I love cars, as we all do… well any of us who are visiting this website to say the least, but I have another guilty pleasure.  That’s video games.  Clearly the two go hand in hand.  While I’ve been deep in my cave for the past two days with the rest of the nerds in a secluded cave lit only by the luminous glow of a 60 inch flat screen, ever since our 6-month-in-advance preordered copies of Final Fantasy VX arrived at our doorstep.  Because I take special pride in my “nerd-om” I ordered the “deluxe edition” complete with full 2 hour CGI film Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV. 

Of course I had to watch the movie first, which took all manner of restraint… which was pretty decent.  Unlike that monstrosity shameful space oddity Square Films unveiled back in 2001 (Final Fantasy the Spirits Within) straying, no, being completely unrecognizable from every possible identity of any previous plot line, setting or character ever created and played out in any of the many Final Fantasy games, it was really cool to see it come back to it’s core.  And not a core crisis.  Some of you will get that joke.  While the film’s animation was excellent, it painted a scene of Final Fantasy 7, meets Game of Thrones, meets NYC complete with big swords, recognizable and iconic modern elements, and even the voices of Cersei Lannister and Lord Eddard Stark (Lena Headey and Sean Bean).  

Out of all the recognizable iconography and modern symbolism that popped up in the movie to make you feel right at home the first thing I noticed was some remarkable product placement in the shape of a hood ornament, the four unmistakable rings of Audi Motors on the hood of what unveiled itself to be an unbelievably durable and beautifully ornate Audi R8.  

I’ve always been a big fan of Audi (especially their R8) and their nonchalant car placement of it in pop culture geek films like Iron Man, and this was no exception.  The car itself appears in at least 30 or more minutes of the movie between transporting princesses, high speed car chases and monster battles that defy all laws of gravity.  From head to tail lights, the car is spectacular.  Carbon fiber with leaf scrolling accents, and wheels to match it’s intricate detailing, all I could hope for was that I’d eventually be able to drive that car… in the game anyway… but I don’t even get to do that because its not even in the game, just the movie. 

However, turns out that for $470,000 my car “Fantasy” is going to be one rich nerds “reality”… because Audi has brought the one of a kind, Star of Lucia, Kingslaive: Final Fantasy XV R8 to production and is offering it up for sale to a lucky lottery winner picked out of other rich nerds.  And why not?  When you pay that type of money for product placement, the least you can do is get some of it back!  Audi in Japan held a raffle for these said nerds, winning the luxury to shell out the half a million to own this one of kind sports car.  

The Star of Lucis is a one of a kind 610HP, 5.2L V10 engine, with a 7-speed S-Tronic transmission that goes from zero to sixty in 3.2 seconds to a maximum speed of 205 mph.  (Thank you autobahn, or  Aught’ to ban you from driving too fast… speed governing law of Germany)  And she’s my new SECOND favorite Final Fantasy vehicle ever behind close toss up of their "Air Ships” and a Chocobo, sort of a yellow rooster/ostrich bird thing you ride on.             

At $470k, it makes this vehicle the second most expensive video gaming collectible ever created. Game on.  We’d like to see more of the automakers get on board by bringing our favorite vehicles to life.  Unfortunately, unlike the movie, the car doesn’t fly, nor does it come with an X Box One, PS4 or even the new Final Fantasy 15… but it should.  And a Moogle.