Microsoft: give NUads a chance

By Fred Dutton Published 24 June, 2011

MS defends interactive Kinect promos.

Earlier this week Microsoft proudly showed off NUads - a new set of features that will allow marketers to place interactive Kinect-friendly advertising on the Xbox 360 dashboard.

Though arguably the announcement wasn't aimed at them, gamers didn't respond to the news with a great deal of enthusiasm, to put it mildly.

Duly, Eurogamer asked Xbox senior product manager David Dennis why Microsoft decided to go public with the initiative and risk the wrath of its core audience, rather than just show it to marketing partners behind closed doors.

“I think that was a message that was delivered at an advertising event for the very purposes you mentioned – to educate them about some of the innovations we're doing so they can start thinking about it,” Dennis explained.

“Kinect is such a ground-breaking technology in so many different ways that we're looking at ways we can integrate Kinect into an advertising model like that. But obviously we want to hear from people and see their reaction.”

He then suggested that gamers might be more accepting of the concept when Microsoft has had the opportunity to talk about its plans in more detail.

“We want to bring programmes like the advertising that's in the dash right now in a way that makes sense, and ensure the ads are relevant and are delivered in a way that's appropriate.

“That's really what the announcement was about. There will be more details which will hopefully get people more comfortable with it over time.”

“We watch the feedback closely,” he continued, when asked if Microsoft understood why the announcement got such a hostile welcome from gamers.

“I think the advertising we do on the platform right now, I think we've done it in a smart way and that it's consistent.

“We've gradually rolled out different advertising programmes and options for people over time. While initially people tend to react to them [negatively], they do get comfortable with them and understand that they're typically very brand-appropriate and content-appropriate for the types of folks who are on the other side of the TV screen.

“We've had advertising all the way back on the 360, including in-game advertising, so I think, just as we've innovated and updated the Xbox experience with Kinect, we're looking at ways we can continue to innovate and do unique things that we think are done in ways in which people are comfortable with.”

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (80) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • mrboshingles #1 11 months ago

    I'd love to Kinect with Microsofts Nuads, with my foot!

  • immateriaux #2 11 months ago

    No

  • old_skool #3 11 months ago

    FAT CHANCE IN HELL

  • neilka #4 11 months ago

    He's right, he certainly deserves for me to give his NUads a shot.

  • RawNinjaKid #5 11 months ago

    Xbox....f**k off!

  • Ahskay #6 11 months ago

    Are they forcing ads on paying Gold customers? That's a bit silly.

  • StuDevo #7 11 months ago

    Shouldn't ads like this drop Live price or even eliminate it. I would accept on PSN as its a free service, but I don't like paying £40 a year and still getting ads.

  • BaggyAnt #8 11 months ago

    Naive to say the least Studevo you have subs and ads on Sky and they seem to do OK

  • dllord #9 11 months ago

    Nice try MS, go fuck ur self!

  • Tiel #10 11 months ago

    MS front end is so tacky comapred to ps3, and the in-your-face desire to promote stuff is the main reason.

    *sigh* I'm not a fanboy--I use both consoles, I have a pc , I love my ipad for some stuff--every platform has strengths and weaknesses, and this advertising is one of ms' weaknesses.

  • Mister-Wario #11 11 months ago

    The truth is people want ads as little as possible, any way you spin in.

  • dsmx #12 11 months ago

    I'm sure all xbox users were asking themselves just a few weeks ago, you know what the xbox needs? More ads, ones that you can wave your arms around to interact with, OMG what a fucking great idea.

  • dominalien #13 11 months ago

    "Microsoft: give NUads a chance "

    I'm pretty sure we will have no choice.

  • TonyCB #14 11 months ago

    Another reason not to turn my kinect back on...

  • Kaonazhie #15 11 months ago

    "Oh, stick it up your nose."

  • karaokequeen3 #16 11 months ago

    Um...no. More so if this blasted thing will be foisted upon us regardless of whether we pay for our service or not.
    Edited by karaokequeen3 at 24/06/11 @ 23:37

  • NeverWinter78 #17 11 months ago

    Kinect has it's own dash away from the normal one. So it makes sence to me to only put the adds on there. So if you don't have kinect stop moaning

  • Geowolf #18 11 months ago

    Okay, as long as you make the ad stop as soon as I gesture with my finger.

