When Alec Ross said that the Obama campaign was “citizen-centered” and that it invested in new media tools, I bet he wasn’t referring to games. But Obama fans have taken it into their own hands to utilize games for political support. It is somewhat ironic, since Obama has spoken of video games in a negative context regarding child education. Rather, Obama fans are expanding their interpretation of his policy stance on technology and freedom on the Internet.

* Video game maniac Rey Gutierrez is going to host a five-day gaming marathon to support Obama and Biden from Oct. 20 to 25. The “Gaming for Obama” marathon will be broadcast on Justin.tv. Gutierrez is also a VH1 personality from Brooke Knows Best. There is no fund-raising, just gathering of people to play games- the act of gaming itself will be considered an act of support for Obama (hm….) Gutierrez is targeting the Hispanic community, something that will be great for the Obama campaign.

A screenshot from Burnout Paradise taken by JeffSon

*This product placement (person placement?) ad in Burnout Paradise shows an Obama ad on a billboard. Companies have been using a lot of these billboard ads (especially in racing games), so the concept isn’t new- just interesting because it’s a form of political campaigning that hasn’t really been seen before. More about this in GamePolitics.

*Midcourt, a Second Life citizen, held a fund raising campaign at a SL nightclub. The money was raised in Linden dollars, and later added up to slightly over $600. Quite impressive, considering the Linden-U.S. Dollar exchange rate.

Disclaimer: I am a non-U.S. citizen and not an Obama fan (nor a McCain fan for that matter)