Colin McRae less popular than dirt
by Ludwig Kietzmann 
{ Jul 20th 2006 at 7:55PM }
Who? For some, Scottish speedster Colin McRae has become synonymous with the automotive art of guiding a howling hunk of metal over bumpy roads, horrifying hairpins and, when things go wrong, oddly exposed cliffs. This is partially because he's an expert Rally driver, and partially because his name is plastered across Codemasters' excellent series of serious sims -- Colin McRae Rally. Though the games have always had a larger following in Europe (they got a PSP version, you know), the man's popularity in the US has never been called into more question than with a press release announcing his next-gen debut.
Though the document promises all the usual technological trickery, such as exquisitely detailed tracks and realistic physics, it's the minor note regarding the title that proves to be the most telling.
NOTES: Game titled "Colin McRae: DIRT™" in PAL territories. In the U.S.A, the game is titled "DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road™".
Naturally, this minor marketing maneuver ensures success in both territories. Europeans will spot Colin's name on a shelf and exclaim, "Hey, it's Colin McRae! I like him and / or the previous games in that series! I'll buy it!" whereas Americans will be greeted by familiarity. "Hey, it's dirt! I know what that is AND I know it's awesome! I'll buy it!" Being bested by dirt and its appealing gaming possibilities in your own franchise can't be a massive self-esteem boost, but it's certainly preferable to people mistaking you for some sort of pornography enthusiast.
Colin McRae: DIRT
Read - Press Release
Read - Screenshots (possibly "target renders" since they're so purdy)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nick D @ Jul 20th 2006 8:03PM
According to IGN these are target renders. Hopefully they actually hit their target.
Perhaps they should call it DIRT: Pigpen. I know who Pigpen is. Instead of cars it can be a huge dirt cloud moving about the track.
Conn @ Jul 20th 2006 8:10PM
Hey, it's dirt! I know what that is AND I know it's awesome! I'll buy it!
Merx @ Jul 20th 2006 8:14PM
Like most things from Europe when they go to the US they have to be dumbed down.
For example. The first Harry Potter book was called (In Europe) HP and the Philosophers stone. However worried that the folks in the US might not be able to say Philosopher or even know what it means. The title was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Same with this. Those of you from the US, it is not because they dont think you will know who Colin McRae is. Its just codemasters are worried that McRae will be too complex for you. So they switched round the words so in big capital letters it says DIRT.
Can you manage that?
Cage @ Jul 20th 2006 8:17PM
Anyone remember Ivan "Ironman" Stewart Super Off-Road for the NES? He was able to pull it off, why not this guy?
elShaggy @ Jul 20th 2006 8:21PM
Does this mean no Snow or Asphalt courses, just DIRT. Us Yanks are retarded. God Bless America.
C. Grant @ Jul 20th 2006 8:27PM
Philsopfur? What are you talking about Merx?! I don't never get no schoolin', I just play these durned video things. DIRT ... teehee, like Pa used to make.
C. Grant @ Jul 20th 2006 8:31PM
Oooh, I should have inserted a barb about how bad the Harry Potter books were, but then you'd inevitably bring up Stephen King and we'd get nowhere. :)
Exo @ Jul 20th 2006 9:23PM
My friend got one these games used for xbox awhile back, and I have to say its a pretty damn good game series. takes awhile to get really good. but I was amazed at how good it looked and the real time damage to the car, I have no doubt that a 360 version would look insane.
thing is rally raceing games dont seem that popular here in the US, todays youngins like their souped up crappy import car racers.
So Naive @ Jul 20th 2006 9:34PM
I for one cannot wait. i've been playing colin mcrae since it was on ps1 and it's always been great. this game has some of the most realistic physics and damage modeling any any game i've seen. and for the first time, there are other cars on the track too (i know you americans don't really know that rally racing is one car at a time) hopefully it will be a game that looks great, handles well, and is incredibly fun. and if ou havent yet, colin mcrae 06 for xbox/ps2 is probably only $10 (i picked it up bundled with Toca for 16)
MosquitoControl @ Jul 20th 2006 9:37PM
"Like most things from Europe when they go to the US they have to be dumbed down.
