The Inescapable Election: Now on XBox! [Oh, man...]

If you spend more than five minutes online on any given day the looming election is unavoidable. Unless that time online is spent on your game console in which case… oh, no. They did it. Those crazy %$*#@! went and did it!

Election 2012: now on XBox Live.

Boom.

Truly the end of fun.

I kid, mostly. [Details after the jump.]

Four years ago the youth vote was all the rage, now… not so much. Microsoft and NBC see an opportunity, strangely, to bring election coverage to the Call of Duty set– 40% of whom are self-identifying as undecided according to an XBox Live poll. Which is totally scientific.

Alright: what is up with my sarcasm? Well, a little game called Halo 4 comes out on election day, and that was going to be my respite from election coverage. The perfect excuse to not do what I usually do every four years which is watch CNN and The Daily Show simultaneously while screaming at the TV. There will still be screaming, only this time about the Covenant.

But noooooo… MS and NBC are going all out with a hub (from the press release):

• Live broadcasts of the presidential debates and the “Conversations with the Next Generation” forums
• Information on how users can register to vote
• In-depth data on the candidates and their stands on the issues
• A series of polls seeking Xbox users’ opinions of various aspects of the elections
• Full coverage of the balloting results on election night

What are the “Conversations with the Next Generation” forums you ask? Why they are events at the national political conventions that will be streamed right onto XBox Live. Hosted by NBC’s Chuck Todd and former First Daughter and current NBC correspondent Chelsea Clinton. August 29th for the GOP and September 5th for the Democrats. Both of those are Wednesdays, stream-time is 4:30 Eastern.

You know, when you think about it, this could be the precursor to even more live programming on the XBox, something we’ve been speculating about. What it’s a long way from– thankfully, at this rate– is voting via our game consoles.

Save that for next time.

Master Chief/Altaïr 2016.