Autoblog

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.

Each year, Automotive News honors automotive suppliers who have developed products that are innovative to the industry. Some of the twenty-two finalists this year include:

• Delphi Adaptive Dual-depth Passenger Airbag by Delphi Corp (pictured).
• CrafTec Partial Mold-Behind by Johnson Controls, Inc.
• PosiCharge by AeroVironment Inc.
• Software Flexfuel Sensor by Magneti Marelli Controle Motor
• Plexus Online by Plexus Systems

More details of the above finalists can be found at the link.

The winners will be announced on Monday, April 3rd, at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

[Source: Auto News]