Motion capture teams already have unusual jobs, but the mocap artists on Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed: The Run had an assignment that was out of the ordinary even for them. Due to a marketing partnership between the street-racing video game and the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit brand, they got to put the mocap dots on skin-tight suits worn by 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model Irina Shayk and fellow Swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen so that the two women could play a small part in the game itself.
The arrangement could only target its key demographic better if it included a beer in the gift pack when the game is released on November 15. What that bundle actually contains is a “making of” DVD, a six-month “All Access” subscription to Sports Illustrated, and the Need for Speed: The Run video game for $49.95.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Sports Illustrated to deliver the biggest, fastest, and sexiest entertainment event of the holiday with Need for Speed: The Run,” said Steve Seabolt, vice president of Global Brand Partnerships at EA. “Gamers, racers and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit aficionados alike will love seeing Irina and Chrissy transform from the physical to the digital world, playing lifelong friends competing in a heart-pounding race from San Francisco to New York.”
Developed by Black Box, an Electronic Arts studio, Need for Speed: The Run will be available for Xbox 3690, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii and Nintendo 3DS, but the two women only appear in the first three of those versions.
Related links:
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit – http://tinyurl.com/lprxh3
