Obama the first presidential hopeful to advertise in games

Hey, you spilled politics on my escapism.

Image courtesy of Red vs. Blue

Image courtesy of Red vs. Blue

If it's in the game, it's in the game.

For U.S. senator Barack Obama, that means being the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a video game.

According to the Associated Press, Obama's mug can now be seen in nine different EA games connected to the internet, including Madden NFL 09 and Burnout Paradise, in an effort to appeal to the hard-to-reach 18 to 34 year-old male demographic.

"What we're trying to do is offer ads in games where we're simulating a real-world environment, so our racing games, our sports games lend themselves to that," EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood told the AP on Tuesday. "That's very appealing to our advertisers."

The ads will run through Nov. 3, says Rockwood, who would not disclose how much revenue is being made by the publisher in working with the Obama campaign.

In-game advertising made its way into games roughly 18 months ago. But unlike other forms of distribution, where sponsorships are often used to subsidize (or even obviate) the price to consumers, gamers are still required to pay full price for the games they buy, an average of $50-60 (talk about double dipping).

Comments [30]

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Darkstorn

Good for us Obama supporters, but probably not so good for the ignorant (no offense) "apolitical" gamers out there.

wariomangreat123

Darkstorn wrote:

Good for us Obama supporters, but probably not so good for the ignorant (no offense) "apolitical" gamers out there.

Some of us can't vote yet ok jeez.

lalogow

wariomangreat123 wrote:

Darkstorn wrote:

Good for us Obama supporters, but probably not so good for the ignorant (no offense) "apolitical" gamers out there.

Some of us can't vote yet ok jeez.

that doesn't mean you don't have to care, we got to be informed at least

mrhammer

Early reaction was mixed. This reporter's dorm-mate was less than pleased.

"Oh, come on!" he said after being hit with a headshot on Halo 3. "The Obama bumper sticker on the Warthog distracted me! That's some serious bull (unprintable)."

McCain fans were surprisingly upbeat.

"Hey, I just got a headshot in Halo 3 on some poor Obama guy," one said. "I'm feeling good. I almost don't care if McCain wins."

"That's good," the Obama supporter yelled over the headset.

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