Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has opened up a new front in his battle with Republican John McCain for the White House: videogames.

The Obama campaign has placed advertisements for the candidate inside the online versions of some of the hottest-selling videogames in the United States.

Holly Rockwood, a spokesperson for videogame giant Electronic Arts, told AFP the Obama campaign had purchased ads inside nine of EA's top titles.

The ads are appearing from 6 October to 3 November in Xbox 360 games such as "Burnout Paradise," "Madden 09," "Nascar 09," "NHL 09" and "Skate," Rockwood said.

She said the ads would be visible to players in 10 US states who play the Xbox games online against each other using Xbox Live.

Among the 10 states are several expected to be among the most hotly contested in the 4 November showdown between Obama and McCain.

"Not all of our games support dynamic in-game advertising but these ones lend themselves well to this kind of opportunity," Rockwood said.

"You're driving down the freeway, you're passing billboards and one of the ads you will see is for Obama. We try to create an authentic gaming experience," she said.

The ad campaign encourages voters who are eligible to do so to cast their ballots before 4 November.

"These ads will help us expand the reach of VoteforChange.com so that more people can use this easy tool to find their early vote location and make sure their voice is heard," Nick Shapiro, an Obama spokesperson, told AFP by email.

A first in US politics

Television, radio, newspapers and, more recently, the internet have become the staples for political advertising in the United States but using videogames is a first in US presidential politics.

The technology website GigaOm published a screen shot of an Obama ad which appears in the racing game "Burnout Paradise."

In the picture, a race car is seen driving by a roadside billboard which carries Obama's picture and says "Early Voting Has Begun."

The billboard features the VoteforChange.com website address and the words "Paid for by Obama for President."

An ad in "NHL 09" shows an Obama poster on the side of a hockey rink and carries the same message.

The games which will feature Obama campaign ads are among the most popular in the EA catalogue of sports titles and are rated for play by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for everyone aged 10 and older.

And most videogame players in the United States are not teenagers too young to vote according to the Entertainment Software Association.

The latest ESA report, Essential Facts 2008, found that the average age of a videogame player is 35 years old and 49 percent are between the ages of 18 and 49. Just 25 percent of videogame players are below the age of 18.

Despite extending his campaign to videogames, Obama, the father of two young daughters, has not always been the biggest supporter of the pastime.

During a recent speech in Chicago, he urged parents to "turn off the TV set once in awhile, turn off the videogame and the remote and read a book to your child".

AFP