Mercedes-Benz Takes AMG Vision GT Concept from Video Game to Reality

Mercedes's AMG Vision Gran Turismo 1:1 Scale Model designed for Gran Turismo 6

December 6 marks the release of Gran Turismo 6 and the 15th anniversary of the racing game franchise. To mark the occasion Polyphony Digital Inc. has partnered with a number of automakers for an initiative called Vision GT to come up with a vision of the sports car of the future.

Among the list of participants are leading design studios from Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Honda, Infiniti, just to name a few. The results will be made available to players of Gran Turismo 6 as special downloadable content.

The first car from the project to be revealed is the AMG Vision GT, created at the Mercedes-Benz Research & Development Center in Sunnyvale, California. The car’s futuristic shape was inspired by the iconic 1952 300 SL, and includes an oval grille with variable pattern LEDs. For even more added realism the Mercedes-AMG sound specialists created the sound for special V8 engine sound for the virtual 577hp AMG V8 biturbo engine in the car.

The best was yet to come, as the Mercedes unveiled a full-size concept of teh AMG Vision GT at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week. Unlike the virtual AMG Vision GT, the full-size concept was powered only by an electric motor so it could be moved around the convention center.

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[via CarScoops / New York Times]

Dominos Creates Brand-Sponsored Squad for ‘Call of Duty’ Play on Xbox 360

Dominos #gamefuel

While not one of the traditional food groups, pizza is certainly one of the essential elements that fuel any all-night gaming sessions.

With this knowledge at hand, Dominos UK and ad agency Iris recruited a squad of amateur gamers to represent the company by competing in “Call of Duty” with money-off voucher codes on the line.

Dominos will use their social media channels to ask gamers to add the gamertag DominosPizzaUK on xBox 360.

Nick Dutch, head of digital at Domino’s Pizza Group said:

“We’re constantly seeking new ways of engaging with our audiences and understanding what makes them tick. Playing the games they want to play is an important part of that process, and something that hasn’t been done – so we’re excited to see how far Team Domino’s can go!”

[via The Drum]

UK

Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ Featured in Playstation 4 Ad

Playstation 4 - Perfect Day

I have a love/hate thing with classic songs being used in commercials, but the use of Lou Reed’s ‘Perfect Day’ in a new ad for Playstation falls onto the ‘love’ side. Perfect Day was first recorded for Reed’s classic 1972 David Bowie-produced album Transformer and as the B-side to ‘Walk on the Wild Side’.

As part of their Greatest Awaits campaign, “Perfect Day” is sung by a character appearing in scenes from Playstation games The Elder Scrolls Online, Driveclub and Killzone Shadow Fall. The tender lyrics juxtaposed against the violence and mayhem works… well, perfectly.

The ad was created by BBH, New York, and directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen for MJZ.

[via AdWeek]

USA

Nissan Brings Electric-Vehicle Charging Stations to SimCity

Nissan LEAF Simcity EV Charging Stations

Electronic Arts’ SimCity has partnered with Nissan to bring LEAF Electric Vehicle Charging Stations to the virtual streets of it’s players’ towns.

Players are free to download and install up to five of the branded charging stations for the next six months. The Charging Stations provide ‘happiness’ to the Sims and nearby businesses.

“Nissan remains committed to finding innovative ways to promote the development of EV infrastructure and to bringing practical, affordable electric vehicles to markets throughout the United States,” said Jon Brancheau, VP of marketing, Nissan North America.

[via CarScoops]

USA

Tough Guy Peter Stolmare is ‘The Replacer’ in Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Video

Call of Duty - The Replacer

Actor Peter Stolmare, star of dozens of TV and movie roles, but maybe best known as Slippery Peter on Seinfled, or kidnapper Gaear Grimsrud in Fargo, stars in a promotional clip for Call of Duty Black Ops 2 as ‘The Replacer’. As the Replacer

Whether it’s filling for you at the office, delivery room, or visiting Nana, The Replacer (with maybe a wink to Harvey Keitel’s ‘The Fixer’ character in Pulp Fiction), will fill as your replacement while you spend your valuable time playing the game.

The clip was created by 72andSunny, and directed by Wayne McClammy for Hungry Man.

[via Creative Criminals]

Old Spice Recruits Dikembe Mutombo’s to ‘Save the World’ from Mayan Prophesy

Old Spice: Dikembe Mutombo's 4 1/2 Weeks to Save the World

If we needed someone to step up and save the world from the Mayan prediction of the end of the world on December 21, we couldn’t ask for a better candidate than the gravelly-voiced 8-time NBA All-Star, humanitarian and philanthropist Dikembe Mutombo. Old Spice has recruited Mutombo to undergo a series of 8-bit challenges to help carve more time into the Mayan calendar, and he’s got only 4 1/2 weeks to do it.

