My Video Game Told Me To Vote Obama

And I'm OK with that. With all the major video game systems currently connected to the 'net I've read (and am not surprised) that some download and update ads in the background. Playing Burnout Paradise with Gav last night I happened upon a couple such ads that are particularly timely -- in support of electing Barack Obama president. Cool!

Burnout is a driving/racing/crashing game so the in-game billboards are used and updated periodically. Most are unnoticeable and haven't attracted my eye save for a bunch covered with a CompUSA ad (didn't think they were still around) and this set of two "vote early" ads from the Obama campaign. I hesitate to make blatent "no more ads in a game I've already paid for" statements so I won't. What I will say is that I don't ever want in-game advertising to impact or even drive a particlar title. With many games already costing upwards of $50 or $60 new it could really begin to alienate consumers in a massive industry. Keep 'em simple and unobtrusive and any likely push back will be at a minimum.

In the case of these Obama ads, however, I'm excited that their campaign is wise enough to tap into such a medium and hope they see a return on investment come Nov. 4. Obama ftw, indeed!

Comments (2) | To Top

10/31/2008 @ 7:26am

Also smart to buy the default channel on Dish Network satellite service. Every time a person misclicks a channel, they land on an Obama infomercial. Sure there can be an annoyance factor, especially with frequent misclickers, but it's another Obama impression (multiplied by however many folks are watching that set at that time) and I'd bet there have been millions of them.

by Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Flim

10/31/2008 @ 3:31pm

CompUSA is still around, just no longer around here.

by Joe Izenman