What does an Obama presidency mean for video games? 1UP asks the question in a lengthy analysis of Obama's relationship to gaming culture.
Obama first entered our scene in December 2007 with comments presented to Common Sense Media on the topic of game violence legislation on his way to being dubbed the most "gamer-friendly" Democratic candidate. But the President-elect is better known for targeting youth voters with a $44.5K in-game ad campaign during the election season. (And apparently, it worked.)
Obama did urge us to "stop playing Game Boy" and put down the Wiimote (see screencap above -- from his Election Day ad), but the sentiments were geared toward encouragement rather than scorn. 66 percent of voters ages 18-29 (you know, gamers) supported Obama yesterday, according to CNN. Forget a puppy, the next US President can show some love back by bringing Wii to the White House.
Well, here we are: Election Day. Think of it: In just a day's time we'll be able to turn on the news and be inundated not with the latest political happenings but with the status of Madonna's marriage and Lindsay Lohan's crotch. But, in the meantime, we're taking the opportunity to mark this last electoral hurrah.
So, if you want to celebrate your candidate, try to sway the rest of the Joystiq Biomass to your leanings or just discuss the day's happenings, this (and not all the rest of today's posts) is the place to do it. Just try to stay civil and you can talk about whatever you want without fear of banhammering.
Oh, and don't forget to vote ... unless, of course, you hate freedom.* *Or you don't live in the U.S.** **Or you're under 18.*** ***Or you're busy. Not like regular busy either. Like super busy.
The hardest thing about picking a presidential candidate is that you can't test them first. You can't see how they'd actually handle real presidential duties, like attempting to balance the federal budget, representing the citizenry abroad and punching out Venezuelan troops before dropping grenades in their tanks. Thankfully, you'll get the chance to see how presidential candidate Barack Obama and VP nominee Sarah Palin will stack up as they'll soon be added as DLC to Mercenaries 2. You can see the video right after the break.
Why no John McCain, you ask? Man, you don't need a video game to help you imagine what John McCain would be like as a war hero! McCain doesn't call blowing up an attacking helicopter with a rocket launcher an adventure ... he calls it "Tuesday."
How much did it cost 2008 US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama to put ads inside of Burnout Paradiseand other titles? According to a Federal Election Commission filing (via Gamespot), Obama's campaign sent $44,465.78 to Massive Incorporated to run in-game advertisements, from October 6 to November 3, in 18 separate titles. The real winner of these in-game ads, of course, was Tim the Paradise City Street Sweeper.
Comparatively, the campaign has spent a estimated total of $205 million on TV ads, about $4 to $5 million of which was for last night's 30-minute infomercial on CBS, NBC, MSNBC, Fox, BET, TV One and Univision. Fun statistic: The amount spent on TV ads was 455,555% higher than in-game advertisement. According to previous statements, Massive had approached the McCain campaign about doing a similar advertising deal, but they had passed on it.
As you play your beloved Super Mario game tapes, your Nintendo Box drains energy from earth's dwindling supply. It's a well-known scientific fact that at our current rate of consumption, Earth will be returned to an archaic wasteland within thirty years, when feared energy pirates will travel between the planet's ruined cities, plundering precious fuel for their own contemptible settlements. Luckily, the Environmental Protection Agency has a plan to combat our wasteful ways.
The EPA hopes to include modern home gaming consoles in their Energy Star plan which has been regulating the energy usage of certain home appliances since 1992. The latest draft of the plan addresses the power consumption rates of Wiis, Xbox 360s and PS3s, requiring an auto-off function, a sleep mode, and low-energy network settings in all consoles produced after July 1, 2010. We certainly hope the plan is adopted, lest we be left to our seemingly inevitable, Mad Max-esque fate.
With its Burnout Paradise tour underway, the Obama campaign has moved into other swing games that they feel they have a chance in, including 18 different Xbox Live titles. There are some obvious, classically blue games like Guitar Hero 3 and The Incredible Hulk, as well as more surprising choices, NBA Live 08 and NFL Tour among them. Shockingly, even NASCAR 09 is in play in 2008, and will receive the first Democratic media blitz in that game's history this year. (When asked if they would be moving the campaign into Cabela's Most Dangerous Hunts, the Obama representatives laughed a little bit, then walked away.)
But you may not be able to find the ads just yet. In this election, where a voter lives is, in some ways, almost as important as what games they play. The ads are only targeted in Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado, all states where early voting is accessible and easy.
In a bid to avoid the lowest presidential approval rating in 70 years*, President Bush signed the PRO-IP Act into law today. While not quite on par with, say, an ultimate solution to the world economic crisis, the law will create new jobs, er, one new job: The Intellectual Property Czar.
Backed by the RIAA and MPAA, the PRO-IP Act has drawn criticism for its potential for extreme punishment. In its proposed state, the act could grant the government permission to seize all computers and compatible devices from a home if a single, pirated MP3 was discovered on one of the machines. So, about that approval rating ...
