Journauto.com » Video games

Insight Racing CTSCC liveries for Forza 4

journauto — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:17:11 +0000

Hey Forza fans! Following Insight Racing’s solid start to the CTSCC season in Daytona last week, I’ve made virtual replicas of both BMW race cars for road racing and Forza fans alike to drive and enjoy in Forza Motorsport 4.

To show my support for the Ohio-based team, I’ll be giving away these designs for free for the duration of the 2012 Continental Tires Sports Car Challenge season. That’s right, free!

Driven by 2011 CTSCC rookie of the year Ryan Ellis and Tyler McQuarrie, the real #18 car scored its first top 10 of the season in round one of the 2012 CTSCC. The faster #19 car, driven by Jeff Westphal and Martin Jensen, finished the BMW Performance 200 at Daytona in 15th position.

To download the liveries, load up your copy of Forza and search the ‘STOREFRONT’ for the designs to download yourself. You can find my storefront by searching gamertags for “journauto”.

For the #18 car, search for “BMW 135i” designs with any of these keywords: #18 INSIGHT RACING BMW 128i COUPE ST CLASS REPLICA 2012 CONTI TIRES CHALLENGE

For the #19 car, search for “BMW E92 M3″ designs with any of these keywords: #19 INSIGHT RACING BMW E92 M3 COUPE GS CLASS REPLICA 2012 CONTI TIRES CHALLENGE

There is no 128i model in the game, so the #18 car uses a 2009 BMW 135i Coupe, which you can get in the game or online auction house, with HRE 445R wheels* painted black to match. The #19 GS racecar requires you to have the 2008 BMW M3 Coupe E92 with black HRE 546R wheels*.

Insight Racing will also compete in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series in Europe this year with a new Ferrari Italia 458 GT3. It doesn’t yet have a livery…

*Purchase in wheels section of Forza Motorsport 4 “Upgrade Shop”.

Xbox Live Gold subscription, video game and internet connection required.

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2554 AMG Transport Dynamics M12 Warthog FAV

journauto — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:59:01 +0000

2554 AMG M12 Warthog FAV

Look what I just found in the Forza Autovista garage! Don’t know when or how it got there, but it has me wondering what auto reviews might be like in 500+ years. Maybe something like this:

The 2554 AMG Transport Dynamics M12 Wathog FAV is powered by a 12-litre hydrogen-injected ICE powerplant. In a standard 1G environment, the Warthog has a 490 mile range and 78 mph top speed, no matter the terrain!

The four wheel drive, four wheel steering M12 FAV features a manual shifted transmission and a steering-wheel linked emergency brake that can turn the Hog on a dime.

It comes with 420/60 20-inch nanotube tires that are practically indestructible with reactive tread compounds that provide unearthly traction. Naturally, its 14-inch disc brakes are made from exotic carbon ceramics found only on the planet Sanghelios.

It’s equipped with a Graf/Hauptman solar/Saline actuator that allows the driver to create hydrogen fuel from any fresh, brackish or salt water source, thus reducing the need to transport bulky and dangerous fuel supplies.

Depending on its use, multi-function displays, vehicle status computers and G-rated impact seats are among the many customizable interior features AMG can install at the factory.

All Warthogs are coated with a programmable nano-prismatic paint to refract colour at any chromacity depending on the vehicle’s destination. A security bit was designed to prevent people from tinkering with the finish.

Pre-order yours today.

My FM3 JDM Shining Monkey Lancer Evo 10 GSR

journauto — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 23:46:08 +0000

Forza Motorsport 3 is out for Xbox 360 and I’ve finally had some time to sink my teeth into it a bit. The short is this game tops the racing sim market. I played Sony’s Gran Turismo Prologue and FM3 delivers a closer-to-life driving experience. My reasons are plentiful, but the biggest difference might well be the virtual tire physics that developer Turn 10 Studios has built in to the game. Using either a standard controller or the MS wireless racing wheel do you get a sense of tires touching the road.

