soulxtc
January 9th, 2006, 06:52 AM
DETROIT--Get in the driver's seat. Adjust the rearview mirror. Boot up the Xbox 360.
To some young drivers, a car that's also a video game system may sound like a dream come true--or so Nissan Motor hopes with a new concept car aimed at gamers.
Nissan's Urge sports car, introduced at the North American International Auto Show here this week, is a prototype where the steering wheel and pedals become game controllers when the car is still. The mirror conceals a small flip-down screen. The dashboard conceals a Microsoft game console.
The Urge may be one of the more extreme examples of a trend to introduce more entertainment features to help differentiate a vehicle in a crowded marketplace, especially to a generation used to mobile phones and portable music players like iPods.
To serve those plugged-in drivers, more carmakers are turning their vehicles into entertainment centers. High-end features like navigation systems and backseat video monitors can add as much as $2,200 to the cost of a car, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
READ ARTICLE (http://news.com.com/Carmakers+park+in+digital+living+room/2100-1041_3-6024259.html?tag=cd.top)
To some young drivers, a car that's also a video game system may sound like a dream come true--or so Nissan Motor hopes with a new concept car aimed at gamers.
Nissan's Urge sports car, introduced at the North American International Auto Show here this week, is a prototype where the steering wheel and pedals become game controllers when the car is still. The mirror conceals a small flip-down screen. The dashboard conceals a Microsoft game console.
The Urge may be one of the more extreme examples of a trend to introduce more entertainment features to help differentiate a vehicle in a crowded marketplace, especially to a generation used to mobile phones and portable music players like iPods.
To serve those plugged-in drivers, more carmakers are turning their vehicles into entertainment centers. High-end features like navigation systems and backseat video monitors can add as much as $2,200 to the cost of a car, according to J.D. Power and Associates.
READ ARTICLE (http://news.com.com/Carmakers+park+in+digital+living+room/2100-1041_3-6024259.html?tag=cd.top)