55DSL's Carbon Coup
We're running out of alliterated or punny ways to use the word Carbon, can you tell?
Published: August 1, 2006
Electronic Arts, perhaps more than any single game developer in this industry, knows a think or two about cross-branding. They've put Hondas in snowboarding games, developed an incredibly tight integration with sports broadcasting for their sports games, and, well, just about everyone knows the stable of movie licenses they picked up over the years.
But clothing, and in a frickin' racing game, that's something that even we couldn't have called. In particular, a deal with Italian clothing maker 55DSL, but it goes beyond just offering licensed digital duds and extends out into the real world. See, 55DSL not only custom made the threads that characters in Need for Speed Carbon will be wearing, but helped EA include select bits o' cloth from the Zurka and the 55 Vagabonds line.
But, as we said before, it's not just in-game stuff. Real-life replications of the custom clothes will be offered to those that pre-order the game or happen upon one of the (no doubt many) events that EA will throw for the game leading up to and after the launch this November. As expected, those involved were excited enough to offer their enthusiastic comments about the deal.
“When the opportunity to work with EA, and in particular Need for Speed Carbon, came along, it seemed like a natural progression for us," oozed 55DSL Creative Director Andrea Rosso. "I’m a gamer and I’m going to play this game for sure so to see characters wearing our exclusively designed t-shirts and other items, is really amazing for me.”
“This partnership adds another layer of authenticity to our role in street culture”, giggled Executive Producer Larry LaPierre. “Having 55DSL integrated so tightly within Need for Speed Carbon adds an increased sense of realism to the game and gives fans the opportunity to wear exclusively designed items that brings them closer to the action.”
Everyone's a gamer and everything from the real world makes games more realistic. That just about covers our sarcasm-rich BS-o-meter, but that doesn't mean the statements are at least a little true. That EA was smart enough to see the commercial opportunities for some actual clothes based on the stuff in the game shows they haven't slipped when it comes to that all-important cross-branding mentioned earlier. And with NFS Carbon hitting every single Sony system out there today (no, the PS one doesn't count anymore), there's a good chance you'll see the clothes -- if not in the real world, then certainly while zipping around the cities and canyons of the game.
But clothing, and in a frickin' racing game, that's something that even we couldn't have called. In particular, a deal with Italian clothing maker 55DSL, but it goes beyond just offering licensed digital duds and extends out into the real world. See, 55DSL not only custom made the threads that characters in Need for Speed Carbon will be wearing, but helped EA include select bits o' cloth from the Zurka and the 55 Vagabonds line.
But, as we said before, it's not just in-game stuff. Real-life replications of the custom clothes will be offered to those that pre-order the game or happen upon one of the (no doubt many) events that EA will throw for the game leading up to and after the launch this November. As expected, those involved were excited enough to offer their enthusiastic comments about the deal.
“When the opportunity to work with EA, and in particular Need for Speed Carbon, came along, it seemed like a natural progression for us," oozed 55DSL Creative Director Andrea Rosso. "I’m a gamer and I’m going to play this game for sure so to see characters wearing our exclusively designed t-shirts and other items, is really amazing for me.”
“This partnership adds another layer of authenticity to our role in street culture”, giggled Executive Producer Larry LaPierre. “Having 55DSL integrated so tightly within Need for Speed Carbon adds an increased sense of realism to the game and gives fans the opportunity to wear exclusively designed items that brings them closer to the action.”
Everyone's a gamer and everything from the real world makes games more realistic. That just about covers our sarcasm-rich BS-o-meter, but that doesn't mean the statements are at least a little true. That EA was smart enough to see the commercial opportunities for some actual clothes based on the stuff in the game shows they haven't slipped when it comes to that all-important cross-branding mentioned earlier. And with NFS Carbon hitting every single Sony system out there today (no, the PS one doesn't count anymore), there's a good chance you'll see the clothes -- if not in the real world, then certainly while zipping around the cities and canyons of the game.