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Today's time waster: BMW lets you set the PACE
We like video games as much as anybody, and gaming combined with some international competition is even better. We also like BMWs, so when we found that the folks from Bavaria had a flash-based racing game with BMWs racing against Mustangs and Challengers through the streets of Europe, we had to give it a shot. The coolest aspect of the game is that you can gauge your score against the best the Internet has to offer.
For a free game that acts as a fun marketing tool, BMW did a pretty good job here. Sure, there is way too much talking going on in between rounds, and full-color backdrops and roads would be vastly preferred vs the monochrome dust bowl that we get in the game. One aspect of the game that we particularly like is the better you do in the races, the more money you accumulate, and you can use that money at the BMW store to obtain upgrades for your Bimmer. You start off with a 1-Series hatch (we wish we could do that in the US), and once you've accumulated $9,000, you can upgrade to the 3.0L inline six.
From there you can upgrade to a Z4 and finally an X3. We haven't finished the race yet, and we're definitely not among the top qualifiers, but we're not giving up. Overall, the game can be frustrating, but somehow we got hooked anyway. It's hard to write posts when you have a race to win.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matt 1:58PM (4/27/2007)
No link?
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Viv 2:17PM (4/27/2007)
Just click the read link under the article matt.
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Matt 2:22PM (4/27/2007)
Thanks.
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Chairman Kaga 3:22PM (4/27/2007)
Just as an FYI, I followed a metallic grey 118 i with manufacturer plates for about 15 minutes on MoPac here in Austin (which as you well know if you have ever driven MoPac was about 1/3 of a mile). No pics, but we all know what the 1-series looks like. My only question is what was one doing in heavy rush hour traffic in Austin, TX this past Monday afternoon? I didn't think BMW had plans to sell them here?
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CMS 3:33PM (4/27/2007)
. Just as an FYI, I followed a metallic grey 118 i with manufacturer plates for about 15 minutes on MoPac here in Austin (which as you well know if you have ever driven MoPac was about 1/3 of a mile). No pics, but we all know what the 1-series looks like. My only question is what was one doing in heavy rush hour traffic in Austin, TX this past Monday afternoon? I didn't think BMW had plans to sell them here?
Wrong, 1 series coming to the US (not sure on the 118, I know the 135i is)
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carmaniac 4:26PM (4/27/2007)
Btw, it's the X5 in the game not the X3.
I spent 1hr on this and I've bought the M Coupe and X5 already, even loaded all the cars with the "technologies". There's only 4 races in the 1st leg. It's almost the end of April and they haven't even released the second leg of the game yet!
The cinematics are what make this flash game though. I like the grayscale appearance and I'm sure it takes less memory to run than a full colour game.
Nice marketing by BMW!
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JR 7:27PM (4/27/2007)
Very very fun! I have the X5 4.8i with ALL the technologies, and it's great! I did the Lisbon "speed" race (3) about a dozen times to get the 98,000 credits I need to get all the cars & options.
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BowserUSC 3:46AM (4/28/2007)
Beat everything in 5:19:20 but wasn't on the leader bored. I think its fake, as I should be number 14.
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