Xbox 360 Powers All-New Nissan URGE Concept Car

Motorcycle-inspired roadster delivers a futuristic driving experience using “Project Gotham Racing 3.”

Nissan North America Inc.(NNA) and Microsoft Corp. have merged automobile design and gaming technology to create the first-ever fully integrated gaming system within a vehicle. Conceived by Nissan Design America Inc. (NDA) and equipped with the Xbox 360 next-generation video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the Nissan URGE concept car allows drivers (while parked) to play “Project Gotham Racing 3” using the car’s own steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal while viewing the game on a flip-down seven-inch LCD screen. “PGR 3” is developed exclusively for Xbox 360 by Bizarre Creations Ltd. for Microsoft Game Studios.

The URGE, which will make its world debut at the 2006 North American International Auto Show on Jan. 9, offers a glimpse of how echo boomers are influencing the next generation of vehicle design.

“Nissan conducted an Internet survey of 2,000 echo boomers, a majority of which said technology and gaming are among the most important attributes in their first car,” said Bruce Campbell, vice president of design at Nissan Design America in La Jolla, Calif. “Xbox 360 offered the latest in technology and was already a favorite among this audience.”

The Nissan URGE, outfitted with an Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, puts the controls of the world’s most powerful gaming console at the hands and feet of the driver. Implemented by the designers at Nissan Design America with the guidance of Microsoft engineers, the Nissan URGE delivers an immersive driving experience not available in any living room.

The URGE concept car is equipped with the award-winning “PGR 3,” which allows drivers to control a breathtaking trip through the streets of five photo-realistic locations: New York City, London, Las Vegas, Tokyo and the Nurburgring test track in Germany. “PGR 3” drivers view and play the game on a flip-down LCD screen, which doubles as a rear-view mirror when the car is being used for real driving. They control the action using the Nissan URGE’s race-inspired steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal. A Nissan URGE driver can, for example, maneuver through the streets of New York, park the car and fire up the Xbox 360, then virtually race through the same streets using the same steering wheel, gas pedal and brake pedal — blurring fantasy and reality in a way that the automotive world has never before seen.

CarKeys - Nissan For The Echo Boomers [includes Nissan URGE pictures] - There is no actual talk of production, but Bruce Campbell has gone so far as to quote a target price of $20,000 for the US. And is there a market? Well, as Campbell points out, there are a lot of Echo Boomers out there: "by 2012, that nearly all 87 million of them will be of driving age and they will be looking for much more from a car than simple transportation - entertainment, a social space, personalisation and flexibility." Could a production version of the Urge be the car they all want to buy?