Barack Obama, in a campaign video, argued that history cannot be made with a Wiimote. No, he's not dissing the Wii. Honest. Although I do take offense at the implication that my Wiimote skills are not historical in nature.

You know the political scene's really heating up if a presidential candidate starts wooing video gamers for votes. Reports have come in that Presidential nominee Barack Obama started an advertising campaign in 18 games, so don't be surprised if you suddenly drive by an Obama ad when you're racing in Burnout: Paradise.

With all the flak that video games have gotten from politicians, we're tempted to think that two will probably never mix.

The latest one involves U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama and his comment about video games. You can read an excerpt of his statement n the full article after the jump.

People have already been warned before that mixing politics and MMO video games is not a good idea, but it seems that it's not going away, especially now that real-life elections are just around the corner. Virtual event and promotions company Forefront Media will be hosting a virtual campaign in Second Life for the U.S. presidentia candidate, Senator Barack Obama.

Here's how it goes: In the real-world, the senator will address and interact with a select small group in a living room somewhere in Iowa. Aside from being webcast for community gatherings around the states, the discussion will also have an SL version. The said living room will be simulated by Forefront on March 31 at 1:00 p.m. on their island, SoHo.

There will be an authorized avatar that will represent Barack Obama, and will try to replicate the movements of the senator. Needless to say, this avatar will not be controlled by Obama himself, but the speech will of course be him, and can be heard by SL residents through an audio stream piped into the simulation.

Politician John Edwards, as reported on many occasions before, has also brought his campaign into the virtual world. We don't know if Obama is even aware of what happened to Edwards' headquarters which, for the benefit of those who do not know, was bombarded with Mario and Bill Crosby pictures, not to mention various obscenities, thrown by virtual attackers.

A controversial video related to the 2008 US democratic party nominations is making rounds on the internet. Although the ad has been connected to Sen. Barack Obama, his campaign says that they have nothing to do with the ad. The said ad depicts a young blonde female athlete running with a sledgehammer towards a widescreen, where Sen. Hillary Clinton talks to a mass of zombielike followers.

This political ad was based on an ad released by Apple in 1984. TV Guide ran a 1999 story on this Apple ad, naming it number one on the "50 Greatest Commercials of All Time" list. Apple spent a then-outlandish sum of US$ 400,000 to produce the ad and US$ 500,000 to air it. It aired only once at the Super Bowl XVIII but it turned the then little-known brand Apple into a household name and started the whole Super Bowl ad craze.

Here's the Obama ad, while the 1984 Apple Ad can be found at Full Article for your comparison.

While we can understand his sentiment, Senator Barack Obama's choice of rhetoric was a bit stale. Game Politics notes an Associated Press report that mentions his use of gaming as an equivalent to slacking.

According to the Associated Press, Obama was heard saying this at a a recent promotional rally in Austin, Texas:

Obama told the Austin crowd that they should try to recruit their friends to support his campaign. "I want you to tell them, 'It's time for you to turn off the TV and stop playing Game Boy,'" Obama said. "We've got work to do."

It obviously wasn't meant as a literal term, as the senator's been somewhat vocal in getting newer voters to go out and rock the vote (for him, presumably). He previously criticized youth culture as "watching TV, playing video games, and avoiding tough classes in school." Whether or not he wins the elections, we just want to tell him one thing though: "The new handhelds are the DS Lite and PSP. Take your pick for your next performance."

 

President Bush is suffering from low approval ratings, Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are already in the running to be the Democrats' presidential candidate. Yup, the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election is just getting warmed up and 80soft.com, a software company whose forte is making political video games just released their latest PC game, President Forever 2008 + Primaries.

The game boasts of using a realistic electorate modeling techniques, but you could still lose even if you got more votes (just like in 2000). Anyhow, if you want to be responsible for electing the first woman US president or the first African-American US president, you better start massive campaigning and fund-raising activities. Here are the game's features:

• battle across each party's primaries and then enter the general election!
• criss-cross the country doing barn-storming campaigns
• setup detailed platforms to outmaneuver your opponents
• unleash foot soldiers to stop your opponents, or get campaign crusaders to rally voters to your cause
• run attack ads to steal voters leaning towards your opponents
• give a fiery custom-made speech, but remember to prepare for the debates!
• craft a detailed electoral strategy to give you a landslide on election day
• play vs. computer players or hotseat with other human players!
• play with 18 ready-made candidates in 2008 complete with detailed attributes and skills, or make your own!
• play 2008, or try a Great Campaign of the Past: 2000 (Bush-Gore), 1992 (Bush-Clinton), 1980 (Reagan-Carter), or 1960 (Nixon-Kennedy)!

The game is already available for roughly US$ 20. Or if you have your doubts, you could also try the demo which is around 5MB. The read link below will take you to 80soft's site.