This should scare you.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93QF82G0&show_article=1

I don't care who is paying for advertisements. If I buy a game the last thing I want to see is political ads.

Quote

Too busy playing video games to watch presidential ads on television? Barack Obama has found you, too, by becoming the first presidential candidate to buy ad space inside a game.

Nine video games from Electronic Arts Inc., ranging from the extremely popular "Madden 09" football game to the street racing "Burnout: Paradise," feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign. The ads—they appear on billboards and other signage—remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site.

The idea of embedding advertising temporarily inside a video game is relatively new, having only begun about 18 months ago, and Obama is the first presidential candidate to buy space, company officials said.

The Democrat's ads are aimed at gamers who like sports, including NASCAR, NBA, NHL and skateboarding, meaning EA Sports' motto, "It's in the game," now applies to presidential politics as well.

EA spokeswoman Holly Rockwood would not say how much the ads cost, but she said they are running on the Xbox Live versions of the game through Nov. 3. They began earlier this month.

It would be one thing if you got the game for free, but this is a bit over the top. I think EA should suffer a penalty on this. And seriously, I would not be happy if McCain ads were there either. Most of us go to play video games to get away from this BS.

Am I wrong?

BFD...you are always wrong!

Vince, in one thread you say you need to get away from me, then you come and post gratuitously in my thread. Obviously you miss me when I don't post in response to you :)

Seriously though, get that refill.

Actually...it's a relief not to see all your cutting and pasting posts!

Actually, I post mine as quotes, and don't post the entire article. Some folks like Voter and others just paste the whole article in, no quotes or reference to the source.

But still, this thread I pasted in.. so why are you here? :)

Registered Voter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> It would be one thing if you got the game for
> free, but this is a bit over the top. I think EA
> should suffer a penalty on this. And seriously, I
> would not be happy if McCain ads were there
> either. Most of us go to play video games to get
> away from this BS.
>
> Am I wrong?

Maybe EA should drop the ads and just charge you $100 for the game instead of $40 or $50. Would that make you happier?

I heard they're going to re-release the old Atari Football game with McCain ads in it, and they're going to call it the "*Really* *Really* Old Atari Football".

Well, at least you all proved the point that it is not worth asking for any kind of serious response to questions like this.

Just sheds light on the rest of your responses on the threads here.

What do you all do when the token serious person leaves? Post a thread that 2 people look at over and over again until you have another thought? Pretty pathetic folks.

WTL btw - I play tested for a few video games where they had ad placement in the game. The games were going to be marketed for free, with the ad revenue supporting the game. Needless to say that did not go anywhere. Now folks want to inject "updateable" ads in games that can be changed how? By having your PC or video game console go out and grab the ad update? What I am saying is sure - if the game needs to cost that much then charge for it, but if you are going to use a new model that says "by the way, you may see advertisements in your game" then you should make that obvious to people looking to buy the games up front. That way they can make an informed decision and decide if they want to pay you for that privilege or not. I am guessing most people would pass those games up if they knew it would be updated, and in particular, be used for political advertisements. Tell me - you want to play a video game and suddenly see an ad for McCain?

Registered Voter Wrote:
>> you want to play a video game and suddenly see an ad for McCain?
Attachments:

Wow Meep, obviously you DID miss your calling.

Was this a representation of what your nightmares look like? :)

Registered Voter Wrote:
>>> Was this a representation of what your nightmares look like?


Umm, I'm not afraid at all of John McCain being president, I'm not the scared-type; fear is fucking lame. I really just think it'd be a big joke. Just like the last 8 years of scorn and ridicule.

Games (especially "real life" games) have started doing this, and like YouTube, text messaging, podcasts, MySpace, and Facebook, this is (was) just another untapped medium for the presidential candidates (and other big businesses).

As someone that plays video games, my opinion is "so what?" It's not like seeing Obama's name in Madden '09 is going to sway my political views, just like seeing all the virtual football players wearing Nike brand shoes isn't going to make me go out and buy Nikes. Nor would an advertisement for the candidate I'm not voting for cause me to boycott a game company.

I worry about the future of this country if there's a portion of the voting demographic that bases their political opinion on whichever candidate appeared in an imaginary football game.

Registered Voter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, at least you all proved the point that it is
> not worth asking for any kind of serious response
> to questions like this.
>

Your questions are seldomly serious.

> Just sheds light on the rest of your responses on
> the threads here.
>

I guess we could shed light on your asshole, if we could find it under the layers of pimpled flab that is your ass.

> What do you all do when the token serious person
> leaves? Post a thread that 2 people look at over
> and over again until you have another thought?
> Pretty pathetic folks.
>

We don't support tokenism here.

> WTL btw - I play tested for a few video games
> where they had ad placement in the game. The games
> were going to be marketed for free, with the ad
> revenue supporting the game. Needless to say that
> did not go anywhere. Now folks want to inject
> "updateable" ads in games that can be changed how?
> By having your PC or video game console go out and
> grab the ad update? What I am saying is sure - if
> the game needs to cost that much then charge for
> it, but if you are going to use a new model that
> says "by the way, you may see advertisements in
> your game" then you should make that obvious to
> people looking to buy the games up front. That way
> they can make an informed decision and decide if
> they want to pay you for that privilege or not. I
> am guessing most people would pass those games up
> if they knew it would be updated, and in
> particular, be used for political advertisements.
> Tell me - you want to play a video game and
> suddenly see an ad for McCain?

They've done this for years. The only game I play is Madden and I usually don't have it online, so it isn't an issue for me.