Gateway staff parking boom gate:
"Back?" [opens boom without stopping me]
Me:
"Sorry?"
Guard:
"Weren't you here just now?"
Me:
"... ... ... Yes." [Drives inside]
Sean:
Guard is racist. Trying to imply all indiana look alike.
(Yes, I know it was just a dumb typo and Sean meant to say "all Indians look alike" but I laughed so hard at this that I decided to make a picture and a blog post. IT'S MAH BLOG! I'LL DO WHAT I WAUNT!)
Yuvi:
Guard at Gateway staff parking boom gate:
"Back?" [opens boom without stopping me]
Me:
"Sorry?"
Guard:
"Weren't you here just now?"
Me:
"... ... ... Yes." [Drives inside]
Sean:
Guard is racist. Trying to imply all indiana look alike.
(Yes, I know it was just a dumb typo and Sean meant to say "all Indians look alike" but I laughed so hard at this that I decided to make a picture and a blog post. IT'S MAH BLOG! I'LL DO WHAT I WAUNT!)
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Monday, 18 November 2013
Invasive Adver[CLICK HERE TO WIN AN iPAD]tising
No, you can't really click in the title to win an iPad. Sorry.
But yeah, if you've been religiously following my blog (or if you check it now and then, between your browsing of other websites... or while you're scrolling on Twitter and notice my blog tweets... or while you have nothing better to do while you're crapping or something), you'll know that recently I've posted a fair bit about Android games.
I don't think I'm the only person that has noticed this, but I do play games on my phone quite often recently so maybe it's been much more of a nuisance to me than others.
What am I talking about?
...
... the hell? Did you not read the title?
Anyway, I'm talking about adverts in-game.
I do believe almost every free game on my Android device has become ridiculously overpopulated with adverts.
Now I don't mind the occasional advert. I don't even mind the ones that show up after every single level or whatever.
The problem comes in when it pops up in a place where you're almost guaranteed to accidentally click on it.
I find this really annoying.
A few of the games I still play most often are Jetpack Joyride, Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers, Fruit Ninja (and until recently) Angry Birds. (Don't judge me! There are new challenges etc every day or week and I have to check them, okay!)
Now, before I get back to Jetpack Joyride, lemme complain about the others.
I played all these games since I got my Samsung and even before that (on other people's devices).
All of them were fun, addictive and had excellent replay value.
Recently, however, when I was playing Angry Birds, an advert popped up to annoy me. I accidentally clicked on it, closed the website it opened and continued playing. Then a video advert popped up restricting my game for 20 seconds or so. I eventually got annoyed and stopped playing it because downloading a video every time you finish a level is quite a waste of mobile data. (At least in South Africa it is.)
I mentioned before that I don't mind adverts but when it takes up literally 95% of the screen without warning or wastes your money, it's quite ridiculous. I don't mind when I'm at home and connected to my wi-fi, but I also usually play a game while waiting for a client at their office, when there's no electricity for some reason, and many other situations where I'm not able to save my data.
I've actually taken to playing certain games with my phone in Flight Mode now to avoid this.
I know I actually end up not reaching my data cap anyway, but that's not the point. I'm bitching about something and you should listen.
Yes, mobile game designers. This means you!
The one game I've always been happy with, even when adverts came into play is Jetpack Joyride.
Why?
There's an advert every second time I do a run but NEVER does an advert appear without warning.
It calmly shows up in a block labelled "ADVERTISEMENT" and after it loads, it gives you the option to click "NEXT" just as the rest of the screens in the game work.
Some of the other games show an entire screen-size advert with about an almost-hidden "x" button somewhere on the screen. Does this appear between screens like Jetpack Joyride's adverts?
Of course not. It suddenly appears just as you're about to click a button on the game's menu and you end up clicking the advert instead. Then, half the time, not only does it get in the way here, but when you cancel/exit it and start a new level or a new run, the web page opens up 10 seconds into your game, just as you're about to avoid an obstacle. So naturally, you exit the web page and you die (in the game, I mean. Calm down. the adverts aren't THAT bad...).
So after reading all the above, I bet half the readers (if not more) are thinking "Screw you, man. You got a free game. The adverts pay the developers for the cost and you're spoilt and you suck and RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!"
But then you clearly did not take in what I said about Jetpack Joyride.
Hey, game developers.
Take a leaf out of Jetpack Joyride's book (I can't say Halfbrick's book because even Fruit Ninja annoys me with adverts a second before your level even ends) and make the adverts as invasive as you want, but not enough to interrupt game progress or to ruin the fun of your game. Put them between screen transitions, not after the main menu's buttons are visible on the screen. Make the user aware that it is an advert.
It's not some dodgy website that has 50 download buttons, of which 49 are disguised adverts.
It's a game. It's a professional application that thousands (or even millions) of people downloaded.
If your adverts stop people from wanting to play the game, trust me, it's not making you money.
I love all the games I listed here and a lot more that I didn't mention. I'm not bitching about your game. I'm bitching about you not thinking about something being really inconvenient. So please just edit your take on adverts SLIGHTLY to make it more user-friendly.
