Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has been labeled the new enemy of video games due to his line of telling people to get off of the couch and do something. As a video game columnist and political activist, I feel that construing his off-hand comment about TV and video games as a metaphor for underachievement is irresponsible. What’s more, this is just another example of the media clouding real issues and making it that much more difficult to see what really matters hence preventing educated choices from being made.

Yesterday Game Politics posted a report quoting Obama’s speech in Wisconsin stating that he was using video games as a “metaphor for underachievement.” This warranted a satirical mention in a political article about fear-monger Jack Thompson Here. Since then it’s elevated. Other sources, such as Max Console have jumped on the boat and reported in the fashion a parrot would report that she’s a pretty bird. More alarming is the report that came Today about a professor at Fordham University who doesn’t condone Obama’s supposed stance on video games.

It’s hard enough for gamers as a demographic to get any real information on who not only has our general well-being in mind, but also our concerns on censorship and media suppression because of the fact that we have not yet been recognized as a real force in the election process. It only makes it worse when media geared towards us reports knee-jerk reactions to innocuous statements.

The previous Game Politics article linked to in yesterday's piece was even more offensive to the stomach of my sense. Taking his stump speech with the message of getting up and making a difference, then focusing on rhetoric and not content is about as underhanded as Fox News talking about… anything. The article counterpoints Obama’s unverified stance on games with ”[a]s for low scores in math and science, is that a problem in Japan? No. Korea? No. Are video games huge in those places? Yes.”

Citing that Japan and Korea don't have correlating concerns is just plain false. I can't speak to Japan because I’ve not lived there, but I know firsthand that Korean students do have grade concerns based around the amount of time they are allowed to play games despite the hours and hours they are forced to go to school, tutors and after-school school. And let's not forget about the student who had passed away sitting at his computer because he had forgotten to eat, sleep or drink at any point over seventy-two hours.

The comments that have been coming from readers are mixed. Many defend the stance with comments like one made by GP reader Muninn, ”GP saw a political figure reference video games, reported it, and all of the Obama people were up in arms… The same comment from another figure would have passed relatively unnoticed.” The problem is that GP didn't just report it. Obama’s statement is warped and turned on an unfair slant painting him as an anti-video game politician.

As far as other political figures going unnoticed, they probably would get away with it, because in comparison that's the mildest thing they would have said. Were Hillary Clinton to have said it, it would have been on the tail end of a speech about the evils of video game violence. Were McCain to have said it, it would have been following an anti-technology rant and right before mumbling something about Mylanta and a bottle of Jack.

Thankfully, many readers of GP are savvy and informed. Unfortunately at places like Kotaku, it’s easier for readers to use their word as gospel. Comments like ”He is the anti-christ right?” or asking the question, ”So if he becomes president, will he be bashing us on a constant basis?” After reading the way game journalism circles have been reporting, that is quite a valid question.

This brings up the bigger issue which is that articles like this make it difficult for the already disillusioned gaming generation to get the true facts about candidates instead of the typical fear-mongering the internet and gaming generation is victim to so often. There are Real Issues that could be impacting our chosen past-time and lifestyles. But, due to all the attacks we haven’t developed thick skin; we’ve turned into cornered rodents biting at everything. Remember, the only rats that people take seriously are diseased. As ambassadors to the gaming community – especially in such an important election year - it’s more important to make the facts clear and not drape wolf-pelts over sheep.

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