For example. The first Harry Potter book was called (In Europe) HP and the Philosophers stone. However worried that the folks in the US might not be able to say Philosopher or even know what it means. The title was changed to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
Like most things this is a complete urban legend.
No one thought Americans were too dumb to know what it meant.
But they thought Americans would care much, much more about a sorcerer than a philosopher. One has an aura of education, the other of mysticism and evil. Which will a schoolkid be more interested in?
Petey @ Jul 20th 2006 11:17PM
Yea... I used to be a huge fan of the Colin McRae games, enjoyed the 2nd opus & the last 2, that was until "Oh Happy Day..." I discovered Richard Burns (R.I.P. champ.) Rally, the graphics are not the best on PS2 (I now play the PC version with my 900º Logitech wheel ;) ), but man, the physics, handling, settings & track design made Colin McRae look like Out Run, so arcade & very far from what you could call a simulator, everyone looking for a true adrenaline rally sim should jump & buy that game, the PC version is better, nevertheless the PS2 is worth every buck, that game requires real driving skills, I don't even own a PS2 or like that console, but I bought the game as I bought GT4 to play it with my sweet logitech wheel since a friend of mine keeps his PS2 at my place, the only 2 games that console ever run ;P...
CYRiX @ Jul 20th 2006 11:48PM
god i hate european/american stereotypes.
deft @ Jul 21st 2006 1:02AM
Cool, I'm a fan of Colin McRae, and I have Colin McRae 3 for the PS2 (American ver.), and it's pretty damned awesome, and now off-roading it'll be spectacular ^_^
Maybe I'll get a 360 (or borrow one) just to play this.
ymmv @ Jul 21st 2006 3:27AM
MosquitoControl, it seems you don't know what a philosopher's stone is either. It has nothing to do with with philosophy, but with alchemy since it's a substance that could turn baser metals into gold, or create an elixer that would make you young again. That would still sound intrigueing for a schoolkid - if they knew what the term meant. The British publisher thought kids in the UK would be hooked by the title, the US publisher was afraid that kids wouldn't know what a philosopher's stone was and would only focus on the dull sound philosopher part of the word. So I guess it's for people like you that they switched to "Sorceror's stone" ;-)
JonFitt @ Jul 21st 2006 4:11AM
^"No one thought Americans were too dumb to know what it meant.
But they thought Americans would care much, much more about a sorcerer than a philosopher. One has an aura of education, the other of mysticism and evil. Which will a schoolkid be more interested in?"
MosquitoControl you am teh genius. ymmv is right, the Philosophers Stone is an idea much greater than Harry Potter, but you'd have to be slightly well educated to knwo about it. Hence the name change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophers_Stone
Anyway, on a Rally note, why is it not bigger in the US? There's loads of good terrain for rallying, but it's not popular at all. There's only one big event which hasn't been going long.
Why would you watch NASCAR, when you could be watching a car slide sideways inches in front of you? NASCAR is like watching paint dry.
JonFitt @ Jul 21st 2006 4:21AM
^"No one thought Americans were too dumb to know what it meant.
But they thought Americans would care much, much more about a sorcerer than a philosopher. One has an aura of education, the other of mysticism and evil. Which will a schoolkid be more interested in?"
MosquitoControl you am teh genius. ymmv is right, the Philosophers Stone is an idea much greater than Harry Potter, but you'd have to be slightly well educated to knwo about it. Hence the name change.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophers_Stone
Anyway, on a Rally note, why is it not bigger in the US? There's loads of good terrain for rallying, but it's not popular at all. There's only one big event which hasn't been going long.
Why would you watch NASCAR, when you could be watching a car slide sideways inches in front of you? NASCAR is like watching paint dry.
King Cockery @ Jul 21st 2006 9:22AM
"...Codemasters' excellent series of serious sims -- Colin McRae Rally."
How do you make up things like this? Naming CMR as a "serious sim" is utterly ridiculous. It would be the same to say that "BF2 is a sophisticated all out warfare simulation with serious depth in physics and gameplay"
Play Richard Burns rally and think about the "sim" tag, seriously.
