Here's what you call effective advertising: instead of turning to television advertisements that rely on passive reception, advertisers from Saatchi & Saatchi L.A. decided to use an ingenious marketing method for the Toyota Yaris that calls for a more active participation: video gaming.

And no, we're not talking about blatant product placements in video games. The advertising firm came up with the idea and the game design for the Toyota Yaris game - simply titled Yaris - which will be available in XBLA starting Wednesday as a free(!) downloadable racing title.

For a free game, Yaris does pack a wallop: nicely-rendered graphics and surreal environments reminiscent of Wipeout. And how surreal it is: a cybernetic tentacle stretches out from the Yaris' hood, aiming at enemies while racing along the tracks. Does the tentacle come with the Yarises of real-life? We wish.

  

We have introduced two modified cars (Peugeot Super 2000 and Citroen C2 Super 1600) from Sega Rally Revo's growing garage in our previous post, now meet the other members in the modified cars list: Grande Punto Rally S2000 and Toyota Celica VVTi.

The Grande Punto Rally is getting good marks on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, and is quite competent in tackling various kinds of terrain - it's not strange to see a Grande Punto Rally in Sega Rally Revo sporting huge wheels for a road event, the switch to gravel spec wheels for the next safari event. It's that flexible. With its inherent good specs, there's nothing much on the Grande Punto that needs to be improved (it's still a prototype car), since apart from external changes such as roof mounted spoilers and front and rear bumper re-profiling, everything is fairly unchanged.

And then there's the Toyota Celica VVTi, chosen for its excellent tuning and modifications. The coupe features a fast front wheel drive that works well in road settings. As a bonus for this modified car, there is a special unlockable livery that features a certain Sega icon, probably the same as the livery 3 for the Citroen C2 as mentioned in the previous article.

Sega Rally Revo is up for release on PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PSP, and is also slated as a mobile game title. Do check out this space for more updates!

   

Electronic Arts recently gave out the the first car list for its video game Need For Speed ProStreet, and its looking pretty sweet. Each car is said to be "selected for a reason", whether because it is "unique, aspirational, memorable or highly desirable".

A big addition to the car list is the Nissan GT-R PROTO (pictured at right). This is the first time it has ever been featured in any game. It was first revealed at the 2005 Tokyo Motor Show and really turned heads when it came out.

Another car that most people would probably want to take a spin in is the 2008 BMW M3. Personally, I'd still go for the 1999 Mazda RX-7, but then I've always been a Mazda fanboy. Anyway, we're sure most of you are pretty excited about the selection so here's the list.

First car list for Need For Speed ProStreet:

• Nissan GT-R PROTO
• 1970 Plymouth Hemi Cuda
• 1995 Mazda RX-7
• 1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse
• 2006 Audi S4
• 1986 Toyota Corolla GTS AE86
• 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer EVOLUTION IX MR-edition
• 2006 Volkswagen Golf GTI
• 2008 BMW M3

Need For Speed ProStreet is slated for release on the PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, DS, Xbox 360, PC, and Mobile this year. Keep checking back for more updates on this game.

Microsoft Games Studios and Bizarre Creations are really doing a good job in hiding Project Gotham Racing 4 under the fog of secrecy. Unlike other video games, there have been no other source of information save from the two aforementioned companies. It's a good thing the updates for this racing video game are getting more frequent recently.

Just today, Microsoft Games Studios and Bizarre Creations released the partial roster of real-life cars that will be featured in Project Gotham Racing 4. Before this, the only car known to be in that list is Flux - the car designed by a fan and won the recent Peugeot Concept Car Making Contest. Anyway, some of the iconic cars to careen in the game are as follows:

• '62 Ferrari 250 GTO
• '67 Toyota 2000GT
• '78 Lamborghini Countach LP400
• '98 Subaru Impreza 22B STi
• '04 BMW M5
• '07 Ruf RGT 997
• '07 Lotus GT3RR

Microsoft and Bizarre also divulged that the recent gameplay video for PGR4 was actually their rendition of the beautiful cityscape of Nurburgring. Also, there will be a total of 10 different other locations for the title, two of which include streets of North in Quebec and St. Petersburg.

Project Gotham Racing 4 should be available some time this Autumn.

