Sony actually went out of their way the other week to remove in-game advertisements from their online racing title Wipeout HD due to customer complaints. Apparently the game had been experiencing longer load times and slow down as a result of the ads that were introduced during a recent update for the game. After experiencing issues, a large number of customers actually complained enough that Sony took notice and went out of their way to update the game, removing the ads in question. It’s incredibly rare that company like Sony would go out of their way like that.

I know from experience that the moment ads show up on a site that people frequent, consumers take notice. In fact, another site that I write for recently had an issue where an advertisement company decided they would create ads that auto-played video and sound without first consulting the owners of the site. This caused a number of the readers to panic and complain. While I don’t blame them, some of the readers were over the top with their responses–enough so, that I almost wanted to reply “in kind.” It’s a good thing I didn’t. Still, the ads were eventually pulled after giving the agency a stern talking to. I suppose it goes to show that complaining can really work in your favor some times. I’m still impressed that it worked with Sony.

As for Wipeout HD, I own it, and enjoy it quite a bit. I haven’t played it since they introduced the ads, but from what I gather, that was very short lived, so it would have been easy for people to miss out on that. For a racing game though, it’s an excellent title and recommend that anyone who like futuristic racing titles give it a try. If you’re a PSP owner, then give Wipeout Pulse a try as well. It looks great on the handheld and plays pretty well.

[Image Source: Sony Computer Entertainment Japan]