Microsoft has announced plans to launch an Election 2012 hub for Xbox users. The Redmond-based company is collaborating with NBCNews.com, Rock the Vote, YouGov and Face the Facts USA, to produce "Election 2012 on Xbox LIVE." The hub will allow users to watch and interact with coverage of the three presidential debates as well as learn facts about candidates and issues from Face the Facts USA. Additionally, you'll be able to register to vote through Rock the Vote, and participate in live daily polls from YouGov. Election coverage will come courtesy of NBCNews.com, which will provide daily programming with the latest news and analysis on the election and the candidates.
"We want to provide our passionate Xbox LIVE community with a great way to experience the election process with TV that makes them participants — and not just viewers," said Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. "This is a great example of how our Xbox capabilities are making the promise of interactive television a reality."
The 2008 presidential election saw a lot of action on Twitter and other social networks, especially from Barack Obama's team, so this evolution isn't at all surprising but it will be interesting to see how much users really interact with the content being presented. Microsoft also plans to air live feeds from the Republican and Democratic national conventions, and is planning additional programming on the "Conversations with the Next Generation" youth town halls in Tampa, (August 29) and Charlotte, North Carolina (September 5).
The Election 2012 on Xbox LIVE hub will launch on Monday, August 27. According to the Xbox Live Election 2012 page, the NBC News and Live Event Player apps are needed to view news and live events. These apps require an Xbox LIVE Gold membership, so if you don't have one, you'll miss out on a lot of the coverage the hub has to offer.
Things will kick off on August 29 at 2:3pm Eastern Time. Chelsea Clinton and Chuck Todd will be hosting live coverage of the first "Conversations with the Next Generation" youth town hall.