Baboon @ Jul 21st 2006 11:10AM
@ ymmv
Yes, we all know the stone is actually called the philosopher's stone. And yes, the name was changed to localize it for American readers. But the name simply was not changed because they thought American kids were too dumb to understand. It was changed because, even though we may know what that particular word MEANS, the word philosopher draws a much different mental picture over here. It has a different cultural meaning in America. It does, first and foremost, conjure up an image of a stodgy old man puttering around his sitting room trying to answer “meaningful” questions, such as “Do my cats have souls” and “How many roads does a man walk in life?”, things a kid is going to be put to sleep by.
And remember, this was a book written for children. Until one leaves grade school, it is very understandable that you may not be very knowledgeable in world culture. Alchemy is not exactly a subject that comes under the average Americans intellectual radar until at least high school, when you start studying things like the origin of chemistry and higher literature. So to expect the average American 4th grader to ask mommy and daddy for a book with the world philosopher in the title is asking a little much. That is what MosquitoControl was trying to say, so I think you are mighty out of line calling him stupid.
GTgamer @ Jul 21st 2006 11:43AM
"Anyway, on a Rally note, why is it not bigger in the US? There's loads of good terrain for rallying, but it's not popular at all. There's only one big event which hasn't been going long."
It doesn't help that SPEED channel isn't broadcasting the WRC races this year, meaning the only way to watch this season would involve breaking the law. Sons of...anyway, making it less accessible probably isn't the best way to keep expanding the audience.
Gareth @ Jul 21st 2006 11:48AM
Americans prefer stock-car racing as the oval tracks mean there is only one way to turn the steering wheel, and thinking about that doesn't hurt their brains.
Baboon @ Jul 21st 2006 12:20PM
@ Gareth
If observing ANY racing event "hurts your brain", you just might have a tumor.
Petey @ Jul 21st 2006 4:16PM
King Cockery, you sure know it!!! ;)
LaughingTarget @ Jul 21st 2006 7:17PM
USA like stock car racing because we're more concerned with getting as much speed out of a car as possible. Also why drag racing is popular. There is nothing inherently better about driving around in dirt. Sporting event viewing in general (yes, car racing is a sport) is a low intellect activity. Playing those sports or driving the car itself is a whole new situation. Each sport has its own set of skills and problems that need to be addressed. A rally driver will have a hard time doing well in NASCAR and vise versa.
As for the whole philospher's stone being renamed to sorcerer's stone, we can actually say that Ms. Rowling was the uneducated one by using the outdated philosopher's stone name. The translation has been argued between sorcerer and philosopher for some time, but it is logical to assume sorcerer is the proper translation. A philosopher is someone who sits around and postulates on the meaning of life. A sorcerer is someone who weaves the arcane fibers of magic. The ultimate source of magical energy is better named sorcerer's stone than philospher's stone.
It is hard to insult a nation's collective intelligence when the impressive term "soccer" was a massive butchering of the English language (multi-layered by altering association to soc and then adding er at the end) that originated in Britain's most prestigious university (Oxford for those who don't know), the same people that thought "brekker" was a great alternative to the word "breakfast".
Ludwig Kietzmann @ Jul 21st 2006 7:59PM
Sorry King Cockery, but I have no love for Richard Burns Rally. I thought it was a mediocre game and in terms of presentation and feel, felt more "sin" than "sim".
I think Colin has better physics, damage models and racing feel. It captures the excitement of rally far better than any other game in the genre. Difference of opinion. :)
bearattack79 @ Jul 22nd 2006 2:34PM
SEGA RALLY - I WANT IT.
Sean Moriarty @ Jul 24th 2006 9:20AM
Colin McRae is to compete in the World Xgames in August.Rally driving aside , he also famus for his contribution to Plat Station games and a large percentage of the Amwerican Public believe he is only a computer game image and not a real person.
Are these fair comments? How many of you actually heard of Coiln McRae before Play Station. Does any one out there admit to not knowing who the real McRAE is ?
I need these answers for a University thesis , all repiles appreciated ...thanks SEAN
Sam @ Jul 30th 2006 1:08PM
the reason rallies are so boring is that they arent actaully a race. The drivers just try and get good times.
they dont race against each other at the same time like many other racing sports