EA Sports Infiniti QX56 UGV, or, Ultimate Gaming Vehicle

In old-school slang, the term "ice" referred to diamonds, among other things. For automotive buffs, though, it has another meaning: "In Car Entertainment." Considering the price tag of the systems being installed into these rolling media centers, they're becoming almost as valuable as precious stones.

Rollin'
For example, take a look the dazzling setup in the Infiniti QX56 shown here. A select group of automotive industry leaders with a diverse range of expertise pooled their capabilities to produce one of the most upscale and unexpected SUVs ever seen. This QX56 is so jammed with ICE, it creates a whole new level of coolness.


Dubbed the EA Sports QX56 UGV, this alphabet soup is short for the "Ultimate Gaming Vehicle." Whatever you call it, this mobile entertainment palace represents a cooperative effort bringing together the products and skills from EA Sports, Alpine Electronics, Innovative Audio, Brembo brakes, BF Goodrich and Claus Ettensberger Corporation (CEC).


The idea was to build a vehicle that combined the love of gaming and cutting-edge electronics. With Infiniti providing an exclusive pre-production model of its all-new QX56 full-size luxury SUV, EA Sports set about to create a gaming lifestyle "room" that could accommodate a 340-pound NFL player or a 7-foot-tall NBA star. Unlike the double row of seats found in the rear of the production vehicle, the UGV has just one row of seats, providing generous accommodations. The centerpiece of this spacious play area is a flat screen TV that measures more than a yard across.

Cool Digs
That was just the start of filling this rolling ICE chest. Alpine Electronics supplied a 1,360-watt mobile entertainment system, complete with AM/FM/CD/MP3 tuner with DVD video player, CD changer, and XM Satellite Radio. These units all feed through a 20-speaker (you read right, twenty) 5.1 Dolby Digital/DTS sound system to produce an intense, eardrum-blasting experience. Innovative Audio of Bellevue, WA handled the installation of this massive array of electronics in a high-tech housing styled to look like the latest supercomputer.