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Car Makers Use Games As Virtual Test Drive 31

Posted by simoniker from the realistic-damage-option-turned-on-irl dept.
Thanks to the Detroit Free Press for their article discussing car manufacturers garnering publicity, and even increased sales, from their vehicles appearing in racing games. According to brand manager David Milch: "It's a virtual test drive. The games are that sophisticated. People are getting a real feel for how the car will perform." The article goes on to explain: "The average age of a gamer is 29, and... more than half of all households in America play. That makes games a natural way to reach prime auto buyers - and those who are about to make their first purchase." Would you buy a car because you liked how it handled in a game?
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Car Makers Use Games As Virtual Test Drive More

Car Makers Use Games As Virtual Test Drive

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  • Good question... (Score:5, Funny)

    by clambake ( 37702 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @02:17AM (#6642723) Homepage
    Would you buy a car because you liked how it handled in a game?

    No, but I'd buy a space ship.

  • Anyone else find thie odd? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by rritterson ( 588983 ) * on Friday August 08, 2003 @02:17AM (#6642725)
    Next time I can plug my PS2 controller into my steering column, I'll tell you if the driving performance compares.

    Not only that, but there is so much to buying a car that you can't get from a game, no matter how sophiscated. Some cars feel a lot faster than others. What about the interior design, the comfort of the car, etc.

    I might consider test driving a car I liked in a video game, but then again, do i get to drive it at the redline and crash it into other cars on purpose if I want to (we can only hope). Even so, I'm wary of just how real the handling is. Sure, I can design a bridge with a computer, but it's nothing compared to actually building it (okay, weak analogy, but you get the point)
    • ...there is so much to buying a car that you can't get from a game, no matter how sophiscated

      Exactly right. I would never buy a car without driving it, no matter how well it performed in a game. I am a performance enthusiast, so I'm probably exactly the type of person they target. But as any person who really drives (and enjoys driving at the limit) will tell you, the most important aspects of a performance car is the feedback the car provides to the driver, and no game can simulate that. A car with b
    • There's definitely a lot of truth in what you say. I don't think anyone is going to rush out and buy a car because they like how it handles in his favorite video game. But it might well get him out to the dealer asking for a test drive. It's basically high-powered advertising (assuming the car is fun to drive in the game). There's a commercial for Saab, I think, where they say that most people who test drive a Saab buy one. So I expect that even if video games do nothing more than pull in extra people

    • Viral Marketting (Score:3, Insightful)

      by quinkin ( 601839 )
      It's just viral marketting (now that is a phrase I hate).

      Works out as damn cheap advertising for them (i.e. don't ask game developer for licensing payments - thats pretty cheap).

      Q.

  • Adventure Racing, Transformers, etc. (Score:4, Funny)

    by the darn ( 624240 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @02:20AM (#6642736) Homepage
    While I, personally, wouldn't allow a video game with less-than-realistic game physics affect my automotive purchase decisions, I'm convinced that my ex was none-too-subtly influnced by Beetle Adventure Racing (for the N64) in her desire for the siver-gray bubble she now drives...
    On the other hand the new Transformers: Alternators verion of Smokescreen as a Subaru WRX does kinda make me want a pseudo-rally car...but only if it changes into a giant alien robot.

  • Alternate Idea (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quinkin ( 601839 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @03:10AM (#6642865)
    Or alternatively, we could use the tech to ensure people actually know how to drive before they are allowed to on the roads (yes, it's limited - but it would help).

    I don't know about anyone else but I am sick of having incompetent drivers in high powered turbo sports cars trying to kill me and my family every time we venture on the road.

    Q.

    • "I don't know about anyone else but I am sick of having incompetent drivers in high powered turbo sports cars trying to kill me and my family every time we venture on the road."

      At least they don't mass as much as an SUV.

    • "I don't know about anyone else but I am sick of having incompetent drivers in high powered turbo sports cars trying to kill me and my family every time we venture on the road." If they're trying to kill you, maybe it's better that they don't actually know how to drive.

  • BTDT (Score:4, Informative)

    by Dahan ( 130247 ) <khym@azeotrope.org> on Friday August 08, 2003 @03:39AM (#6642987)
    The Ford Simulator [mobygames.com].

  • Ford Focus??? (Score:2, Informative)

    by flabbergast ( 620919 )
    This is the caption from the pic in the article:

    "Colin McRae Rally 3" contains one of the most realistic reproductions of a Ford Focus, above, in a game. While the first-person view of driving the Focus, below, isnOt identical to the real car, it does give a realistic feel of speed and handling."

    If you look at the photo in the article, Umm...that's not a Ford Focus, that's a Ford Puma. I can't even BUY a Puma here (here being the US). Regardless, a lot of people speculate that Subaru brought the WRX/

  • I actually did buy a car from a videogame... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Deathlok's Bear ( 695862 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @04:20AM (#6643123)
    3 years ago my roomate told me about a very cool new car called the Subaru WRX. I was interested, but didn't have the money for it at the time so I didn't give it much thought.

    I pretty much spent the next few years driving around the WRXs and, when they were available, STis in the various racing games that had them. Over time I gained a fairly healthy appreciation of that type of car and eventually did purchase a WRX STi when they became available in the last few months.

