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Obama campaign invades your Xbox

By Devlin Barrett Associated Press

AP Photo

This computer image provided by Electronic Arts, Inc. via the Obama Campaign shows an advertisement for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., inserted in the XBox360 Live version of the video game NBA Live 08. Eighteen video games will feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign in the final weeks before the election. The ads, appearing on billboards and other signage, remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site that encourages people to register for early voting. The Xbox 360 console connects to the Internet, so it can be updated with new features, including ads. (AP Photo/Electronic Arts, Inc. via Obama Campaign)

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

Eighteen video games, including the Guitar Hero series and Madden 09, feature in-game ads from the Obama campaign in the final weeks before the election. The ads — appearing on billboards and other signage — remind players that early voting has begun and plug a campaign Web site that encourages people to register for early voting.

Obama campaign officials said the video game ads target 10 states that allow early voting, including several battleground states: Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado.

The campaign did not say how much it cost to launch the ad blitz on gamers.

The idea of embedding advertising temporarily inside a video game is relatively new, having begun about 18 months ago, and Obama is the first presidential candidate to buy space, according to Holly Rockwood, a spokeswoman for Electronic Arts, whose company is featuring the Obama ads in nine of its games.

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.