    Also, why am I receiving ads at all since I'm paying for my membership?
    Edited by Geowolf at 25/06/11 @ 01:05

  • dsmx #19 11 months ago

    That's a good question geowolf, paying to have ads plastered all over your dashboard what an innovative age we live in.

  • sfp_noodle #20 11 months ago

    The 360 dash is fugly and cluttered enough as it is. I honestly don't venture beyond the "My Xbox" and "Game Marketplace" sections due to the amount of in-your-face Americanised crap that's being thrown at me. I want to game and know about future games. Not have an entire section (a frequent occurance) plastered with half naked ladies to get me to watch a lynx ad. I can do that on my laptop in the bathroom thanks. With fully naked women. Ahem.

    Seeing as this is a 360 specific story I'll probably be negged to hell or be branded "a PS3 fanboy" for saying this, but the PS3 dashboard is so much more user friendly and accessible. No adverts, no random rainbow colours blinding me, no stupid and utterly pointless avatars staring and waving at me like retards and none of this shitty NUad bullshit. I actually LOVED the very first 360 dashboard pre 2008. It was simple, compact and user friendly. I really wish we had the option to choose how we wanted it, but then MS couldn't sell us more shit right?

  • gjgjg #21 11 months ago

    Funny how they press ahead with these things despite a clear message that their customers dont't want it. Must have some nice earner$ lined up with it.

  • ChocNut #22 11 months ago

    And MS wonder why I didn't renew my live this year...

    Old dashboard (blades) was way better.

    I said it at the time but no one listened. PS3 FTW

  • altitude2k #23 11 months ago

    Microsoft continue to supply new servers to games, while keeping old game servers running when other services are forced to turn them off. Servers cost money, so Microsoft could do one of two things: sell ad space, start removing support for games, or increase the cost of Live. You'd have to pay a fuckload more for Sky if they went ad-free, for example.

    I don't see what's wrong with them trying to make adverts more engaging. They're only replacing existing adverts, which people do already use (I've seen more than my fair share of gamers using the Lynx gamer pics).

  • Rack #24 11 months ago

    The advertising on there is already pretty offensive, if they can make them interactive without stopping me then I can still tolerate them, but the PS3 dash is already preferable even though it has some awful interface problems.

  • t8yman #25 11 months ago

    WTF is it that MS don't get about this?

    People dont WANT adverts anywhere, we understand that advertising is a necessary evil, and its a huge industry that employs millions of people, but given the choice - everyone would choose not to watch adverts or be bombarded by them. Gold isnt free, if they want to advertise, then they should make gold free. how many times does it need to be said? I might just pull the fucking ethernet cable out of the back of mine.

  • t8yman #26 11 months ago

    after posting, i just actually watched the video. its even worse than I imagined. tweeting adverts to your mates? are they serious?

  • ThePissartist #27 11 months ago

    Not Microsoft's finest hour. I actually thought from the Nuads description that it was gonna be cooler than it actually was.

    Expecting consumers to want to tweet the adverts is pretty daft.

    Successful TV providers Sky and Virgin allow you to skip adverts; Microsoft extend them. This has fail written all over it.

  • OAPslaine #28 11 months ago

    Why would Microsoft think that we'd want interactive adverts? I want hardcore games for Kinect, not Wii ports & adverts FFS.Now if theyre planning on reducing the cost of Live.....

  • Amblin #29 11 months ago

    ffs ms, ccp sony, you're all just suited souless money grabbing dilberts!

    Please remember what the internet is, why we play games and use consoles (entertainment) and realise we dont want adverts in our free time! you dont have anything we need so bad we wont seek it out for ourselves.

    I wish I could emigrate from the human race right now.

  • Rack #30 11 months ago

    Wow, I'm supposed to watch an ad to watch an ad about ads? That's so meta I think my head may burst.

  • CamberGreber #31 11 months ago

    Someone shood Shove his Nuads in his mouth.

  • GI-Joel #32 11 months ago

    He sums it it up in the last two words.. XBOX GOODBYE ..

