Reckless Racing 2 with real cars made possible by Sony

For their latest promotional stunt, Sony have teamed up with a maker of full-size remote control cars to recreateReckless Racing 2 in real life. And what better phone to use as a remote control than the Xperia Play ?

One of the game’s levels is recreated on a dirt track, check out the video below.

A popular smartphone racing game has been made life sized, with game controls piloting actual cars on a real dirt track. The makers of Reckless Racing 2 partnered with Dr. James Brighton to remotely control a pair of MG F roadsters, sliding them through the dirt with just a few gestures on a touchscreen.

If you recognize Brighton’s name, it’s because he’s an expert in remotely controlling vehicles. He’s a professor at Cranfield University, but he’s also gained fame for some pretty cool extracurricular car hacks. Back in 2008, he revamped a Hummer H3 so it could be driven by remote control, and in 2010 he helped Mitsubishi realize a marketing campaign for the Outlander Sport that let internet users remotely test drive the new crossover from their computer screens.

This stunt was also part of a marketing campaign to showcase the gaming capabilities of Sony’s Xperia phones. For Reckless Racing 2, Brighton made it so that the cars’ steering, throttles and transmissions could exactly mimic gameplay on an Xperia Play and an Xperia S.

Time trials took place on a dirt track at Bentwaters, a former military base about 80 miles north of London. The setup faithfully replicated one that’s on screen in the game, complete with obstacles andample opportunities for skidding around corners.

For the race that made it to video (seen above), game designer Martin Noriander faced off against writer and gaming expert Hunter Skipworth using only smartphones to control the cars. The transition from touchscreen to track wasn’t entirely flawless: Both drivers had some trouble, sliding around corners and hitting a few obstacles, managing to complete the course in just over a minute each.

Unfortunately, since the supply of decommissioned air bases and working MG Fs is hardly unlimited, the remotely controlled racing was a one-time stunt. You can’t participate unless you rent a track and hack a car yourself.

wired.com
Video: Xperia Studio