Thank you. <3
But yeah, if you've been religiously following my blog (or if you check it now and then, between your browsing of other websites... or while you're scrolling on Twitter and notice my blog tweets... or while you have nothing better to do while you're crapping or something), you'll know that recently I've posted a fair bit about Android games.
I don't think I'm the only person that has noticed this, but I do play games on my phone quite often recently so maybe it's been much more of a nuisance to me than others.
What am I talking about?
...
... the hell? Did you not read the title?
Anyway, I'm talking about adverts in-game.
I do believe almost every free game on my Android device has become ridiculously overpopulated with adverts.
Now I don't mind the occasional advert. I don't even mind the ones that show up after every single level or whatever.
The problem comes in when it pops up in a place where you're almost guaranteed to accidentally click on it.
I find this really annoying.
A few of the games I still play most often are Jetpack Joyride, Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers, Fruit Ninja (and until recently) Angry Birds. (Don't judge me! There are new challenges etc every day or week and I have to check them, okay!)
Now, before I get back to Jetpack Joyride, lemme complain about the others.
I played all these games since I got my Samsung and even before that (on other people's devices).
All of them were fun, addictive and had excellent replay value.
Recently, however, when I was playing Angry Birds, an advert popped up to annoy me. I accidentally clicked on it, closed the website it opened and continued playing. Then a video advert popped up restricting my game for 20 seconds or so. I eventually got annoyed and stopped playing it because downloading a video every time you finish a level is quite a waste of mobile data. (At least in South Africa it is.)
I mentioned before that I don't mind adverts but when it takes up literally 95% of the screen without warning or wastes your money, it's quite ridiculous. I don't mind when I'm at home and connected to my wi-fi, but I also usually play a game while waiting for a client at their office, when there's no electricity for some reason, and many other situations where I'm not able to save my data.
I've actually taken to playing certain games with my phone in Flight Mode now to avoid this.
I know I actually end up not reaching my data cap anyway, but that's not the point. I'm bitching about something and you should listen.
Yes, mobile game designers. This means you!
The one game I've always been happy with, even when adverts came into play is Jetpack Joyride.
Why?
There's an advert every second time I do a run but NEVER does an advert appear without warning.
It calmly shows up in a block labelled "ADVERTISEMENT" and after it loads, it gives you the option to click "NEXT" just as the rest of the screens in the game work.
Some of the other games show an entire screen-size advert with about an almost-hidden "x" button somewhere on the screen. Does this appear between screens like Jetpack Joyride's adverts?
Of course not. It suddenly appears just as you're about to click a button on the game's menu and you end up clicking the advert instead. Then, half the time, not only does it get in the way here, but when you cancel/exit it and start a new level or a new run, the web page opens up 10 seconds into your game, just as you're about to avoid an obstacle. So naturally, you exit the web page and you die (in the game, I mean. Calm down. the adverts aren't THAT bad...).
 |
| The Subway Surfers main menu |
 |
| The advert that suddenly pops up OVER the main menu as you're about to click on something |
 |
| An alternative advert that pops up on Subway Surfers that even literally covers the entire screen. |
So after reading all the above, I bet half the readers (if not more) are thinking "Screw you, man. You got a free game. The adverts pay the developers for the cost and you're spoilt and you suck and RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE!"
But then you clearly did not take in what I said about Jetpack Joyride.
 |
| Jetpack Joyride's first "end of run" screen |
 |
| Jetpack Joyride's next "end of run" screen |
 |
| How an advert SHOULD pop up (as just another "end of run" screen). It works with the layout so it doesn't cause an accidental click. It comes up as if it is just another part of the game. It's an advert. I take notice of it. But it is not invasive enough for me to hate it. (For those that studied the pictures, I know it's a different run... forgive me. I messed up the original screenshots, but shh... it serves the same purpose) |
Hey, game developers.
Take a leaf out of Jetpack Joyride's book (I can't say Halfbrick's book because even Fruit Ninja annoys me with adverts a second before your level even ends) and make the adverts as invasive as you want, but not enough to interrupt game progress or to ruin the fun of your game. Put them between screen transitions, not after the main menu's buttons are visible on the screen. Make the user aware that it is an advert.
It's not some dodgy website that has 50 download buttons, of which 49 are disguised adverts.
It's a game. It's a professional application that thousands (or even millions) of people downloaded.
If your adverts stop people from wanting to play the game, trust me, it's not making you money.
I love all the games I listed here and a lot more that I didn't mention. I'm not bitching about your game. I'm bitching about you not thinking about something being really inconvenient. So please just edit your take on adverts SLIGHTLY to make it more user-friendly.
Thank you. <3
---
BONUS SECTION
 |
| I laughed at the detailed status of this install screen in Despicable Me: Minion Rush |
 |
| I had to laugh at the third related app for this PMS Monitor app. (Yes, it's actually a thing. Unsurprisingly, it didn't help me avoid getting crapped on during PMS rage.) |
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