For a complete analysis of the PRO-IP Act as it applies to gaming, check out the latest LGJ column!
*Bush has sunk below Nixon, but Truman holds the record: 22.
If you're anything like us, you've been racking your brain and your heart deciding which way to vote in the hotly contested Maricopa County District 1 Supervisor race. Now, thanks to a flyer sent in to us by reader Matt M., we think we finally have our man: Ed Hermes, who, according to the literature, is "a skilled player of popular video game Halo," telling the Arizona State University newspaper "I am addicted to Halo and play almost every night."
If opponent Fulton Brock meant that to somehow belittle Hermes in our eyes, he's doing a crummy job of it: Any man who can drive a Warthog is more than capable of driving Phoenix and the surrounding area to a bright economic future.
With just about a month before the United States picks its next president, GamePolitics has posted a piece on the presidential campaign contributions made by industry big-shots. Would you have guessed that Spore designer Will Wright was a McCain supporter?
Turns out a lot of industry folks listed in the piece are leaning towards Obama, with thousands of dollars in contributions heading to the Democratic nominee. With some major executives contributing only a few thousand dollars to Obama's campaign, it's interesting to note that two of the biggest spenders are Star Wars mogul George Lucas with $33,100, and not far behind him, Harmonix (Rock Band) CEO Alex Rigopulos with $32,900. The ever-updated list can be found at GamePolitics.
Microsoft has provided a snapshot of the completely unofficial president election poll it's been running in conjunction with Rock the Vote. The idea was to offer Gamerpics representing Obama-Biden, McCain-Palin, Independent, and, er, "Other" (hopefully) sparking an interest in actual voting by offering the choice to select one as your public and/or private icon. MS says more than 100,000 Live users have participated to date.
Today's tally has Obama-Biden in a 12% lead over their Republican rivals, garnering 43% of the vote to McCain-Palin's 31%. Independents and "Others" combined account for the remaining (and sizable) 26% of "votes." Listen, "Others" – if you're undecided, you'd best at least register and cast your vote on November 4. We don't care who it's for; just vote, 'kay? Thanks!
This week's winner in the webcomic wrapup doesn't even have a true name: we just made one up. (In retrospect, we wonder if our original name "Popsicle Sunshine" would have fared as well.) Dork Tower's entry is actually a bit unfair, as it dates back to 2001. It's just sad that (a) we didn't originally notice and (b) after 7 years, it is still very relevant.
Second place (technically first since it's more recent) goes to Dueling Analogs, followed by Digital Unrest and Monday Night Crew. Thanks to everyone who voted and be sure to let us know of any (more recent) game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
The get-kids-voting people behind Rock the Vote recently spread out beyond the limitations of MTV's core demographic and decided to enlist the Xbox Live community, long known to be an e-bastion of enlightened political discourse. So, being the politically (and mathematically!) astute bloggers we are, we took a look at the live poll results, as presented by MyGamerCard.net.
As of press time, Democratic-nom Barack Obama had a commanding lead over Republican oppollnent John McCain, with 4,623 gamerpics in circulation versus just 2,076 – a nearly insurmountable lead of 2,547 gamerpics. That's fine, but what's the real story here? How the pundits and the pollsters – clouded by the corruption and cynicism of a two-party election system – have ignored the dark horse in this election: Gears of War skull face guy, who right now controls a most impressive 87,626 of The People's votes. Ignore the political machine and vote your conscience!
Right, so the Mario Bros. remake below the jump -- by former Joystiq writer Jared Rea -- might be just the slightest bit offensive (and not in a NSFW way). But, it's also very funny, which has always trumped offense in our book. He says it's the result of a Twitter joke gone too far, but in our book it's gone just far enough.
Mr. Rea does provide some additional explanation for the gag on his blog, but we hope you don't need it (you're not that removed from the outside world, are you?).
Meet 1ickTh3P0l3. He can vote. But why tell him that? When Rock the Vote comes to Xbox Live on Monday (the start of the Democratic National Convention), it won't find the disempowered young citizens eager to be mobilized it's expecting. In fact, the Xbox Live community is a conglomerate of well-organized sub-divisions -- or "clans" -- which communicate through a modified, verbalization of "133t speak" with a large admixture of derisive language; including racial, ethnic, gender, sex, and religious slurs. These nihilistic hatemongers shoot first, typically with rocket launchers, and top it off with a teabag over your dead body. Oh wait, these are just the Xbox Live users under 18. Imagine how the ones of legal voting age spend their nights and weekends ... And you want them rocking what now?
Tom Clancy might be this generation's Nostradamus. Although off by about three months, the first level in 2001's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon is eerily familiarto the pastweek's events, where Russia and South Ossetian rebels have been fighting with Georgia. Unlike Ghost Recon, however, there has been no signs of US special forces armed with technologically advanced firepower and controlled by a mysterious "player."
Scholars are already sifting through The Great Texts in anticipation of any potential conflicts in 2014 Mexico City.
