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Namco Bandai Partners have blown nearly the entire Ace Combat: Assault Horizon budget on restoring a real-life jet fighter.
The MiG-21Bis model was one of nearly 100 planes due to be scrapped by the Estovakian Air Force because of government cuts to the nation’s armed forces.
“Namco Bandai UK are tired of just normal, boring marketing and standard PR stunts,” said trendsetting marketing director, Lee Kirton.
The publisher invested just over £285,000 in restoring the aircraft to a fully functional state before it was finally transported to the UK aboard the aircraft carrier, Admiral Kunzetov, as it rendezvoused with navy forces for a routine training mission.
The aircraft has since been skinned using a modified design from the Ace Combat Skin Design competition and delivered to Namco Bandai’s UK offices.
Namco Bandai says the The MiG-21Bis will be for marketing and PR promotions, primarily to deliver preview code to press, take journalists on experiential jet-fighter experiences and to scare local publishing rivals, Capcom.
Should Namco Bandai’s risky move prove successful for the publisher it could signal the start of a new wave of ludicrously expensive marketing promotions. We’d love to see a real life space craft from Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon or a Nintendo promotion which forces commuters to access the underground via massive green piping.
If the investment doesn’t pay off, Kirton could face being fed to the tigers at Namco Bandai’s Tokyo headquarters.
