Why the Xbox Campaign is a brilliant move?

[TheCoxwain]

1)Just the act of using this new media is making news in the best possible way - That is the current & immediate payoff. It also makes Obama look "space age" while really underscoring McCain's readiness for the GIECO's Caveman Ads.



2) These Ads will persist far beyond the campaign -- as the games have a decent shelf life that goes far beyond November


3) New Demographic : They will be exposed to whole new set of eyeballs , some of them who will come of voting age in 2012


4) 2 & 3 will ensure lot more votes for him in his reelection campaign.

[Renew Deal]

1. One correction on the duration.

The ads are streamed in off the internet, so they will change all the time.

[TheCoxwain]

5. I am not a gamer myself -- i was thinking more along renting from Blockbuster/Netflix

I feel Old :-(

[Schema Thing]

6. That's crazy talk

I sawd the pitchurs with mine own eyes, right there on my game-box in my house.

[Renew Deal]

18. Check the game on December 5th.

The Obama ads should be replaced with something else.

[Schema Thing]

21. I gots a gun for any sign changers that break into my house

and start messin' with my X-box!


I'll be watchin' fer 'em on December 4!

[d_b]

9. ah, I was wondering

if they were built in or from Xbox Live. Still awesome either way though.

[Ioo]

2. Post on AbleGamers.com

http://ablegamers.com/Game-News/Obama-Uses-In-Game-Adverts-First-Time-Ever.html

[Catshrink]

3. He's also advertising on ChaCha

I've never used it by my students do. I'm so impressed by how smart Obama's campaign is.

[Schulzz]

4. It also reminds young voters not to forget to vote. He needs a big turnout there. nt

[rucky]

7. For the sports games...

I'll bet the demographic is mostly voting age. This is the real reason why dads get their "kids" consoles for Christmas.

[TornadoTN]

8. You better believe it!!

I'm a big gamer, but my son is not of age yet to really get into it - well, aside from Lego Star Wars and Lego Batman (he's 3). I know many of my contemporaries that have older kids that use the systems more than their kids!!

[rucky]

10. I'm trying to convince my wife of the health benefits of getting a Wii.

she's not buying it.

[TornadoTN]

13. Show her this then:

http://www.nintendo.com/wiifit/launch/

I bought a Wii - not really impressed with it, but my wife has it now and uses Wii fit each evening. I can hear her upstairs doing her workout with this and she really enjoys it.

[TornadoTN]

11. Another great sign - the Official XBox Rock the Vote Campaign, GREAT for Obama!!

Look at this article and tell me that this isn't a demographic that matters!

http://www.planetxbox360.com/article_4682/Obama_Winning_Unofficial_Xbox_Live_Presidential_Race

I am proudly sporting my Obama/Biden gamerpic and have had Obama 08 in my signature line since November of last year!

[Captiosus]

12. I think it'll be a mixed bag.

In the context of video game advertising, I find there's two different subsets of gamer:

One that has no problem with in game advertising of any sort.
One that hates in game advertising with an absolute passion.

Very few are in between these extremes. I've yet to find someone who "doesn't mind" the ads in one game, but then "hates" the ads in another. Generally speaking it's a very binary division: For or against.

I happen to be against. I'm sick of being bombarded by advertisements.
Open a newspaper: ads. Turn on the TV: ads. Turn on the radio: ads.
To me, this is just the further corporate brainwashing of the public.

I play games for entertainment and periodic escapism.
I don't want to turn on a game and be reminded that some new product is out or that we're in the throws of a presidential campaign. In fact, it was the sheer amount of ads and product placement which turned me OFF of Burnout Paradise. Billboards everywhere and CompUSA (lol, GG EA/Criterion for putting in a store that went out of business nationally) stores dotted the landscape.

It's a novel idea and I agree that it reaches a wider demographic but on gamer sites, expect it to get some serious backlash.

[TornadoTN]

15. I think it depends on the placement and the genre of game

I think in the case of Sports Games, this type of approach is acceptable and non-intrusive. As a huge baseball fan, I appreciate the fact that stadiums are now filled with advertisements. Using real-world ads doesn't intrude on the experience.