The breadth and scope of this game is what auto enthusiasts slash racing gamers have been waiting for. More on that (the long) later.

I’ve assembled a few quick photos of my first original car design in FM3. The game supplies a limited set of graphics to use, so I had to create all of the graphics, stickers, logos, etc. myself in-game using the livery editor. A full photo shoot of my virtual JDM Shining Monkey Lancer Evo 10 GSR is coming soon. For now, it’s a work in progress.

JDM Shining Monkey Lancer Evo 10 GSR

Forza Motorsport 3 four months away

journauto — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:00:34 +0000

Despite the fact my Xbox 360 has been resting-in-pieces in a wooden box under my TV since it suddenly red-ringed itself on me out of warranty in February [ironically, a loaner PS3 sits atop that wooden box for now (no joke!)], today I’m excited about returning to XBL as the rumour veil is lifted off Forza Motorsport 3 at E3 2009 in L.A.

Only hours ago, Microsoft made the official announcement during a two-hour press conference that was chock full of other nuggets, including news that Facebook, Twitter, last.fm and a revamped Netflix coming to Xbox Live along with other improvements. The Beattles Rock Band also sounds likes fun, but since playing nished playing MGS4 on the Playstation 3 and loved it so much, I’m now excited this Sony gaming series is coming to the 360 in the form of Metal Gear Solid: Rising.

Getting back to the meat and potatoes of this post, Forzamotorsport.net site has got new digs with the official FM3 news. The will be 400 cars from 50 different manufacturers all fully tunable, 100 tracks existing and new, a in-car cockpit view, new stunning graphics engine, video replay editor and full roll-over crashes.

Enough already. I can tell you’re excited… the official Forza Motorsport 3 Fact Sheet after the jump. Enjoy and see you online soon!

I’ve been playing a little bit of Gran Turismo Prologue lately, which is a retail demo for the franchise’s upcoming GT5 release, and honestly, with today’s FM3 announcement, I’m really confident in saying that FM3 will be far superior to anything Polyphony Digital has shown. I can’t wait to get a new 360 and rip up all those tracks in FM3.

My virtual Z34

journauto — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:18:53 +0000

A couple weeks ago, I got to drive the real deal in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas. This week, I took the new 2009 Nissan 370Z for a virtual rip in Need For Speed Undercover for the Xbox 360.

They don’t drive the same at all, but they nailed the exhaust note and car design. Even better is that any car in this free-roaming chase-and-race game can be customized infinitely with aftermarket parts you can buy in the game.

Here’s a few screenies I took while in the game and uploaded to NeedForSpeed.com. Beware: the first two are possible spoilers, but you are a Z fan aren’t you? I’m trying out a new Lightbox 2 WordPress plugin and still searching for more time to devote to working on this site.

Today is somewhat of a snow day where I live. Enough talk…

Spoiler Alert: This is the Z you drive to get away from the police in the very first scene.

A different angle...

Not sure of the diameter, but these Lowenhart BR5s are at least 21 inches with plenty of lip.

Using a light silver-green base, I've applied a purple pearlescent layer.

Using the AutoSculpt feature. I've narrowed the nose, extended the fascias and, lengthened the front chin spoiler. Also added a sport pack-style rear lip spoiler.

Just check out that deep dish. You've gotta love how I stretched the rubber over these humungo wheels.

Cheers over the holidays people!

Nissan 370Z to debut in virtual world

journauto — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 19:09:10 +0000

2009 Nissan 370Z

That’s right, following the lead of the 2009 Nissan GT-R, which was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show as well as inside Polyphony Digital’s world famous Gran Turismo 5 video game simultaneously, the all-new 370Z is coming to game consoles everywhere via EA Sports’ upcoming Need For Speed Undercover.

In fact, gamers will be amongst the first to get behind the wheel and test drive the 370Z eight weeks before the real deal goes on sales in dealerships.