    Interestingly, until I went down to sign the papers for my car I had never been in a WRX nor STi and had I actually never seen an STi in person at that point.

    So far the car has lived up to my expectations, although some days I do wish I could take it around the rally courses I've been driving for the last few years... ^_^

    As for how close the simulations are? Well, some more than others but around my house GT3 is still a fan favorite as it's close enough to give a good feeling about a particular car but still retains a certain arcade-quality that doesn't punish the user too hard when they make a mistake. We can't wait for GT4 of course.
  • If I'm looking to buy a sports car, which I hopefully will be doing some day, then maybe. I might for instance see a car in a video game that I did not know existed, or that I did not realize had high performance. Depending on the in game performance, and if that bears any relation to the real world performance, I might add the car to the list of cars to test drive.

    Of course if I ever have enough money I'll just instantly buy the Ferrari 360 Spyder, and then who needs test driving.

    Seriously though, game
  • X-Plane [x-plane.com] is apparently an eerily accurate-enough flight simulator that plane builders are now using it to model planes to be built, making changes in the simulator before buiilding the real thing. Cool!
  • Yes I would definetly buy a car if I knew how it handled in various conditions (rain/snow/running from the cops/etc).

    A better idea would be a Grand Theft Auto type game with real vehicle physics and consequences, and have them model a real life city (like the MS Flight Simulator series do). I would definetly pay for something like that :)

    Only downsides I see as it could be used to conduct Terrorist attacks.. but so could anything we take for granted.

  • Games are not realistic (Score:3, Insightful)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @08:13AM (#6643750) Homepage Journal
    Does nobody else here remember the various articles about the way the racing games take liberties with the real physics of cars - how frequently the car's center of gravity is placed several meters below the car, the tires have coefficients of friction that are stickier than duct tape, etc.?

    Yes, I want to make my multi-tens of thousands of dollars buying decisions based upon that information....
    • But not ALL games are like that. Some are exceedingly realistic, and frankly all that matters is how it feels: if, because of the quirks of their simulation, placing the cars center of gravity below the car makes it drive more realistically then who gives a shit?

      There was an article a while ago (no link sorry - about to catch a plane so limited time to google) about how nissan skyline sales have rocketed in the UK, and that Nissan did research into it and found that a significant fraction bought the car b

    • " Does nobody else here remember the various articles about the way the racing games take liberties with the real physics of cars "

      Do you remember the articles on how much effort was put into GT3 to make the cars as realistic as possible? Not to say there isn't room for improvement though.

  • I didn't know about half the cars before I played Gran Turismo - all of a sudden there were are these cool cars that I didn't even know existed, like the Mitsubishi GTO. I know its not an accurate representation of all aspects of a given car, but it certainly adds a cool factor to looking out for new (and used cars).

    Now how about letting the game designers do some car damage!?!

  • I'd really like to... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Deanasc ( 201050 ) on Friday August 08, 2003 @09:24AM (#6644177) Homepage Journal
    I'd buy a Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak. I've been lusting for one since I unlocked it in Gran Turismo.
  • Ford used to send out the "Ford Simulator" on floppy disk back in the 80's. You could "test drive" various models, and get product information.
  • Yeah, I'll buy a car based on a game....once the car companies allow game developers to realistically model damage caused by crashes. Ever notice how when you crash in a car that has been officially licensed in a game, the car shows no damage? That's because the car makers don't want people to see their car get beatup, lose performance, or possibly kill the driver. Give me a game where I can die in the game by crashing (realistically), and I'll consider it. Not to mention that that would make a bitchin
  • Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Subaru Impreza WRX STi. These cars received more advertising through gamers' word of mouth than they did from any advertising campaign on TV. (I don't watch TV at my house, and I don't watch much in general, but when I have watched TV recently, I've seen only one STi ad and no Lancer Evo ads. During prime time.) Now they are very much in demand to the point where they can sell the Lancer Evo (WRC Victor) for $5k over sticker. Next up: The soon-to-hit-the-US Legacy B4 Blitzen. Wi
  • ...of a 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer OZ-Rally (how I wish I could afford the payments & insurance on an Evolution VIII... :-D~~). While GT3 didn't actually get me to just go out and buy the car, it did pique my interest in Lancers. After reading up on them on Mitsubishi's website and other auto sites, I found that they are pretty nice cars. Went from an American 24-valve 200HP V6 down to a Japanese 16-valve inline-4 and have never looked back. The 36mpg over the 20mpg with the V6 is a nice addition too.

    "I me
  • I played GT2 extensively a couple of years ago. I would generally consider myself very unknowledgeful about cars. I talk to my father-in-law about them from time to time (he is quite an enthusiast) and just barely can discuss it.
    However, I'm light-years ahead of where I was two years ago thanks to my experience with the game. Having only played 'arcade style' racing games before that, I was amazed at how I could tell the differences between the cars. It really did raise my awareness of what was out there.
    No
  • I'd like to see them add better crash and damage physics to racing games. You can beat the hell out of these things without them ever taking a single dent. Not to mention the fact that you couldn't roll a car in a racing game ever.
    I've allways wanted a racing game that allowed me to beat the crap out of my cars then replace busted parts. How about a demolition derby mode?

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