Console and computer gamers who enjoy driving flaming vehicles recklessly through crowded intersections, mowing down hordes of approaching zombies and taunting their online opponents might notice a new, non-playable character surface during their electronic adventures this fall: President Barack Obama.
Even though the president just last year encouraged the nation’s parents and children to “turn off the video games and pick up a book,” his national campaign on Monday confirmed it has deployed dozens of virtual advertisements in a variety of online-enabled video games. The ads will appear in Ohio, Nevada, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire and Virginia through Nov. 3.
Electronic Arts, one of the largest video game publishers, will display the billboard-like advertisements throughout cross-platform sports blockbusters like the football game “Madden NFL 13,” as well as old Internet-based versions of classics like Battleship, Tetris and Scrabble.
The ads, which are also running on gaming sites like Pogo, focus not only on encouraging turnout, but also on the policy differences between the president and his rival Mitt Romney that most resonate with the young people who typically play video games.
“Think voting isn’t important?” asks one twenty-second pop-up advertisement that currently displays for Pogo users before they can play “Poppit!,” a Web-based puzzle game that tasks players with repeatedly popping balloons that appear to be bothering an anthropomorphic cactus. “Obama: doubled Pell Grant funding. Romney: Student aid at risk for millions,” the ad continues.
Read More at Daily Caller
