Grargar: Licensed cars (and other properties as well) always exert a certain charm upon people. It's just not the same driving a Nercedes, a Missan, a Forsche or some other made up brand. :P
CharlesGrey: I admit I only have a casual interest in the genre, but to me the only thing that matters in a racing game is that the cars "feel" ( and sound ) fun to drive around, and that they have interesting designs, and a decent selection of different models. Real world brands or logos make no difference to me. But I can see why they hold appeal for some, since it allows people to virtually drive some expensive and rare cars they would never be able to buy in real life. I guess it also depends on the type of game ( such as Simulation vs. Fun Racer ).
If they removed real-world branding from these games most of the people who buy them on a regular basis would down-rate the games.
They would still buy them...but they would rate them lower. Gaming media would also downgrade them for the same reasons. The result of lower ratings could very well translate into lower sales and thus profits. In other words, buyers
expect to get real-world brands in these kind of games.
There's also the issue of sponsors as a source of funding for sim-games, where in-game advertising is given in exchange for funds. Its seems to be common practice in both sports games and racing games.
The same applies to the actual car brands themselves. On one hand the manufacturers benefit from the advertising of their cars, and the game itself gains credibility by offering real-world cars. And 'credibility' is a major selling factor when it comes to racing sims.
Personally I don't care about having real cars and brands in arcade games like
Need For Speed, however it does add further realism and thus immersion to a racing sim. Its one of the things that distinguishes a sim game from an arcade game.
