Mention of Lamborghini...

[EJRocky]

So I've seen something interesting while playing GT4... I'm sorry if this has been noticed before.

But when you go into the Italian hall in GT Mode, take a look at Pagani. Don't go into it, just put the cursor over it... there should be a rolling description at the bottom of the page about the history of the company.

Now, at Pagani, it says a load about how the company came to be, etc. etc. but one thing that stood out was that the creator of Pagani had great experience in making carbon fibre bodies for Lamborghini, among other sports car makers. And it actually said, clear as day, the word Lamborghini.

But if you roll over RUF in the German hall, it just says that it's a tuning company for "rear engined, air-cooled German sports cars", rather than saying Porsche, which it obviously is.

I just found this interesting... doesn't PD need to have a license or something in order to put the word Lamborghini in the game, referring to the car maker? How come they said Lamborghini but not Porsche? Is it even possible that PD actually has got a license for Lamborghini, but they got it too late to put any cars into GT4, only refer to the name?

And, I understand it may be a load of old twaddle I'm saying about how you need a license to say the name of a car maker... but then, they didn't say Porsche, only "rear engined, air-cooled German sports cars", when they referred directly to Lambo in the Italian hall.

It just got me wondering... opinions?

 

[boiltheocean]

Mr Pagani formerly managed Lambos composite department then when he made his own company continued to work with Lambo, all PD are doing is brief company description.

See - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pagani
Point - Miles Away

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Also, RUF considers themselves to be a completely different car manufacturer from Porsche. They're very emphatic about this. Don't confuse Porsche with RUF or they'll get mad at you.

 

[EJRocky]

My point is, don't you need a license or something to put a name of a maker into a video game, even if it's a small description like that? I mean, as I said, they referred directly to Lamborghini, but they only referred to Porsche as "rear engined, air-cooled German sports cars" rather than actually say the name Porsche... I just thought it might have meant that PD had a license to say "Lamborghini", but not Porsche if, indeed, you do need a license to say the name and blah de blah.

EDIT: Yes, I do know about the spelling error in the title

 

[TheCracker]

It might not be down purely to licensing issues. Maybe RUF don't want 'Porsche' to be mentioned in their cars description.

 

[dylansan]

I'm not sure if a license would be necessary, but if it was, there are different types of licenses. They wouldn't need a "car modeling license" if all they wanted to do was include the name in some text.

 

[EJRocky]

It might not be down purely to licensing issues. Maybe RUF don't want 'Porsche' to be mentioned in their cars description.

You know, that is actually true. Parnelli up there said they didn't like to be confused or whatever with Porsche, so that could very well be right.

I just thought it was interesting that Lamborghini was mentioned by name in GT4, as I originally thought they may have needed a license or something to do so.

 

[Northstar]

Actually they use Porsche in the VW description. So I think it is more along the lines of RUF not wanting Porsche in it's description.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

I'm being lazy, picking half-baked facts from my overwrought memory, so if anybody wants to dig up the absolute facts, feel free.

But I do know that RUF doesn't like to be confused with Porsche. RUFs are built from the ground up, they are NOT a Porsche remake, upgrade, or tuning shop. RUF is its own company, seperate from Porsche. But the fact that RUFs look like Porsches doesn't help their cause much. Most people will see a RUF and go "Sweet! there's a souped-up Porsche!"

 

[slowman]

The facts (according to my RUF full-line brochure):

They purchase a basic platform and body panels from Porsche with no engine, transmission, or running gear of any sort.

They purchase the shared parts seperately and assemble them as required by the build. Taillights, headlights, front trunk tub, etc.

The make their own seats/interiors using the Porsche seat frames, but they gather and assemble the fabric and other materials themselves.

Engines are handbuilt from a combination of Porsche parts and Ruf parts, again depending on the build.

They are assembled by Ruf from the ground up, and they receive their own Ruf VIN.

They will modify customer's Porsches and even badge them as a Ruf if enough modifications are performed. The Porsche VIN stays in this instance though.

The German government recognizes Ruf as a full manufacturer in their own right, completely independent of Porsche.

So I know that it's difficult to look at it this way, but Ruf's are cars that just so happen to look veeeeeeery strikingly similar to Porsche's but are not Porsches.