Video Game Characters to Get Out the Vote

Thanks to Gamasutra for the heads up about a political music video starring video game characters that is to start airing on MTV today. The newest "Choose or Lose" video will feature characters from popular video games such as The Sims and BloodRayne and is intended to encourage youth voters to show up at the polls. The video will air for the first time on MTV today on TRL, and afterwards can be seen on the MTV Choose or Lose site. This follows closely on the heels of MTV2's Video Mods series, which uses video game footage for the visuals in music videos.

Comments

If it takes video game characters

[hsmith]

to get people to vote, obviously they don't need to be voting.

An informed public is far better than one that just votes to vote

Re:If it takes video game characters

[BillyZ]

So you are then implying that gamers are uninformed? Simply because someone needs motivation to vote, does not necessarily mean they are also uninformed.

Re:If it takes video game characters

[mcmonkey]

What is the standard? How informed is informed enough? When is an opinion enough of an opinion? So voting based on the last yard sign I saw isn't enough. Is listening to talk radio? Reading one newspaper a day? Reading slashdot?

I respond to every time someone presumes to have some standard on who should vote and who is better off staying home. None of the big shots who presume to tell other people they shouldn't vote ever steps up with some specifics.

What is the standard for "an informed public"?

Re:If it takes video game characters

[GoofyBoy]

They are uninformed how important their vote is.

If they lack this basic knowledge, how would they know about the real, deep, political issues are?

Re:If it takes video game characters

[gfxguy]

So you have someone who is not motivated by current events, not motivated by friends, family, and teachers...

But they are motivated by a fictional video game character... I agree with the grandparent post.

I think people ought to be able to demonstrate a basic knowledge of how our election process works, and who their politicians are (senators and representatives). I'm not talking about 100 question test, I'm asking: who are your senators and congressman? Who is your governer? Who is the vice president and speaker of the house? How is a representative elected? How is that different from how the president is elected?

Also explain to me how a picture ID shouldn't be required for first time voters... we are all concerned about voting machine fraud, what about rampant voter fraud?

Re:If it takes video game characters

[Chris Carollo]

Motivating someone to vote is a respectable goal no matter what the means.

Well that's a bit of a ridiculous statement -- I doubt you'd support my motivating someone to vote via the use of a shotgun.

I think one of the points that are trying to be made is that voting, in and of itself, isn't a worthy goal. Being informed enough to want to voice your political opinion is the goal that we should be shooting for. If you're voting simply because you feel obligated to or because it's "cool" without taking the time to actually educate yourself on the issues and form a coherent, defensible position...you're doing no favors to your country.

I've always found the "rock the vote"-type efforts to be somewhat putting the cart ahead of the horse -- voting isn't what we should be encouraging -- developing a political opinion that citizens want to voice is.

Re:If it takes video game characters

[SilentChris]

"They are uninformed how important their vote is."

Yes, and we all know gamers are the only classification of people this applies to. *rolls eyes*.

From my perspective, 9 out of 10 of my gamer friends know how to build their own machines, have good-paying jobs, and know their vote is important.

Re:If it takes video game characters

[goon america]

Who says that non-gamers that vote know anything about real, deep political issues?

Re:If it takes video game characters

[The-Bus]

I'll bite.

First off, using video game characters to promote voting is not different than any Toby Keith video, warmed over Good Morning America "news piece", Ann Coulter radio "interview", or misinformed blog rehashing other people's opinions before forming their own.

Secondly, what are the "real" "deep" "political" "issues" you speak of? The economy, of which the president has extremely limited control? Quotas in higher education? Healthcare and social security? Taxes? Iraq? Immigration? National park use? War record? Homeland security? Religion? Elementary education? Tariffs? Outsourcing? Unions? Control over the media? The Patriot Act? DMCA? Broadband for everyone? NASA? Reparations? Bank reform? Abortion? Homosexuality? Your "real" issues are not other people's "real" issues, and vice versa. Some people might vote because Bush is a Republican and they always vote Republican. Or they vote for Kerry because of REAP. Or they vote for X because of BCD, etc.

To somehow believe that your vote is more important because you have a different level of knowledge of certain issues is a bit ignorant. If you have thorough knowledge on every issue, please make a website with that information to inform others.

Re:If it takes video game characters

[Felinoid]

They are uninformed how important their vote is.

If they lack this basic knowledge, how would they know about the real, deep, political issues are?

Most people I've known who don't vote do so not out of ignorence of the vote but of knowladge.

"My one vote won't make a diffrence"

It's apathy and what most people don't realise is the wise lead by example. Even when it's a bad example.

One less vote becomes 50, becomes 1,000.
But nobody really seams to understand that.