  • kupocake #33 11 months ago

    This kind of idiotic stuff sets me thinking. I really can't see how consumers are ever going to accept a fully online console where every single service it offers comes down from the person who manufactured it. Or at least, any console that offers existing publishers and retail outlets a way of selling games online through the console is going to have the kinds of fair software prices and competition that digital sales need to force themselves into to be appealing. Popping into the XBox live arcade or PS Store for the odd legacy game or indie title is all very well and good, but you'd be insane to trust the same mechanism to deliver you your entire catalogue.

    Kind of makes me expect an entire hardware generation where the PC becomes the most viable platform again, before the console manufacturers realise what they're doing wrong. But hey, I never would have thought people would be stupid enough to pay for mods, map-packs and honest to goodness online features, so I'm clearly out of touch with modern notions of 'value for money'.

  • GrizzleBoy #34 11 months ago

    Sometimes I have to wonder if Americans are completely brainwashed or just stupid in general.

    The cheesiness of their adverts. The blatant brainwashing and subliminal messaging.

    Hey look, I'm a teenager opening a bottle of coke and suddenly being thrown into a world of awesome music and interaction! Hey look all these other teenagers are doing it too! Coke must be awesome! Man I should tweet this to all my friends!

    Drink more Coke! Lose more teeth! Get fat(ter)! Lets all do it together! Yay for coke!

    I dont have kids now, but if someone asked me if I wanted to allow mega corporations to be able to attempt to play on my childs innocence and possible naivety due to their young age (via these "Drink Coke! Its awesome!" ads) in order to sell them shit that will make them die younger, I would kick them in their balls just for asking me such a stupid question.

    I would like my kids (aka the majority of people who will be using kinect) to be able to turn on their console and have fun WITHOUT the possibility of advertising and subliminal messaging filling their head with crap and telling them they want things they dont need. Especially when that crap will only rot their body.

    Thats just me though, and with a lot of parents now substituting parenting with technology ("here, stfu with the talking already and play this" *hands child controller*) I'm sure MS are looking to capitalize.

    Meh.

    /rant

  • metalangel #35 11 months ago

    @Grizzleboy: And what are you, making an offensive generalisation like that?

  • canoot #36 11 months ago

    I wish they would just fuck off with kinect.

  • VibratingDonkey #37 11 months ago

    The Kinect hub is already woefully lacking in functionality. It's like this secondary UI layer where everything's slower and more limited. Having ads take up slots in it will surely make things better. Luckily there's an easy and comfortable solution; don't use the Kinect hub.

    "Wouldn't it be great if I could share this ad with my friends?"
    What? No. Why? The hell's wrong with you? If someone spammed me ads and corporate vomit I'd delete them from my friends list.

    I suppose it goes without saying, but this is all about satisfying the needs and wants of corporations in order to increase revenue, the user experience comes dead last. Makes me regret my Kinect purchase even more. I'm starting to feel dirty now for helping enable shit like this.

  • vmanb #38 11 months ago

    Got to agree with sfp noodle on his comments,100% spot on there
    Edited by vmanb at 25/06/11 @ 14:21

  • SEVQA #39 11 months ago

    [link url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZo1Jjfshw&feature=related
    ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVZo1Jjfs...[/link]

    I think this Bill Hicks clip says what I’m thinking in relations to this!

  • Rajin #40 11 months ago

    That product manager must be insane....

  • mossychops001 #41 11 months ago

    Post deleted at 11:49:27 04-05-2012

  • Spook #42 11 months ago

    It's only advertising! Why a major hate and rant about it? Adverts are everywhere, sports, vehicles, buildings, clothes to name a few. And the adverts on xbox aren't that bad, it's not like they are force on you, in fact the adverts on this very website are far more annoying, forcing you to actually click something to get rid of it.

  • IronGiant #43 11 months ago

    Strangely enough we buy consoles to play games, we get bombarded by adverts on tv, on billboards on every street and have to sit through crap before a movie starts at the cinema. We do not want adverts before, during or after playing games so please fuck right off MS and whoever else thinks invading our entertainment is a good idea.

  • Olemak #44 11 months ago

    MS has previously stated that the Xbox is not a gaming device.
    Now we know what it is, I guess.