But in other genres, like FPS's or RPG's, it just doesn't make sense and is intrusive. I don't want to be mowing down aliens in Gears of War or Resistance 2 and see a giant BEST BUY advertisement promoting a sale or their store.

In other words, if the ads don't disrupt the setting or flow of the game or ruin immersion, I see no problem with it. I have played Burnout Paradise and kind of enjoyed driving around looking at billboards and spotting the real ads versus the fake ones.

[Captiosus]

16. I agree completely with sports games.

Sports games with full licensing makes sense mainly because the venues themselves are ads. I also agree that stadium venues are probably the most "realistic" and unobtrusive form of game advertising.

In games like Burnout Paradise, however, I feel as though I'm being intruded upon and it diminishes the immersion of the game for me. Paradise City is a fictional place. I don't want to see a CompUSA or a billboard advertising Axe body spray in the middle of a race or mission.

Imagine if you were running around Liberty City blowing things up and there were ads for real life product all over the landscape. To me that ruins the whole immersion and escapism of the game. Thankfully Rockstar continues to push GTA as a social parody so I doubt we'll EVER see real ads in the GTA franchise.

A great example of intrusive game advertising is Guitar Hero 3. Playing at the Desert Rock Festival, the ads are on billboards that are facing the stage, not the crowd. There's only one camera angle where you don't see one of the ads facing the stage. I probably would have less of a problem if the ads had been facing the crowd, just like concert venues do in real life but pointing them towards the stage just screams "we have you as a captive audience".

Lastly, I dislike them because there's no opt-out. If you're connected to Xbox Live, Playstation Network or Wii60, you're going to get ads and they're going to be updated. For a game I paid 59.99 for, I should have the express option to opt out of ads.

[TornadoTN]

17. I concede your point - but I think there is a compromise somewhere

I think it's obvious that in-game ads are going to be a standard in video gaming, if not now, in the long-term.

You are right and when I started thinking about it - I was actually looking for ads in the game. If I had took the approach of immersing myself in the city, I would have probably not appreciate the ads as much. Burnout doesn't bother me, but I would definitely be mad about ads in a GTA or Saints Row type game - and don't even get me started on RPG's or MMO's, that would be too much in my opinion.

The trick is going to be how to make the advertisements as unobtrusive as possible, since it's clear that we are going to be greeted with them regardless.

[slampoet]

14. 5) Most people who buy video games are 18+. The vast majority are.

[insanity]

19. I don't like it

I really don't want to see campaign ads in my games... I play games to divert my attention from reality.

[LynneSin]

20. Alot of adults play these games too

So even though it will help build the future for Obama it will also be a visual for those who can vote today. I think it's a brand new market out there for advertising, one that I even see while playing Second Life.

The fact that Obama will reach out thru new technologies tells me this man is ready to move us into the future; not keep us in the past.

[RoadRage]

22. Can you imagine the Marketing discussion with the McCain camp about something like this??

"John, we think we should start advertising in video games, and on the internet in reality based sites where people play all day and live in virtual worlds, what do you think"?

"Um, explain to me how we advertise on video games? Those won't be out until Christmas anyway."

"No, John these are games that people play online against each other, and virtual worlds where people talk and meet and network"

"Ohh, well we're already doing that - we've already got advertising on the Internets" (Shows This GREAT AD proudly):


"Umm, wow, that ad is horrible, who designed it? OHhh, nevermind - we'll come back to that. Anyway, John - we're not talking about advertising just ON the internet... I guess you could say we're trying to advertise Inside of it"

"Well, how do you get inside the internet? Show me the door - I want to go in there and have a town-hall meeting with those people.. once they get to know me as "their friend", surly they'll vote for me".

"John, you can't get into the internet physically"

"Well how in the world are we going to put McCain signs there then? Phooy.. I'm ready for my nap.. i'll talk to you more about this tomorrow".

:banghead: