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New version of NBA Jam includes President Obama, other politicans

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The newest version of NBA Jam, released by Electronic Arts for the Wii console on Tuesday, contains the hidden likeness of President Barack Obama, along with other members of the Democratic and Republican parties.

President Obama has become a prolific video game character in the past year. This will be his third appearance in sports video games this year. He previously appeared in Madden 11 and NBA2K11. After winning the Super Bowl and NBA Championship, respectively, video gamers witness the POTUS welcoming their team to the White House.

The White House’s allowance of the president’s image for commercial purposes appears to be approved on a case-to-case basis.

Shortly after being elected, White House lawyers struggled to maintain and control the use of the president’s image. In 2009, Obama’s slogan, “Yes We Can,” was reproduced by IKEA’s “Embrace Change” campaign, set of furniture, and even became an ice cream flavor — Ben & Jerry’s “Yes Pecan!”

The Obama administration allowed those advertisements to run, but more recently, the White House has been more restrictive. In January, both the president and first lady Michelle Obama were included in ads without their knowledge. In their advertisement “Fur-free and Fabulous,” PETA used the first lady’s likeness without her permission and the ads were pulled soon afterwards. Only a day later, the Weatherproof Garment Company posted a billboard in Times Square of the president in a company raincoat. The White House asked for the billboard to be taken down immediately, according to a New York Times article in January.

“The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president’s name and likeness for commercial purposes,” Ben LaBolt told the New York Times.

The use of players and celebrities in video games is typically accompanied by the payment of royalties to the companies in charge of contracts or the players themselves. In this case, it is unknown if the politicians depicted were contacted before inclusion in the video game.

Political and celebrity characters are not new for the NBA Jam series. In the early 90s, Midway’s version of NBA Jam included then President Bill Clinton, former first lady Hillary Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air and DJ Jazzy Jeff.

In this year’s edition, the Democratic side also includes Vice President Biden, former President Clinton and Secretary of State Clinton, while the Republicans are represented by Arizona Sen. John McCain, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Trey Smith, creative director for NBA Jam, said in a recent ESPN interview that he had “no idea” whether Electronic Arts Inc. received permission to use the politicians’ likenesses.

“I don’t know where my e-mail went after I sent it to the executives and to legal,” Smith said in the interview, “but it went away, then we got an e-mail back that said, ‘Yes, go for it.’”

Gamers are required to enter codes in order to unlock the special teams and players. The Beastie Boys can also be unlocked in the game as well as another celebrity whose identity has not yet been released by EA Sports.

Electronic Arts Inc. and the White House did not respond to calls and e-mails for comment.