With the signature boomerang headlights and taillights to the enhanced powertrain, NFSU designers worked closely with Nissan to accurately replicate the overall look, feel and performance of the all-new Nissan Z. From the games opening moment, players will be thrust right into the action with gamers whipping the 370Z in-and-out of traffic at high speed.

2009 Nissan 370Z

The all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z is a super evolution of the iconic Nissan Z, building on the strengths of its predecessor, finding the sports car “sweet spot” in performance, style, and value. The 2009 Nissan Z marks the first full redesign of the Nissan Z since its reintroduction as a 2003 model.

The all-new 2009 Nissan 370Z Coupe will be unveiled at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 19, hitting dealerships in early 2009.

NFSU takes players back to the franchises roots and re-introduces break-neck cop chases and spectacular highway battles. Players discover a world of high-stakes and high-speed action in some of the world’s hottest cars. The all-new “Heroic Driving Engine” propels the action forward as players experience the dramatic story through spectacular Hollywood-style live-action in-game movies.

“For the past 15 years, Need for Speed has helped define contemporary automotive culture by bridging the gap between gamers and the world’s hottest cars. As such, we are very excited to partner with one of the automotive powerhouses today to exclusively reveal the all-new Nissan Z,” says Keith Munro, vice president of Marketing at Electronic Arts.

2009 Nissan 370Z

Need for Speed Undercover is being developed by Black Box in Vancouver, B.C. The game will be available for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, PS3 computer entertainment system, and Wii as well as the PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP handheld entertainment system, PC and mobile.

More information can be found at www.needforspeed.com.

Download the Guitar Hero 3 demo for Xbox 360

journauto — Sat, 20 Oct 2007 03:20:15 +0000

Move over Joel Zumaya, my wife and I are already getting our guitair-wailing fingers going on the heals of my beloved’s “Guitar Hero” Rock Out 30th Birthday Party. We had about 20 people over and most of them partook in a jam session or two (more in some cases). At least two of her girlfriend’s said they were going to have to go shopping for an Xbox 360 and some Red Octane GH2 fire. One of them, already a confirmed wailer, was like, “Um, you can just come over to my place and play.” Her and her fiance are both confirmed addicts, just like my baby and I now are.

We’re both eager for the game to go on sale October 28th. Big brother Gates updated my system with the wireless guitar driver files over Xbox Live months ago. You’d think the demo would have popped up in the Xbox Live Marketplace seeing as the launch is awfully close, but that’s not the case. Anyway, you won’t have to wait for it after all as it is available for download [the file is no longer available].

Free Xbox 360 demos can be found on certain sites on the www. The only catches are that you’ll have to burn the ISO file to a compatible CD or DVD before it can be played on a console. After that all you do is access the Game Demos section in the 360 Dashboard with the game inserted and start shredding.

From the Guitar Hero 3 Wiki… “Activision announced in August 2007 that a demo of Guitar Hero III will appear in the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground for the Xbox 360, set for release on October 16, 2007. The demo will also be downloadable over Xbox Live shortly after Proving Ground is released. The demo features five songs (“Lay Down”, “Rock You Like A Hurricane”, “Even Flow”, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot”, and “The Metal”) played at the Desert Rock venue. The Guitar Hero 3 Demo was also shipped with the December 2007 issue of Official Xbox Magazine. It has also been reported that you may download the Guitar Hero 3 Demo (legally) via Bittorrent as the disc provided with Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground can be copied to a CD or DVD.”

My Nero 6 software was a bit confused by the ISO, so I did a quick search and went to fetch DVD Decrypter from here. It took less than 10 minutes to download the demo ISO and I was rocking out within a mean 15. Seriously! Cheers and enjoy the road to becoming a Legend of Rock!!!

Forza Motorsport 2 demo review

journauto — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:30:48 +0000

Yesterday I got home from driving the Ariel Atom at Shannonville Motorsport Park – yes you read that right – and what did I find when I fired up Xbox Live and checked out the Marketplace? The Forza 2 demo!

