Italeri video game tie in

[Aaronw]

Not car models, but I've seen many comment that the model companies should be targeting kids by tying kits to car themed video games.

Italeri is doing just that but with tanks.


http://www.italeri.com/news_scheda.asp?idNews=465

[Tonioseven]

Cool. Other that Cincinnati-style chili, I didn't know what a Skyline was until I started playing Gran Turismo. There was a LOT of money to be made from tie-ins. So much so that Nissan had Polyphony Digital design the video display in the Nissan GT-R

[Aaronw]

Wow, that is kind of wild that a car maker is tying into the games that way.

[unclescott58]

I know nothing about video games. I have no interest in them. But, I think Italeri has got the right idea with this one. I hope it works.

Scott

[rsxse240]

I wonder if Polyphony would license the gran turismo name to anyone. I would have to imagine Fujimi or Aoshima would be the companies to do it, since they have most of the cars already in their line up.

[Aaronw]

I think a lot of the car games would be easy tie ins. Just a matter of lining up the existing tooling with the games that feature them. It's not like most video games feature a lot of family wagons and minivans. They go for a lot of the same cars, fast, exotic, expensive. The US companies would probably do better with the Need for Speed and Test Drive games (Corvettes, Ferraris, Muscle cars), the Japanese companies with the Dirt, WRC and Gran Turismo games.

Cheap to do, just some new decal options in the kits and an in game tie in (special skin code only available with the model kit). Even if it didn't lead to more kids getting building models, lots of people like special skins (I don't get it, but it seems to be the case) so the kits would sell, even if they collected dust. Probably end up on ebay for the stash builders.

[Tonioseven]

Some are already well aware of it. The model shown was built by Shaun Stevens of Fairborn, Ohio. Many of the cars in the game are readuly available via Aoshima, Tamiya, and Fujimi. Hasegawa as well.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Tonioseven

[Shelby 427 1965]

As an avid gamer I would absolutely love and more than likely buy every model in the series if there were the likes of Gran Turismo branded models. Especially with things such as that skyline with the custom decals based on a car that's in the game.