Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Urge to converge

An article in today's Montreal Gazette gave an overview of a new Nissan concept car to be shown at the upcoming Montreal car show. Called the Urge, it is designed to appeal to the so-called Echo generation, the teenage children of boomers.

Based on online survey data from the target group, the car is built to appeal to video game and gadget geeks, which Nissan claims exemplifies the large majority of that demographic. The car is unusual in that it takes the idea of being a toy to a new level. Instead of marketing it by talking about how fast and powerful the car is, instead, the marketing is centered around how fast and powerful the game system is that is in the trunk. In this case, the Microsoft Xbox 360.

Yes, that's right. This car has a built-in Xbox in the trunk, with a flipdown screen in the dashboard. The controller is the steering wheel and pedals and the sound is channeled into the car's existing audio system.

No, it can't be played while driving (thankfully!). It is strictly a stationary only thing. Interestingly enough, it comes with a customized special edition version of Project Gotham Racing and was developed as a joint venture with, yes, Microsoft.

Oh and there is no key to speak of -- the car starts using a cellphone as a "smart key". And yes it has an integrated iPod docking station.

No comments: