iRacing Hits the Video Game Press Circuit

iRacing Founder, CEO & CTO (and racing game luminary) Dave Kaemmer takes IGN through why iRacing is the best sim racer in the world

Founder, CEO & CTO (& racing game luminary) Dave Kaemmer takes IGN through why iRacing is the best sim racer in the world

We’re just back from another whirlwind tour to most of the usual suspects in San Francisco and Minneapolis.

MavPR client iRacing visited with video game print and online outlets this week in a jam-pack schedule spread across two days and  two cities to formally introduce the video game press to iRacing’s uber-realistic sim racer and online service.  The game recreates the feel and thrill of real racing more accurately than any other game on any other platform anywhere.  Period.  And we journeyed out to prove it.

Brandon lurks as he studies the "tangible Gamespot"

Brandon lurks in reflection as he studies Gamespot's exposed core.

Despite the fact that the service has been available for several months, this was really the first time major video game outlets like 1UP, IGN and Game Informer had a chance to put their hands on it and have the core focus and functionality explained to them in detail.  The guys from iRacing did a great job demoing and interviewing – as well as lugging a G25 wheel and pedal set all across the country – our congrats to them on successfully completing the classic VG PR gauntlet.

Keep an eye out for more iRacing coming up.  And, for good measure, you can sign up for iRacing by visiting iracing.com.

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BigDownload Interviews iRacing’s Dave Kaemmer

Longtime video game journalist and MavPR friend John (JCal) Callaham from BigDownload.com (part of the AOL network) had a chat with iRacing co-founder Dave Kaemmer about the big NASCAR deal.  The interview also took the time to explore the iRacing service as a whole.

It’s a real informative read so take a spin through the interview here.

And we learned that JCal is a NASCAR fan… who knew?  🙂

– PR_Flak

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GameSpot Interviews iRacing Co-Founder Dave Kaemmer

GameSpot Chats With Dave Kaemmer, iRacing Co-Founder, About the Big NASCAR Deal

GameSpot Chats With Dave Kaemmer, iRacing Co-Founder, About the Big NASCAR Deal

GameSpot took some time to chat with iRacing co-founder and racing game luminary Dave Kaemmer about the big iRacing/NASCAR deal that was announced yesterday and over the weekend.

The story went live this evening and looks fantastic.  Our congrats to Dave and the iRacing team.

To read the whole story, click right here.

-PR_Flak

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iRacing Announces NASCAR-Sanctioned Online Racing Series

As we mentioned last week, we’re really excited to be starting up with iRacing.com to help them reach out to the video game audience.  And yesterday, iRacing made a major announcement — that they are joining forces with NASCAR to create an official NASCAR-sanctioned online racing series within the iRacing service.

This is NOT just another NASCAR license; this is an actual, fully sanctioned NASCAR series.  For you racing fans out there, think about it like this: in the same way that NASCAR sanctions the Sprint Cup Series and the Nationwide Series — NASCAR has sanctioned this series with iRacing in a virtual space.

For you video game racing fans out there, think of it like this:  starting in 2010, iRacing users will be competing in a special division that is licensed and sanctioned by NASCAR, against other players and NASCAR drivers.  Yes, real-world NASCAR drivers who are also vying for the online racing title.

It’s a pretty exciting deal — if you are looking for the closest thing to being a professional NASCAR driver… if you think you’re the best at NASCAR games… if you think you can compete against legitimate — and sometimes professional — competition… then iRacing is the place for you to prove it.

There’s a lot more to talk about and even more things about it to be revealed later this year, but for now you can read about it in news posts at your favorite site, like IGN, CrispyGamer, BigDownload, and many more.

– PR_Flak

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Maverick PR Kicks Off With iRacing.com Motorsports Simulations

We’re really excited to announce that iRacing.com Motorsports Simulations, the most realistic racing simulation game in the world, has chosen Maverick PR to lead all video game enthusiast public relations outreach for the iRacing.com service.

iRacing.com is the brainchild of legendary racing game developer Dave Kaemmer (formerly of Papyrus Software – best known for creating the last great NASCAR racing game, NASCAR 2003, as well as the highly regarded Grand Prix Legends) and John Henry, principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and Fenway Sports Group, and co-owner of Roush Fenway Racing.

iRacing.com: The Impala Roars Around the Track

Read more

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Matt Becomes A Contributor to “Evolution of PR”

MavPR’s old friend, Tom Ohle, who we knew first at BioWare during our work on the Neverwinter Nights franchise and then later when he was running Evolve PR, has launched a new blogging site for marketing and PR professionals called “Evolution of PR.”  Essentially it’s a place where we can gather, post thoughts and discuss theory amongst marketing, PR and media professionals, focusing quite a bit on the video game industry.

Tom asked me to participate, and really, I’m more than happy to.  Of course, it will be only from time-to-time so I can still share thoughts both on this site and on PR_Flak’s Flak Attak, but it’s a great idea and we’re really excited to support it.

The first post on EoPR is a reminder to aspiring VG PR professionals that working in this industry is about being a great PR person first, and a lover of video games second.  If you don’t have a love of PR and a desire to learn more all the time, you’ll never make it, no matter how many times you’ve finished Halo 3 on the hardest difficulty setting.

Check out the post here.  Hope you enjoy it.

– PR_Flak

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Updated Look and Features

Hope you like the updated look of the site.  We made a few key art tweaks to better execute on the feel of MavPR and some additional behind-the-scenes adjustments to how this site is designed at its core.

We’ve also added a more detailed explanation of exactly what “Less Overhead, More IN The Head” means to us and why it’s such an important company motto.  Go ahead and click on the link at right (or here) to read more about how we leverage our virtual office to offer senior leadership at a more affordable rate.

– PR_Flak

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Wanted Heads Out the Door With a Few Extra Hits

We talked a little bit previously about the event we ran for Wanted: Weapons of Fate for Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group as a last second showing leading into reviews.  We had a great time both arranging and executing the event and as I mentioned in the earlier post, it was a real pleasure to work with a group of outlets that many PR people don’t have the opportunity to reach out to.

I just wanted to post an update, because some of the coverage coming out of that event was really interesting and of course the reviews… the reviews were great.  So take a look below at some of the hits that the attending press put together in betweem riding a mechanical bull and having private screenings on the Universal Lot.

You can read reviews of the game from Atomic Gamer, Cheat Code Central, Digital Entertainment News, Game Over Online, Game Vortex, Gamer 2.0, Kombo and PlanetXbox360.

Read more

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Wanted: WOF – Maverick Hits The Studio Lot

The MavPR team is fresh back from our trip out to California (“home”) to show off the upcoming release of Wanted: Weapons of Fate to a group of online reviewers.  We had a great time taking a look behind the scenes with the Universal Pictures development team, learning more about the Wanted universe, the design inspiration, and how they got those bullets to curve so damn nicely.

We also had a delightful demo of how to sneak up on someone and stab them in their… well… places no one should be stabbed.

I love review events, especially when we have a group of development professionals who are as passionate and talented as the ones on Wanted.  People who legitimately enjoy presenting their work and talking about the intimate details and design theory they believe in, no matter how many times they are asked.

Read more

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PR_Flak’s Postmortem on MavPR’s First Swag

Over on PR_Flak’s Flak Attak, I look back at the process and fun of creating MavPR’s first item of swag — the [Skullcap of BUZZ] winter beanie.  From failed designs to some rules that YOU should should use for determining whether to proceed with spending money on creating swag for a game, it’s a fun and informative read.

A SNIP:

“Swag can be really great and impactful, but swag can also be a colossal waste of cash — cash that could otherwise be budgeted towards PR activities that have a chance of producing tangible results.

You don’t NEED swag, folks.  You DO need product tours.  I really hate to see PR or marketing create swag just to fulfill a bullet point from a PPT in the hopes of generating “coverage.”  There won’t be coverage from your swag, people.  No one is going to do a cover story on your custom-molded USB key, OK?  Get over it.”

Head on over and check it out!  And don’t waste money on swag that doesn’t work!

– PR_Flak

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