If you somehow needed another reason to play Forza Horizon 2, arguably the best car video game on the block right now, here's one more: your Mazda Miata design skills may net you some sweet prizes.
Last week Mazda launched a contest to design a livery for the game's 1994 Mazda Miata. Decorating this perennial Jalop favorite gets you a shot at some seriously cool shit. If you're one of two finalists, you get a trip to to South by Southwest in Austin next year for a final design showdown.
The winner of that contest gets a 2016 Mazda Miata. I'm just kidding. If that were the case, I'd do it myself and not tell any of you. No seriously, the winner gets a new 55-inch curved TV, audio music system, Xbox One Kinect console and one MadCatz Racing Wheel all valued at about $3,500. The winning design ends up in the game, naturally.
Here's the details on how to enter from Mazda:
- Sign into the Xbox Live service via an Xbox 360 or Xbox One console
- Enter Forza Horizon 2, select the available 1994 Mazda MX-5 car and follow the instructions within the game to design a livery using the tools available within the game
- Once finished, participants will be required to save their design with the name "MX5contest" and upload it to the Forza Horizon 2 storefront during the contest period
- Entries will be accepted now through January 4, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. EST
- A semi-finalist judging panel, consisting of representatives from Microsoft, Mazda and Turn 10 Studios will determine up to five potential semi-finalists. All submissions will be evaluated on a 100-point scale; with an emphasis on originality (33 points max), aesthetic design (33 points max) and technical proficiency (34 points max). The semi-finalists will be posted on the Mazda hub on Xbox Live from 12:01 a.m. EST on January 26, 2015 through 11:59 p.m. EST on February 12, 2015 for the online public voting phase of the contest. The two semi-finalists with the most votes will be flown to South by Southwest in Austin, Texas where a winner will be determined by three special judges; Derek Jenkins, Mazda's director of design, Major Nelson from Xbox Live and Forest Byrd with TC9700Gaming.
Sounds like a fun opportunity. Who's up for this? If you decide to enter, feel free to throw your design in the comments. It'll be great to see what everyone comes up with.