Obama now buying ads on video games
Jake Turcotte
Not getting enough politics with your video games? You鈥檙e not alone.
Who hasn鈥檛 wished - while playing Madden 鈥�08 - that Wolf Blitzer would come out with his 鈥渕agic map鈥� and speculate about the second district of Nebraska?
Unfortunately, the two haven鈥檛 teamed up yet. Although hopes are high that a Blitzer-Madden pairing is right around the corner. They have the potential to be the greatest twosome since Air Supply.
Obama 500
In the meantime, you can get some politics as you play video games online 鈥� like in the game Burnout Paradise.
The high-speed online racing game features Barack Obama billboards throughout the virtual streetscape; the campaign purchased advertisements to run through the end of the election.
It鈥檚 a smart buy as well. If you live in some key battleground states, you鈥檒l see the ads as they run in Ohio, Florida, Iowa, Colorado, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada and Wisconsin.
You can also see the ads on other Electronic Arts games such as 鈥�Madden 09,鈥� 鈥淣ascar 09,鈥� 鈥�NHL 09鈥� and 鈥淪kate.鈥�
Too young?
But aren鈥檛 video gamers too young to vote? These are no longer the days of Space Invaders and Asteroids, my friends. Video gamers have grown up. They鈥檙e still playing.
According to the , the average age of a videogame player is 35 years old and 49 percent are between the ages of 18 and 49. Just 25 percent of videogame players are below the age of 18.
Reactions
Are gamers impressed?
Not all of them. On (a site which describes itself as 鈥渙bsessed with the cult of cars鈥�), many gamers offered varying opinions. One doesn鈥檛 trust himself to vote.
Most of the avid video gamers I know (myself included) are too stupid to make an informed decision about any given political candidate, and will most likely vote on name recognition only in the voting booth. 鈥�McCain鈥� Biden鈥� Palin鈥� Obama? Hey, I saw that name on Burnout. I鈥檒l vote for that guy, he stands for video games.鈥�
Another gamer thinks the electoral college system is flawed and offers up an alternative.
When I saw the image with the ad, my first thought was 鈥�Big Brother is watching.鈥� My second thought was of Soviet propaganda posters. My third thought was subliminal advertising. My last thought was wouldn鈥檛 it be nice if all the idiots running for president and vice president would just go into a room and fight it out until there is only one survivor.
That鈥檚 probably how they do things in Joe Biden鈥檚 neighborhood.
What鈥檚 McCain doing? Another gamer has the inside scoop:
In other news, McCain to buy 30 second spots on ESPN3鈥檚 World Bridge Tournament next week in Del Boca Raton, Florida.
Finally, what would a story be without a conspiracy. This gamer sees one鈥�
And we all thought 鈥淟eft, left, left, left鈥� was just for NASCAR games.