  • RevanNL #45 11 months ago

    Ads with Kinect... that's like having cancer and TBC at the same time

  • bdc #46 11 months ago

    Massive Xbox fan, but Xbox 720 can fuck off if they're gonna keep carrying on like this.

  • smelly #47 11 months ago

    There's NO WAY in hell i'll be buying another xbox next gen. I'm going back to sony/nintendo.

  • shadowdogg #48 11 months ago

    Why do we have Ads anyway? Xbox live gold is a paid for service...

  • TaniumZX #49 11 months ago

    Ive gone off my 360 a little bit more with every dash update they release. I agree with noodle, the first 360 dash was great, it felt mature and cutting edge. Its pathetic now, I have some great games for the machine, but the front end is a eye splittingly white, blocky joke. Workbench on my Amiga 500 actually looks more hi-res and techno.

    I just hope Sony do not follow MS into childish 'accessability'.

  • Farzlepot #50 11 months ago

    So wait, let me get this straight - I paid a couple of hundred quid for my Xbox, over a hundred quid for Kinect (which I am regretting), and repeatedly pay £40 a year for Gold. To say nothing of all the games I own, royalties from which also go to Microsoft.

    And now they're going to put adverts on it?

    What.

  • Buran #51 11 months ago

    Wonderful. The subscriptors to Xbox Live Gold must pay a fee, then must watch a advertisement, then must pay for the maps and finally (if Elite reaches success) must pay for the bullets. MS is shooting his own shoe here...

  • DarthMartious #52 11 months ago

    That confirms it: this is the last console generation for me because when this pushes ahead all the other players will jump onboard.

    Still, it was good while it lasted.

  • digoutyoursoul #53 11 months ago

    they should be investing more money into studios for a start instead of ads for a service which people pay 60 bucks a year for (officially) , if they want people to chose their machine, games define a console, you cant rely on multiplats forever. i think the 360 is a great machine but microsoft seems hell bent at the moment to focus more on stuff that isnt for people who invested their money into the machine to play games. if they want to make money, make better games, make better games exclusive to that platform, just look at the e3 end of show survey from a hell of a lot people who were asked, all the motion stuff was rock bottom, it was gears, uncharted and so forth people couldnt wait to play not kinect sports 2. Now its Kinect this, Kinect that, now Kinect ads, i know they have to support a investment but this getting beyond a piss take, they seem to have no clue of how to balance anything of late.

    that phil spencer, since he took over, i just think he hasnt got a clue, he was asked about the lack of core exclusives to the platform on a video interview during e3 and his response was "we got gears 3, over 1m pre orders, the beta was a success, did you see ice-up there?" i was like...WTF. he needs to be pushed on this subject, eurogamer should do it.

    since the likes of peter moore left, the people who have taken over dont seem to grasp the fact they could invest money into something and push it with a massive media campaign but if you take the role of telling people what they should want instead of giving them what they want it wont end well long term.

    i dont mean to disrespect people who like kinect either, its just i cant help but feel the whole thing needs a better balancing act.

  • ShiroBen #54 11 months ago

    Dear goodness. Marketers really do live in another world, don't they? What they're saying here appears to be "Yeah, we know you're gonna hate it. But we ALSO know that if we just keep pushing them eventually the rage will subside and you'll get sick of complaining about them." The problem is, the point at which that happens is the point at which advertising becomes ineffective; 'comfortable' in this case means 'easily able to ignore as a nuisance'. So why bother in the first place? Oh yes. Money. Lots and lots of grubby advertising money.

  • Anthonybest #55 11 months ago

    ads with xbox live? and they still want me to pay them money?

  • sfp_noodle #56 11 months ago

    I didn't notice this on first viewing, but does anybody else find it HILARIOUS that they are using a Sony Bravia to showcase this new Kinect feature rather than their preferrered manufacturer in Samsung?

  • smelly #57 11 months ago

    @Darthmathius : Quote "when this pushes ahead all the other players will jump onboard."


    .. Somehow i dont see nintendo (who are still game focused - and not all this extra crap) jumping on this bandwagon. Sony might... But as long as msoft persues this route - they can go fucking jump as far as im concerned.

