Nissan Debuts Real World Car in “Need for Speed Undercover Game”

Automotive manufacturer Nissan will debut the 2009 iteration of its venerable Z-series sports car within Electronic Arts’ upcoming racing game, Need for Speed Undercover.

The debut of the 370Z marks the first time an auto manufacturer has teamed with a gaming company to launch a vehicle.

Novel appeal aside, I can’t quite see why Nissan believes launching a car within a game is any better an idea than debuting a car at an auto show. Then again, being the first company to do this will undoubtedly garner a huge amount of built-in hype, and that alone might prove enough for Nissan to spend the cash to make this happen.

Unless, of course, this was EA’s idea to promote Need for Speed Undercover among the gearhead crowd from the very beginning.