Riding the blur between gaming and media, and the attention waves of an election year, Ubi Soft Entertainment is releasing Political Machine:

The Political Machine is a new strategy game in which you are the campaign manager for a candidate for President of the United States. Choose a political party, put together the dream presidential ticket and go for it. Based on the real world, The Political Machine gives would-be candidates the taste of the challenge real candidates face. Fund raising, campaigning, building support, hiring operatives, winning endorsements, going on "The O'Maley Factor" and other cable news shows to answer the tough questions, and more.

Ben Berkowitz writes, "Players will also have the option of creating their own Republican or Democratic candidate or managing the campaign of a historical figure like Ronald Reagan or Franklin Roosevelt.

The game will allow players to raise funds, barnstorm for votes and join candidate debates.

"We figured it would be kind of fun to be able to go around the country and try to take out ads, debate on the issues that are out there ... and see how different candidates played up against each other," Brad Wardell, the game's designer told Reuters."