Eidos and Empire's Bold Moves
Y'know, if releasing a Ford-themed racing game is considered bold.
Published: August 10, 2006
Ford seems to really be embracing this whole "Bold Moves" ad campaign. That they've adopted the mantra right on down to licensed products means they're giving it an awfully big push, and when that license is applied to video games, you get the mouthful Ford Bold Movies Street Racing.
Racing games based on the Ford license are nothing new, they've been around since the original PlayStation days, and they've always been something aimed at the Wal-Mart crowd; bargain priced and... well, reviewed accordingly. But up until now, the deal was between Empire Interactive, Ford Motor Company and various "value" publishing wings of 2K Games. Apparently, that's changing and Eidos has stepped in the handle publishing duties here in the States.
"Eidos is excited about being part of Ford's multinational marketing campaign," giggled David Bamberger, US Marketing Manager at Eidos. "New innovative features like Maximum Team Control coupled with the best high performance vehicles Ford has to offer ensures appeal to hardcore and casual gamers alike."
"We are pleased to be able to partner with Eidos for the fourth game in the multi-million selling Ford Racing franchise. The combination of the innovative Maximum Team Control feature and the aspirational, high performance Ford vehicles marks a significant step forward for Ford games," reiterated Empire CEO Ian Higgins.
FBMSR was developed by Empire's internal dev house, Razorworks (who handled previous games), and offers 18 licensed Ford machines for racin', from classics like the '68 Mustang to the dreamy 2007 Shelby GT500. The team is shooting for a progressive damage system allowing multiple hard hits and bumps to add up both visually and with performance degradation too, and something called Maximum Team Control lets you switch between team members. The budget-priced history of the game should hold true with the fourth entry into the series, so hey at least the Wal-Mart yay-Ford boo-Chevy crowd can still have access.
Racing games based on the Ford license are nothing new, they've been around since the original PlayStation days, and they've always been something aimed at the Wal-Mart crowd; bargain priced and... well, reviewed accordingly. But up until now, the deal was between Empire Interactive, Ford Motor Company and various "value" publishing wings of 2K Games. Apparently, that's changing and Eidos has stepped in the handle publishing duties here in the States.
"Eidos is excited about being part of Ford's multinational marketing campaign," giggled David Bamberger, US Marketing Manager at Eidos. "New innovative features like Maximum Team Control coupled with the best high performance vehicles Ford has to offer ensures appeal to hardcore and casual gamers alike."
"We are pleased to be able to partner with Eidos for the fourth game in the multi-million selling Ford Racing franchise. The combination of the innovative Maximum Team Control feature and the aspirational, high performance Ford vehicles marks a significant step forward for Ford games," reiterated Empire CEO Ian Higgins.
FBMSR was developed by Empire's internal dev house, Razorworks (who handled previous games), and offers 18 licensed Ford machines for racin', from classics like the '68 Mustang to the dreamy 2007 Shelby GT500. The team is shooting for a progressive damage system allowing multiple hard hits and bumps to add up both visually and with performance degradation too, and something called Maximum Team Control lets you switch between team members. The budget-priced history of the game should hold true with the fourth entry into the series, so hey at least the Wal-Mart yay-Ford boo-Chevy crowd can still have access.