  • cool8man #58 11 months ago

    Don't click on the ads if you don't want to watch them. Pretty simple. Nobody forces you to watch ads on Xbox Live. I only click on an ad if it is something that interests me. People act like they force you to first watch ads before you can start playing games. What's next people complaining "I pay $60 a month for access to the Internet why do I have to look at banner ads on websites like this?" Get a life.

  • SonicUk #59 11 months ago

    Not interested in the abomination that is Kinect in the slightest but while on the subject of ads I have always felt very pissed off about the fact I'm seeing them at all (especially when most of them have nothing to do with gaming) when I'm paying 40 quid a year for live. If I was a Silver member it wouldn't bother me, but I'm not.

  • cheeky_BILLY #60 11 months ago

    Microsoft are really clutching at straws now with all these 'new' features for xbox. at the end of the day it's about games not all this other bollocks nobody wants. apart from gears and maybe forza theirs nothing left on an xbox worth owning just an xbox for, and microsoft know it. which is why they've turned the xbox from a serious games machine to a kids machine with kinect and started featuring crap like adverts. and all the while charging a yearly fee.

    and people moan about the ps3....

  • Tyronne #61 11 months ago

    IF the time ever came that I tweeted about an advert to my friends, not only would I quickly not have any but I would seriously have to consider how fucking sad my life had become to want to do something so pathetic.

  • 43n1m4 #62 11 months ago

    The most thickheaded presentation ever... Ads is a nuisance, nothing more, nothing less. The only reason we can accept this nuisance is if we get something for it. Let's say free Gold membership for everyone. Otherwise it's just more clutter on an interface you really want to streamline as much as possible.
    Tell me again, MS, why I have to pay for a Gold membership? This one 'feature' that the Americans can keep for themselves.
    Edited by 43n1m4 at 26/06/11 @ 11:25

  • des #63 11 months ago

    People that post on EG hate ads??
    ads are everywhere,basement nerds

    EG is full of shitty ads,and you are forced to watch some of them,boycott Eurogamer.

    Boycott EG!!!

  • Deano_98 #64 11 months ago

    If I ever tweeted an ad to my friends, they would probably think I have a spam virus and go nowhere near the link anyway.
    This dude must have a good education and degree to get where he is now but still seems to lack common sense

  • actionfitz #65 11 months ago

    Tell me this... if im playing £40 a year for access to xbox live gold, do I still have to suffer this bullshit?

    I can understand if it's only for silver users (in which case they need more content/better service as compensation).

    But if they expect me to be bombarded with obtrusive advertising on a service I pay for... they can go fuck themselves.

  • actionfitz #66 11 months ago

    How about they dole out free MSP fro watching the ads in full hmm?
    That's about the only way they'll get me to go anywhere near it. in fact if they try to stuff it down my throat with the xbox equivalent of a fucking pop-up ad ill likely put a personal embargo on whatever the brand in question is.

  • Toothball #67 11 months ago

    The only adverts I check are the ones with prizes, which occasionally pays off. I got 1000 points the other week from that Flora thing they had a while back even though I'm a mostly Lurpak kind of guy.

    That said, I generally avoid adverts wherever possible. Adblock is an indispensable tool that makes browsing most of the internet actually tolerable, and I never watch commercial TV or listen to commercial radio. I don't imagine adding Kinect to the mix is going to make adverts inherently more appealing.

  • hazelam #68 11 months ago

    seriously, how idiotic are they that they'd think people would ever be happy about more ads for their paid for service?

  • busboy33 #69 11 months ago

    I understand the hate, I really do, but I don't see the problem with this.

    I will never, ever, ever want to use my 360 to tell me more about the exciting new lineup from Honda. As a result, the ability to do that will have precisely zero impact on my time. Its like the twitter integration -- I don't use it, so the fact that its there has not impacted/interfered with my gametime in any way. On the other side if that coin, I do use ESPN3 occasionally, while some of my friends have never turned it on once. I get a benefit, they suffer no consequences.

    If adding something, even something completely useless (personally), isn't coupled with a corresponding loss, then while it might not be a plus I don't know how it can be considered a negative. Nobody is losing anything. If they added the ability to convert the Dashboard into Swahili it wouldn't help me at all, but that wouldn't be a "bad" thing.