In week 1: “The Great 2012 Dance Crisis”, Dikembe’s trusted bear friend, Science the Bear (just go with me here) informs him that Americans may be too distracted to vote by a South Korean dance craze. You must help Dikembe successfully deliver election ballots to dancing American voters.

If that doesn’t sound batshit-crazy enough for you, the site is linked to a live video of a machine carving out a new ring onto a reproduction of the Mayan calendar.

The campaign was created by Wieden + Kennedy Portland.

USA

Supercars Take to the Streets of Toronto in xBox Canada’s Forza Horizon Promotion

Forza Horizon Supercars

In Forza Horizon, a spin-off to the popular Forza Motorsport xBox video game series, the cars break free from the confines of the race track and take to the open road.

To promote the launch, xBox Canada took an Aston Martin Vantage and Mercedes SLS AMG out for a spin around the streets and highways of Toronto. The cars were outfitted with roof signs that read Player 1 and Player 2, giving drivers and pedestrians the illusion that they were watching the game.

The stunt was created by MacLaren McCann Toronto.

The track featured in the video is ‘DRVGS’ by DVBBS.

[via Ads of the World]

Canada

‘Fifth Avenue Frogger’ Features Real Cars in Real Time

Fifth Avenue FroggerWhenever I hear about Frogger, my mind goes back to the Seinfeld episode where Jerry & George return to their high school hangout for one last slice of pizza before it closes. There they discover that not only is the original Frogger arcade game still there, but George’s high score is still tops. George decides the buy the game and hilarity ensues.

It’s been nearly 14 years since that episode of Seinfeld was first broadcast, and over 30 years since Frogger was first released by Konami in 1981. In the game players must navigate a frog across a busy highway and safely back to it’s home.

Tyler DeAngelo, Renee Lee, and Ranjit Bhatnagar have created an updated version of the classic game that transmits real-time traffic from Fifth Avenue in NYC. The group is trying to get the project featured in the Art of Video Games exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

To track the traffic on Fifth Avenue, DeAngelo mounted a web camera high up in a building with a clear view of the busy street and wrote code that translated the real-time position of the cars into live-streaming data. In the game the car graphics are mapped on to those positions in the game in real-time.

As a final stroke of genius, DeAngelo hauled out his hacked version of game to the sidewalk facing Fifth Avenue, and invited passing New Yorkers to play.

USA

Sony Ericsson Needs Someone to Build a Minecraft Dreamworld for Kristen Schaal

Sony Ericsson XPeria PLAY - Build for KristenI first learned about Minecraft a year or so ago when a colleague mentioned that his 12 year old son was engrossed with it. The game focuses on creativity and building skills as players build items using blocks made of different materials, such as dirt, stone, various ores, water, and wood to create whatever they imagine. It can be played in two different ways, in the classic Creative mode or the more popular Survival mode. As of October, 2011, Minecraft has 14 million registered users.

To promote Minecraft:Pocket Edition for Sony Ericsson’s Xperia PLAY gaming platform, comedian Kristen Schaal is looking for (in her words) “a super-genius Minecraft wizard to slave away and build her something so extraordinary that she goes into a coma for half a year”. To enter Minecraft builders are asked to post a video of their creation for Kristen on the Sony Ericsson Facebook page. Surely a few of those 14 million users will step up and make Kristen’s dreams come true.

An early entry (the contest is open until November 7) from Josh W. comes complete with a heart-shaped jacuzzi powered by lava from a volcano, as well as a Mount Rushmore featuring both his and Kristen’s face.

The contest is open to entries from all 50 Unites States as well as Canada (excluding Quebec). The winner receives a trip for two to New York to New York to meet Jessica Schall in person.

Monopolize Your City One Check-in at a Time with the Metropoli App


MetropoliThe creative minds behind the Foursquaropoly mobile game concept have re-branded as Metropoli (for obvious trademark issues), but the concept is exactly the same.

Once the concept is released players will be able to download the iPhone or Android version of the app, connect it to their Foursquare account. If a player is the first person to check into a ‘location’ they can buy it with the available money in their Metropoli account. All other players who check-in to that location must pay the owner rent, and the player’s earnings increase as long as they keep paying the bills on their property.

The group has turned to Kickstarter to fund Metropoli and they are looking for $12,000 by October 26. With the help of 46 backers they’ve raised nearly $1800 so far (Oct 9).

The game is obviously built for urban areas like New York, London, Amsterdam and Toronto that have the required concentration of hip mobile users with both the time and attention to dedicate to social game play within their daily tasks of commuting, work and nights out on the town. As I found out in August when I tried to check in to a restaurant in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia – mobile check-ins are not top-of-mind for most people outside of the major cities.