Microsoft has officially confirmed the news that a Forza Motorsport 2 demo will be hitting the Xbox Live Marketplace this month. According an official statement from Microsoft, the rumors this week of a downloadable demo are indeed true. Timing details will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Apart from the demo confirmation, Microsoft also released a list containing even more new cars that will be making appearances in the final game. Forza Motorsport 2, by the way, is scheduled for release next month. The list is comprised of cars categorized as "Aftermarket Tuner Car Classics." Check it out below.

• 1998 Toyota AB Flug S900 Supra Turbo
• 2000 Honda Aerogear Integra Type-R
• 2003 Toyota APR Performance Celica GTS
• 2000 Audi AWE Tuning SilverBullet S4
• 1995 Toyota Border MR2 Turbo T-bar
• 2003 Chevrolet Corvette Guldstrand Edition
• 1994 Honda Do-Luck NSX
• 1992 Toyota Do-Luck Supra
• 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z Custom Edition
• 2003 Ford FocusSport SVT Focus
• 2003 Lexus Foose Design IS430 Project Car
• 2000 Dodge Hennessey Viper 800TT
• 2006 Mitsubishi HKS Time Attack Evolution
• 1995 Mazda INGS RX-7
• 2002 Chevrolet Lingenfelter 427 Corvette
• 1999 Mitsubishi MINE'S CP9A Lancer Evolution VI
• 1993 Nissan MINE'S R32 Skyline GT-R
• 2002 Nissan MINE'S R34 Skyline GT-R
• 2004 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R
• 2002 Honda Mugen Integra Type-R
• 2003 Honda Mugen S2000
• 1995 Mazda RE-Amemiya RX-7
• 2003 Mitsubishi Sparco Lancer Evolution VIII
• 1998 Subaru Tommy Kaira Impreza M20b
• 2002 Nissan Tommy Kaira Skyline GT-R R34
• 1995 Toyota Tom's T020 MR2
• 2002 Toyota Tom's W123 MR-S
• 2002 Toyota Tom's Z382 Soarer
• 1998 Toyota Top Secret 0-300 Supra
• 2000 Nissan Top Secret D1-Spec S15
• 1998 Toyota VeilSide Supra Fortune 03
• 1998 Toyota VeilSide Supra Fortune 99
• 2000 Acura VIS Racing Integra Type-R
• 1995 Toyota VIS Racing MR2 Turbo T-bar
• 2004 Honda Wings West Civic Si

Ubisoft has released an Import Tuner Challenge HD trailer today in order to get that oil pumping through your veins for its European release date of October 6 and its US release date of October 5 - just two days from now! Obviously this has been released as a trailer to entice those wannabe street racers into buying the game on the release date if you haven't pre-ordered it already.

This NOS-pumped (Thats Nitrous Oxide to me and you) street racing simulation game, which was announced back in August, lets players customize licensed sport and concept cars in any way they see fit using a range of authentic tuner parts. They can then use the pimped rides to race against rivals on the streets of Tokyo - just where you want to be.

If you have a soft spot for Japanese cars and an adrenaline-fuelled brain to race them hard and fast then this title is for you. The trailer shows off the Tokyo skyline in an excellent graphical performance as well as some of the licenced sports cars you can expect to see in the game, like the Nissan skyline and Toyota Supra.

Keen to show of all aspects of the game, this trailer also shows the car customization menu with the full range of options available to kit your car out fast and the furious. However, undoubtedly the best part of this game has the be racing a Japanese high-performance sports car down an empty Tokyo freeway doing speeds that don't even register on the speedo'.

Preorder: [Import Tuner Challenge]

With more cars being announced for Test Drive Unlimited as the days go by, Electronic Arts are starting to fight back, this time by announcing the first 12 cars that will be featured in the upcoming game for the Xbox 360, PSP and PS3 Need For Speed: Carbon. Some of your favourites from Need For Speed: Most Wanted will appear; some unchanged, some with improvements as well as some brand spanking new metal to add to your garage. Here's the full list with the car opposite the specs:

BMW M3 GTR (2003)
Engine: 3.2 Liter 24v-I6
Max Horsepower: 350 BHP
Max Torque: 270 lb/ft
0-60 MPH: 4.9 seconds
Quarter-Mile: 13.3 seconds
Top Speed: 155 MPH

Daimler Mercedes-Benz CLK 500 (2005)
Engine: 5.0 Liter 24v-V8

Max Horsepower: 367 BHP
Max Torque: 376 lb/ft
0-60 MPH: 5.2 seconds
Quarter-Mile: 13.6 seconds
Top Speed: 155 MPH



The rest of the cool cars await after the jump!