Barack Obama’s next campaign stop: Paradise City
I suppose that we can’t really fault the candidates for trying something new. That said, I do believe that there are some demographics which are more-or-less unreachable when approached as a whole, and that includes the nebulous indistinct mass of humanity which like to indulge in the videogames.
Therefore, a quick note to all current and future politicians seeking any level of elected office: “gamer” is not a voting block. Forget what you read on the internet, ignore the podcasted ramblings of industry journalists, disregard whatever your organizers and lobbyists are telling you about how X videogame made more money than Y feature film. It’s just very simply never going to happen.
Sorry kids, bit it’s true. Whether it be the “new wave” of casual types (thank you PopCap and Nintendo Wii) or the crusty old hardcores, we electronic entertainment enthusiasts can’t agree on a single goddamned thing. It’s always been like this; the cycle of misguided brand loyalty and downright embarrassing fanboyism just cannot be stopped. Trying to organize gamers towards any kind of common goal which doesn’t involve reaching for another bag of chips is like herding cats.
So please, don’t even try to appeal to us as a group because if Reggie Fils-Aimé, Kaz Hirai, or Wil Wright can’t do it, none of you Washington types stand any better of a chance.
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The theory making the rounds is that Obama’s campaign is so fabulously wealthy with the election coming to a close that he can simply afford to pour money into such avenues and if it even generates just one extra vote, then that’s good enough, he’d be sitting on the cash otherwise.
Of claiming that campaigning in games is dumb because gamers aren’t a bloc of voters is kind of like saying roadside campaign sings are dumb (drivers are not a voting bloc) or on TV (neither are TV viewers). You’re trying to convince people who wouldn’t vote for you to do so, the people who are already going to vote for you don’t need to be convinced.
I wonder what happens to the unused cash after an election? Refunded to the donors, tossed into the Scrooge McDuck pile?
I would argue that campaigning via road signs and TV commercials (for different reasons) is pretty dumb, as I’d be very surprised if anyone has ever made up their mind about how they’re going to vote thanks to a billboard. Drivers and TV viewers as voting blocs? ‘course not; candidates advertise themselves via those means to reach multiple blocs, as just about everyone drives and watches TV.
I do hear odd rumblings about organizing gamers into a political entity, however, probably thanks to politicians like Joe Lieberman and his banhammer. Most of this talk comes from the gamer community itself… including yours, actually. ;)
Interestingly, these same ads have started to appear in at least 18 other games.