News
Obama Wins Xbox Live Presidential Poll
XBLA Proves Its Users Are Politically Motivated
by Sean
Microsoft has announced the results of a poll conducted on Xbox Live asking gamers to vote for their choice of American presidential ticket. The poll was taken as a partnership between XBL and MTV's Rock the Vote initiative. Gamers were offered a choice between McCain/Palin; Obama/Biden; Undecided; or Other. With close to 100,000 gamers voting, the winner is the Obama/Biden ticket, coming in with 43% of the vote. Here's the breakdown:
Obama \ Biden: 43%
McCain \ Palin: 31%
Undecided: 13%
Other: 13%
The 12% difference between the Republican and Democratic ticket represents the largest lead either candidate has seen in any national poll. Microsoft also points out that the 100,000 gamers are larger than the polling samples of Gallup, NBC, and CNN combined. The results, while hardly scientific (e.g.- people could vote more than once), certainly highlight the conventional wisdom that Obama's campaign tends to attract a younger demographic.
It is also interesting to note the 26% of respondants who opted for none of the above. That's a solid 26,000 people (or accounts) that neither presidential candidate has been able to sway. With just over a month before the votes are actually cast, you'll probably start to see pushes from each side of the aisle trying to lock those votes up.
Also mentioned in the release is the statistic that since the beginning of the partnership between XBL and Rock the Vote, 55,000 voter registration forms have been downloaded from XBL and xbox.com. Further, videos from the Democratic and Republican conventions were downloaded over 25,000 times. All of this proves what most of us already knew: gamers are voters. Mainstream media will continue to miss the point and paint us as a disinterested and apathetic demographic, but come November gamers could prove to be extremely influential.
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Comments
Nice job.
it's not the multiple voting that is throwing off these numbers (for me, anyway), it's the fact that potentially a lot of these "voters" are actually underage, as FemJesse said. we know that obama tends to appeal primarily to younger voters, but when it comes to election day will a large segment of his fanbase be too young to actually sway the outcome?
why is there no option for None, or I don't plan to vote?
Most of these kids are way too young to vote i am sure like people have said.
But the most surprising thing is that people actually downloaded video's of these conventions. I mean thats amazing, downloading a video to watch a boring person talk about what they will do but really wont do. Woot!
VIDEO GAMERS UNITE!!
Giving people the option of "None" or "I don't vote" defeats the purpose of a political poll. The idea is to get involved, to get interested, to have a voice. Staying home and not voting, whatever your reasons may be for doing so, is not making a statement. It is the diametric opposite of that.
well true, i guess other could be another way of saying none too. :)
and maybe some people are staying home not to make a point but actually because they have something better to do :)