Why is NeoGAF Running Anti-Obama Smear Ads?

For those that know, they already know what NeoGAF is. For those that never had the privilege NeoGAF is one of the largest Forums for the discussion of video games in the World. As of this entry about 3400 people are online at NeoGAF right now. When I type the term “video game forum” I know I lost about half my audience; I know, I know I can hear you saying, NERD! and screaming, Who Cares?! WHAT ABOUT FISA!? through my monitor.

However, NeoGAF is more than jut a home to the emotionally stunted musings of Thirteen Year Olds with anime avatars discussing the plot intricacies of “Final Fantasy X”. NeoGAF's Video Game Forum is home to more than Thirteen Year Olds and Gamers that act the part. NeoGAF is a professional video game forum patronized by leading members of the video game industry. Game designers, software coders, artists, producers from major game developers like Bungie, Electronic Arts and Ubisoft all either lurk or post on NeoGAF.

So in many ways NeoGAF is the watering hole for the entire Video Game Industry. A watering hole that used to be fairly a-political in the past. And a watering hole that appears now tainted by ugly, racially charged Anti-Obama Smear ads.

I was surfing around GAF (as it is normally referred) today reading through a thirty plus page thread filled with outrage and foam over recent accusations by Silicon Knight's Denis Dyack (the developer of “Too Human”) on 1Up Yours that NeoGAF is poorly moderated and needs reform (if you really want to know this piece of backstory you can listen to the podcast here and read about it here) when I glanced up to see this ad:




(Yeah, I know I had to shrink it to get it to fit Kos' Image Width Requirements. You can view a full sized image here or here if ImageShack craps out..)

A banner ad clearly depicting Barack Obama and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad side by side with caption “Is It OK to Unconditionally Meet with Anti-American Foreign Leaders”.

OK, lets stipulate that, of course, this is a gross distortion of Barack Obama's Foreign Policy, and lets also stipulate that John McCain once again demonstrates while he wants to be the Change We Can Believe In Candidate he is content to run a political campaign from Lee Atwater's playbook. The question I pose today is why are the site owner(s) and Admins of NeoGAF taking John McCain's ad money and willfully running Anti-Obama Smear Ads?

There are only two option here. Either the management of NeoGAF is grossly incompetent and doesn't know whose ads they are running, or have a blatant political point of view that they are content on advocating through advertising. No one seems to know much about who owns and runs NeoGAF, and given a track record that has seemed more or less a-political (unless the choice in question is Microsoft Versus Sony) I'd be more inclined to go with the former rather than the latter.

But exposing simple incompetence isn't enough for me. For a site that counts members from major game developers and console makers to video game journalists and the average gamer NeoGAF needs to be held accountable for playing politics instead playing games. 

I'd encourage NeoGAF members, fellow gamers, and those that work in the video game industry capacity to email NeoGAF's admins, tell them to take down the Anti-Obama smear ads and keep politics and gaming separate.

You Can email NeoGAF at: staff@ga-forum.com