America may be headed for change as Barrack Obama, the US’ 44th president and first afro-american takes to the oval office this January. But what does an Obama presidency hold for the future of video games? First, Obama targeted gamers by coming up with ads directly inside games such as NBA 2008 and Burnout Paradise. Some say that the last game he played was Pong, and that was thirty years ago, perhaps older than the generation that voted for him via a landslide in a historic election.

Well, let’s hear it from the man himself.

President Obama’s view on video games:

“I would call upon the video game industry to give parents better information about programs and video games by improving the voluntary rating system we currently have. Broadcasters and video game producers should take it upon themselves to improve this system to include easier to find and easier to understand descriptions of exactly what kind of content is included. But if the industry fails to act, then my administration would.”

“And even if the industry does do some responsible self-policing, there’s still a role for the federal government to play. We need to understand the impact of these new media better.”

Quite a hard stand. But I’m all for it. A lot of the responsibility should come from the industry (the makers of the games), the parents (those who should be responsible for what their kids are playing) and the government (for making sure that everything is regulated and everyone follows the law). It’s simple really.

Meanwhile, I’d like to show you some of the ads for Obama on NBA and Burnout Paradise:

I guess gaming may not be on top of Mr. President’s to-do list but it will be worth monitoring for future developments.

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