Presidential candidate Barack Obama is the first politician that makes his campaign ads turn up in video games. The Obama campaign has purchased ad spots in several games: “Burnout Paradise”, “Madden NFL ‘09”, “NASCAR ‘09”, “NHL ‘09”, “NBA Live ‘08”, Need for Speed (Carbon and ProStreet), "NFL Tour" and Skate. Internet-connected Xbox-360 players will see the ads in the following states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio and Wisconsin. In the video game “Burnout Paradise”, the candidate’s face and the message “Early Voting Has Begun” appear on the billboards. Those accompany a campaign slogan to “Vote for Change”, followed by a link to a site.

Of course, some might say that the players aren’t paying attention as they speed by the billboards, but a subliminal message still gets in. Electronic Arts, developer of the games where the Obama campaign placed its ads, told the media that they are open to any credible candidate. Even if TV or newspaper advertising is still a good way of convincing people, the Internet gives Obama the opportunity to reach out the millions of Americans. About 1/3 of U.S. homes own one of the top games consoles: Xbox 360 from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 by Sony or Wii by Nintendo.

The democratic Senator of Illinois is actively courting the votes of gamers for a change. It remains to be seen if they will be influenced in any way by the ads they will see when they’re playing. An EA representative told the press that games like these are played by males aged 16 to 30. The ads will run until November the 3rd.