My blog seems to be turning into a “games and US politics” affair. Here goes:
According to a study by NeoEdge, 59% of casual players surveyed prefer Obama, 32% McCain.
Now, I want to propose various explanations. Basically, I think there is something in the underlying structure of Hidden Object and Time Management games that are inherently tied to the values of Democrats.
- Aren’t time management games the ludic expression of the welfare state, the Democrat idea of (the state as) the nurturing mother? An all-seeing eye that helps everybody?
OK, so I don’t quite believe that. It is more likely that casual players are mostly women, and Obama does well with women.
Sen. Barack Obama has widened his lead among casual game[r]s — an overwhelming majority of which are women — over Sen. John McCain following the third presidential debate on Wednesday, October 15. On October 16, the day following the debate, 59% of the respondents said they preferred Obama, while 32% preferred McCain. A week ago, the day after the second presidential debate (October 8), only 54% percent said they preferred Obama, and 36% said they preferred McCain. According to the poll, Obama now leads McCain by 17 points among this key demographic.
So here is a question: Is the reverse is true? Do “hardcore” game players lean towards McCain?
And what do we mean by “hardcore”? Mega Man? Level 60+ in World of Warcraft? Defender? Guitar Hero on Expert?
The problem is that article doesn’t really define “casual,” so it’s hard to define “hardcore” in opposition.
I would not at all be surprised to learn that developers of traditional american hardcore games (FPS, RTS, 4x, MMORPG, &c) lean towards the conservative side. The most notable example would probably be Will Wright, who is Republican. I don’t think that Texas is a major game development hotbed without reason, especially when one can consider California to be the defacto Tech/Entertainment center of America. Hardcore game devs are more likely to be part of their own target audience, so it’s probably pretty likely that the players have similar politics.
As for the games themselves, they do tend to favour more conservative values like anarcho-free markets, hawkish muscle and self-sufficiency. Many hardcore games, even Simcity and Civilization, have been critiqued as representing strong conservative ideologies.