Spyker - Test Drive

I just received a press release from Spyker Automobiles revealing their inclusion in Test Drive: Umlimited. They are obviously no the first exotic car manufacturer to be included in a video game, which got me thinking. How important is it for manufacturers to be included in things like that. I know I am a GT4 addict, I have been since GT1 on the PS1. Before that I played just about every driving simulation made for the PC.

It is said that Nissan tuned the VQ engines to sound like cars from video games because thats what their target customer associates with performance. I personaly think the Z and the G35 are probably the worst sounding cars produced today, but hey I have spent a lot of time around real performance cars along with cars in games.

Do you really think that video games help drive sales? How many people outside of serious enthusiasts knew what a Skyline was before the GT series?