Obama was a Pong Player

Logan Frederick

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Obama was a Pong Player



Born August 4, 1961, Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has lived through every gaming generation, seen the rise and fall of systems, yet his own experiences are limited to Pong matches from his childhood.

In an attempt to understand the candidate more closely, Entertainment Weekly interviewed Obama on the aspects of his social life. Among questions of who controls the remote in his home (He claimed, "I usually have some clout when it comes to the remote," but Michelle Obama was unavailable for comment) and his favorite childhood sitcoms (M*A*S*H), Entertainment Weekly asked about his gaming experience:

[blockquote]EW: What's the last videogame you played?
Obama: Pong. That gives you a sense of my age. I loved that game.[/blockquote]

Those disheartened by Obama's lack of recent gaming experience shouldn't be surprised; the nominee has repeatedly [http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/02/20/obama-campaign-theme-video-games-as-metaphor-for-underachievement] asked parents to "put the videogames away" to "instill a sense of excellence in our children."

Obama is behind on trends in most other mediums as well, with his iPod sporting Bob Dylan and Frank Sinatra and the last movie he has seen being Shrek 3, which he reviewed as "Not as good as the original."

Source: Entertainment Weekly [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20217406,00.html] via GamePolitics [http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/08/07/obama-last-game-i-played-was-pong]

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Bretty

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Jul 15, 2008
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But was he alive when McCain first played that riveting game of Horseshoes?
 

dukeh016

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Yes, I am also glad to see he is current on a housing crises, a stagnant economy, environmental crises, a racially divided county, and two bloody international interventions. I really don't think video gaming is/should be at the top of his list for good reason.
 

j1-2themax

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There seem to be very few politicians who have played any video game that came out in the last 10 years (or at least admit it.)
 

the_tramp

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I think he's just trying to score points with parents. There are two kinds of parents; those that play them and enjoy their merits, and those that do not but still have opinions about them. I like to refer to them as undecided voters.
 

Abako

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Lol Obama can have my vote if he can beat me at 1v1 CoD4, starcraft and if he is forced to play WoW for a minimum of 6 months hehe. But seriously thats about the only way I would vote for him (I dont care about his stance on video games at all, but if he could do all 3 of those things I would have to give him my vote as a prize). Otherwise my vote is going to McCain. Yes I am a college student with strong Conservative values and I am still a video game addict.
 

Aries_Split

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Abako said:
Otherwise my vote is going to McCain.
I want so desperately to kick you in the balls right now.

My opinion on the matter is that I am glad he spends his time focusing on the world at large, and not video games.
 

Lt. Sera

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Meh, the president is not required to have any hands on experience with games, imo. His advisers (on crime and such) and the legislators however do need it. Sadly it's the lawmakers who are the real clueless ones.
 

SeaCalMaster

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Abako said:
Lol Obama can have my vote if he can beat me at 1v1 CoD4, starcraft and if he is forced to play WoW for a minimum of 6 months hehe. But seriously thats about the only way I would vote for him (I dont care about his stance on video games at all, but if he could do all 3 of those things I would have to give him my vote as a prize). Otherwise my vote is going to McCain. Yes I am a college student with strong Conservative values and I am still a video game addict.
McCain? You mean the guy who doesn't even know how to use a computer?
 

Abako

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SeaCalMaster said:
Abako said:
Lol Obama can have my vote if he can beat me at 1v1 CoD4, starcraft and if he is forced to play WoW for a minimum of 6 months hehe. But seriously thats about the only way I would vote for him (I dont care about his stance on video games at all, but if he could do all 3 of those things I would have to give him my vote as a prize). Otherwise my vote is going to McCain. Yes I am a college student with strong Conservative values and I am still a video game addict.
McCain? You mean the guy who doesn't even know how to use a computer?
As I have said previously, I dont really consider the video game issue in my decision with these 2 candidates. Now if it was someone like Hillary, of course it would affect my vote seeing as how she wants to regulate the gaming industry so much that you couldnt release anything more violent than Viva Pinata.
 

SeaCalMaster

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Abako said:
SeaCalMaster said:
Abako said:
Lol Obama can have my vote if he can beat me at 1v1 CoD4, starcraft and if he is forced to play WoW for a minimum of 6 months hehe. But seriously thats about the only way I would vote for him (I dont care about his stance on video games at all, but if he could do all 3 of those things I would have to give him my vote as a prize). Otherwise my vote is going to McCain. Yes I am a college student with strong Conservative values and I am still a video game addict.
McCain? You mean the guy who doesn't even know how to use a computer?
As I have said previously, I don't really consider the video game issue in my decision with these 2 candidates. Now if it were someone like Hillary, of course it would affect my vote seeing as how she wants to regulate the gaming industry so much that you couldn't release anything more violent than Viva Pinata.
Right, but my point wasn't about video games. McCain actually does not know how to use a computer, which might present major challenges for him were he to become President.
 

countrysteaksauce

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Aries_Split said:
Abako said:
Otherwise my vote is going to McCain.
I want so desperately to kick you in the balls right now.
Zomg Dissenting Opinion. Obvious penalty is a nice hard kick to the balls. Now onto the oppression of human rights and minorities.
 

stompy

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While I am a bit disappointed with his lack of video game experience, I agree that he should focus more on his country's policies. He does have to deal with one of the most powerful nation's economic slumps, the same nation's war efforts and such.
 

afrophysics

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I don't think that it's overly important for him to be in touch with gamers, it's really not a high prioty. I'm from Ingahland, could you guys in America tell me if the proportion of 18-35 year olds (I'm assuming this makes up for the large majority of gamers) who vote is as low as it is in Great Britain.
 

Tiamat666

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Thank god he doesn't play videogames, otherwise he might decide to nuke Russia when he's president to later explain before the security council that he was inspired by DefCon.

"I just wanted to see if nuking a foreign power is as easy in real life as in DefCon..."
 

Abako

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Tiamat666 said:
Thank god he doesn't play videogames, otherwise he might decide to nuke Russia when he's president to later explain before the security council that he was inspired by DefCon.

"I just wanted to see if nuking a foreign power is as easy in real life as in DefCon..."
Lol sounds like something good old Jackie boy would say hehe
 

DeadlyYellow

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afrophysics said:
I don't think that it's overly important for him to be in touch with gamers, it's really not a high prioty. I'm from Ingahland, could you guys in America tell me if the proportion of 18-35 year olds (I'm assuming this makes up for the large majority of gamers) who vote is as low as it is in Great Britain.
Not registered. >_>