Your one vote dosen't make for a hill of beans. It's the people who vote folowing your example that make it count.

However one might wonder what example is set by a yellow circle with an eating disorder.

Here's the thing I don't get about MTV.

[Anonymous Coward]

Is it that I got old, or does it actually suck as unrepentantly, and unrelentingly as it appears to?

It's a bit sad...

[smaug195]

I just think it's a sad statement on your country when you have to use every big name rapper, actor, and now video game characters, in order to get people to just register to vote.

Re:It's a bit sad...

[PhrostyMcByte]

Kids in high school don't want to watch political debates, they want to watch MTV. Hell, I dont know of much adults that want to watch the debates.

If this can help us spark a little interest in would-be voters, why not do it.

By all means vote if you have an opinion

[cerebralsugar]

Another get out and vote drive. It's cool they use video game characters. But I can't help but feel these "public service announcments" are politically motivated.

Before I seem like a troll, lets consider:

Anyone who is not a felon, at least 18, and not an african american from florida, can register to vote. *drumroll*! I'm just kidding. That last part was uncalled for. But disenfranchised voters is another discussion, and a more serious one. So lets just say, most people who are 18 and not in jail can vote. They have the right. Politically motivated disenfranchising laws aside.

Why do we care if people vote or not? Why do we try to chide them into it? If you are directly affected by the policies of your elected officials, you will probably vote. If you don't care, why should you be made to vote?

And then they have these voter drives. Why does MTV care if their viewers vote? I'm guessing somewhere somebody has statistics that shows men 18-24 or whatever their demographic is, is "predominatly left" or "predominantly right". So, lets use propaganda to mobilize them. Lets mobilize a flock of voters that carry our view.

Its dumb, if you care vote, if you don't, don't. I certainly don't care if you do or not. The only crime is if you do care and you don't vote.

A much more serious issue is voter disenfranchisement - people who do care, who would vote, who are silenced. That is a huge issue. Why dont we see any commercials with video game charactars that say "voter disenfranchisment is bad"?

I like civic participation but i'm for civic knowledge first, if you don't care, don't go in and blindly pick because MTV tells you too! That doesn't help anyone.

Re:By all means vote if you have an opinion

[Ephemeriis]

Personally, I want people to vote because that makes it more likely we'll have a government that actually represents the people it is governing.

I constantly hear people complain about the current government. They don't like this new law, or that new war, or some guy in office...but when you ask them if they voted they reply with something along the lines of "of course not, it doesn't do any good."

Yes, I would like it if more people who thought like I do went out and voted...then maybe we'd get a government that works the way I think it should. However, even if the folks I want don't get elected, I'd still be happier if it was a government that more accurately represented the vast majority of the nation.

yrs,
Ephemeriis

Reality check

[jasmusic]

a) Who do you think MTV wants to see as president? b) Who do you think is underrepresented at the polls? While legitimate, don't believe for a minute that campaigns like these are without partisan motive.

Re:What next, GI Joe and the Transformers?

[elrick_the_brave]

Lol... whats scary is I can relate totally to this... although I would throw in some Family Guy/Futurama

Scene: Drunken Clam with Peter and Brian at the bar watching TV
Peter (Hand on beer): "Holy crap Brian, there's an election!"
Brian (Sipping martini): "Yeah, doesn't democracy turn your crank?"
TV - Commercial with monster trucks & bikini babes: "Monday Monday Monday.. vote your mind.. see Bush-zilla go against Scary Kerry!"
Peter: "Holy crap Brian, there's monster trucks coming to town!"
Brian: "Yeah, I vote for the babe in the red."
Everyone: "Get out and vote... or miss awesome democratic action.. Monday Monday Monday."

Scene: Fry and Leela in the Hall of Heads - Presidents section.
Fry: "Look Leela! It's former President Bush Jr. and former presidential candidate Kerry."
Leela: "Weren't those guys the odd couple from your century... destroying countries for oil and imposing Western civility on everyone?"
Fry (blank look): "Riiight... something like that."
Bush Jr. Head: "I stand by my decision to defend and pummel their asses!"
Kerry Head: "I stand by him and say I would have made similar but different decisions that saves lives but costs money!"
Everyone: "Vote your conscience! Vote for Candidate Blarg from Ceti-Alpha Six!"

Re:apathy?

[Ephemeriis]

Problem is, apathy doesn't do you any good. If you're tired of the same old bullshit, but don't do anything about it and rely on your failure to vote to send a message, nothing is going to change. You need to actually do something to make the same old bullshit go away.

Doing nothing, being apathetic, refusing to vote in some form of protest just isn't going to get you anywhere.

yrs,
Ephemeriis