  • urban #70 11 months ago

    Hah. Watch nobody use this.

  • o0RECON0o #71 11 months ago

    Advertising helps pay for things delivered free to people, like TV over air waves, or radio show, how people tollerate ads on paid services is beyond me. cable TV got away with it, so now they figure they can on the game dash. personally I never visit the ads and I make it a point NOT to purchase products from any company that intrudes onto the game console to advertise. So go ahead and waste their money incorporating Kinect, I see their financial investment as pay back, cause they wont get anything from me for it.

    Teach your kids that Ads that show up on their consoles are the greedy evil corporations trying to take their money and to remember to never give them their money EVER. thats the best console game tou date! Finally something educational and family interactive!
    Edited by o0RECON0o at 26/06/11 @ 17:51

  • busboy33 #72 11 months ago

    To all the "ads are the bane of a console" people . . . how is an ad for a new Honda different from an ad for new DLC? Or a new game release? Are they all poison, or are the game ads acceptable? If the game ads are acceptable and the others aren't (presumably due to the game ads being "on point";), if I don't have the game and have no interest in getting it, is it still okay?

    I will never buy a Magic came (generally do not like that type of game), so an ad for that is personally as useless as an ad for maxipads. These ads/notices are on both XBL and PSN . . . but I don't usually hear people going bonkers over them. Certainly if, when first logging into the service, I was forced to sit thru a 30 second trailer for Barbie Horse Adventures, that would be a problem. But just having a notice on the screen ("click here for more information if you give a shit";) that is easily avoided/ignored doesn't bother me, whether its for a game I don't play or a car I won't buy.

    Are they different? Are ALL ads demonic, or just non-game ads? Why?

    I'm not trying to start a fight. Serious question here . . . I'm fascinated by the mental approach this topic is generating, and I want to understand people's thought process.

    **EDIT: I got negged for this? Guess that explains the thought process here then.
    Edited by busboy33 at 26/06/11 @ 22:44

  • GooseUK #73 11 months ago

    as long as you actually have to select the ad, and load it up - i.e. make a decision to watch it - then i see no probs. If this shit pops up without any kind of input (like a commoercial break) - im going to unplug my Ethernet cable and cancel live subscription

  • Vyggo #74 11 months ago

    You guys get this angry when you buy movie ticket and have to watch ads? Or go to a soccer match and see billboards everywhere?

    This one will probably make you guys go into a raging frenzy, I went to a museum once and they forced me through a souvenir shop at the end even though I bought a ticket!
    Edited by Vyggo at 26/06/11 @ 22:10

  • Machetazo #75 11 months ago

    I wasn't much of a fan of the OLDads, either, tbh. This just feels like a step backwards.

  • cardigait #76 11 months ago

    Soo much hate, in part with good reason.
    You pay for sky, you still get ads. So it can be for a live subscription, if they can handle it with care.
    You pay for a rented movie, you don't get ads. So it has to be with games, no ads, except maybe product placemente.

  • Sodding_Gamer #77 11 months ago

    @GooseUK

    Same mate. I mean the ads on xbox dash aren't that bad I just choose not go go onto it, just stick to my xbox and game marketplace. But if they do force them on us I will do the same. Will be ripping that ethernet cable right out!!

    I prefered the old xbox dash to the ps3 one. Hate the whiteness of the latest one! starting up your xbox at night lights up the room like as if I have just been struck by lightning.

  • Geowolf #78 11 months ago

    MS: Mega Spam

  • t8yman #79 11 months ago

    to those that are saying "I dont see the problem", wake up a bit. I dislike ads, but the reason for my bile filled ranting is that they are actually trying to sell this as "a feature" and as "something cool"- yeah, 90% of us wont ever click on one, and therefore wont really be inconvenienced by it other than having to see gaudy trash on the xbox dash, but don't shit on my garden and tell me its fertiliser!

  • o0RECON0o #80 11 months ago

    Advertise on tv where we dont have to sift through all the added s$&t! Ads that have nothing to do with our entertainment! Game consoles are for gaming! Dont try and distract me with an add to buy a car, we buy consoles to escape from the real world not be marketed on our downtime! Refuse to buy from companys that encrouch on our consoles!