In a very, very curious marketing move, O-Games, publisher of Superstars V8 Racing, are promising to give away copies of Gran Turismo 5:
“Critics say that Superstars V8 Racing is a worthy investment and does more than just fill the void for all the racing fans waiting for the launch of Grand Turismo 5,” said Greg Lanz, General Manager of O-Games, Inc. “Beginning next week and for the next ten weeks, we’ll be challenging players of Superstars V8 Racing on PlayStation Network to various leaderboard competitions, and award winners a brand new copy of Gran Turismo 5. Superstars V8 Racing is the perfect game for racing fans to sharpen their skills as they wait for Gran Turismo 5, and what better way than to reward fans with a brand new copy of the game. Exactly when we can ship GT5 is anybody’s guess, but rest assured, we will send out prizes whenever it hits retail shelves.”
Check their Facebook page for all the details. Offering a competing product to promote your own is a deeply ironic strategy to generate publicity (though apparently an effective one, considering that myself and others are talking about it), and I tip my hat to O-Games for such a bold move. The game was recently made available to download for $19.99 via PSN, and has received mostly positive reviews from users here in our forums – join the discussion here.
nice marketing stragety
Just got the platinum trophy in this game last night, and it wasnt too bad, even on legendary difficulty/simulation settings. This promotion will definitly have me playing this game a bit more even though I was pretty much done with it.
Clever marketing.
Small point: no it’s not ironic. That’s not what ironic means.
By featuring a competitor’s product in a promotion, O-Games generated more publicity for their own. Although it was intentional, at a higher level, the outcome is ironic.
Oh please Matt, purveyor of irony, give us a definition, give us a definition. None of us have the internet to look it up.
This marketing move definitely works. It suggests, however, that their game is worse than GT5. But it works anyway.
Wasn’t Superstars V8 Racing the one with the huge wheel deadzone?
yall are don’t play and boycott it, that way i can win 50 free copies of gt5.
If the prizes include a PS3, a FFB wheel (at least a Logitech DFGT) and a copy of GT5 (SE or CE edition) and one year of PSN Premium subscription, then it might be worth the $20 chance. For just a copy of GT5, I’d save the $20 for future GT5 DLC.
Personally, this is appaling. You’re trying to market your own racing game by offering a top-tier racing game like GT5. This is like the ultimate attention grab. I am almost reminded of certain games that have offered $1,000,000 USD to play and win (or beat) a certain game. If I was a game maker that made a so-so racing game, why the heck would I want to promote a top-tier game? It’s leeching, people. You try to promote your own popularity at the expense of a much more popular and well-liked game franchise. It would be like “25 to Life” trying to bolster its success on the heels of “Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.”
You give the benefit of the doubt that this Superstars V8 Racing actually has some teeth to it. But the thing is, why would you want to play a lesser racing game just to have a chance at playing a top-tier racing game like GT5? It’s almost like being at the fair when you have to do something stupid just to win a big prize. If you want Gran Turismo 5, go get Gran Turismo 5 and don’t waste your time playing any lesser racing game in the meanwhile. O-Games… FAIL!
I don’t know why everyone here is being so critical of it. If anything, it’ll only bring more publicity to GT5, rather than steal any of its showtime.
Personally, I think this is a rather clever idea. O-Games is being honest about its game, saying that it’s really just a warmup while people wait for GT5. I was planning on waiting to buy a PS3 until GT5 actually came out, but now I’m considering buying one really soon and actually competing to get GT5. This seems like an interesting proposition, and I may have just been sold on it. Time to go check the price on the PS3 at Walmart….
Is this available on PSN in the UK? Or will it be at some point?
“In a very, very curious marketing move, O-Games, publisher of Superstars V8 Racing, are promising to give away copies of Gran Turismo 5”
Because they know they’ll never have to do it? I mean, you have to have copies of GT5 available in order to give them away, right?
genius idea. I’d be tempted to buy it
yawn !!!!! release date please …. gota be mid december right?
+1
No waaay?? I bet Greg Lanz & O-Games have an idea of when it’s released?
So they make people buy their crappy game, and then as an appologize they give them a real racing game, that`s fair:)
I didn’t think it was bad. I mean it is only a $20 PSN only racing sim. I thought it was pretty fun for what it was but felt the graphics were weak, even at this price point and the lack of cockpit view was disappointing. The engines sounded really good though, and there was enough there to keep someone busy. It was certainly enjoyable but not the most realistic sim. It has room for improvement and I hope a sequel comes out.
I think that this game is way better than “Ferrari the race experience” and nobody said something about it…and yeah for $20 is really good. The other one is crap. I tested it as a PSN Plus member…almost paid for it…:S…now i don´t want Superstars V8…i only want GT5 and no other.
I actually got the game for free, would be nice if I got GT5 free too.
GT is always there to lend a hand, lol.
Very odd!
And: “Grand Turismo 5” ? :)
Is that screenshot from GT5?
no
poot?