I have been eagerly anticipating this game’s release for well over a year, tracking its development on the Turn 10 Studios blog over at ForzaMotorsport.net, salivating over the list of cars every time it gets updated.

Of course, I have a big gripe with list… Um, where’s the Atom at? I hope I’ll be able to download this at some point, either the Atom 2 with Honda K20 or the North American version with 2.0L Ecotec and roll bar. Seriously!

After finally getting to play some Forza2 last night via the demo released earlier in the day, I cannot put into words how much I want this game. So much so, that I just got off the phone with EB Games. It’ll be out in five days on the 16th! I’ll be stopping by later today to pre-order mine for $70, but there’s also a collectors edition (not sure what it includes though). I did check the price for the wireless steering wheel too. At $160, it’s a bit steep but should add some zing for those who splurge on it for FM2.

Getting back to the demo (one of the best my friend and I have played in a while I might add), its about 0.7 GB in size and packs a real punch with 24 cars to drive with or without drivings aids and the full HUD on. I put them on with manual trans as my default, of course.

Available in a huge array of co lours, those cars are as follows: Class C (Sport Production) – 2005 Ford Mustang GT, 2003 Dodge SRT-4, 2002 Honda Integra Type-R (JDM), 2004 Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed, 2006 Lexus IS350, 2005 Subaru Legacy B4 2.0 GT, 2003 Nissan Fairlady Z (JDM) and the 1997 BMW Motorsport M3 E36 (European model); Class A (Performance Production) – 2005 Lamborghini Gallardo, 2007 Porsche 911 Turbo (997), 2004 Ferrari F430, 2005 TVR Sagaris, 2003 Dodge Viper SRT-10, 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, 2005 Ford GT and 2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06; Class R2 (Ultra-high-end purpose-built race cars) – 2005 Maserati #35 Risi Competizione MC12, 1997 McLaren #43 Team BMW Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR, 2005 Ferrari #11 Larbre Competition 550 Maranello GTS, 2003 Pagani #17 Carsport America Zonda GR, 1998 Porsche #26 Porsche AG 911 GT1-98, 2003 Saleen #2 Konrad Motorsports S7R, 1998 Nissan #32 NISSAN R390 GT1 and, finally, the 2006 Chevrolet #4 Corvette Racing C6.R. WOW ALL I CAN SAY!!!

The demo is a single player-only affair and the game’s highly-anticipated licensed tuning options are not accessible (although there’s a short video illustrating the capabilities on a 350Z after the main intro plays and you wait for the start screen to disappear). That’s not to say you can’t drive an already-modified car – those are the R2 ones and the trickiest to drive.

You only get one course to drive – the undulating Mugello Circuit, which is actually a motorcycle track nestled into the Italian countryside. It’s shortened but it’s pretty fun and likely the one most gamers will use to practice on once they’ve bought the game. It has seven turns including one long straightaway going into the hair raising down-up right-hand first turn. On the right side of the second last turn there’s a section you can cut through the grass and pass cars at will every time by. Also noted is the alternate routing (blocked in the demo) on the left going into turn seven, presumably to access the full track (the reentry point is at the exit of turn seven). See last paragraph for more on Mugello.

The cars themselves along with damage modeling are very realistic and the detail on and around the tracks is incredible – just like a real venue on race day with tents, concession stands, fans on the grass, in the stands and press in their usual track spots snapping pictures, race officials looking on etc. I can’t wait to see the rest of the tracks, but I’m not sure how many there are.

Although the demo doesn’t support multiplayer on either your local or Xbox Live network, you can race against your buddy in private chat to see who is faster as my friend and I did. Fastest lap or final result, whichever you prefer. I think I ended up with a slightly-faster lap at 00:58:??, but he fared pretty well against me and I can’t wait to race him on Live!

One glaring omission in the game has to be the lack of a cockpit camera. This is a must for any top racing game, so it had better be in the retail game! Especially since many will be playing with the wireless racing wheel.

As for the coolest features, I noticed that when your picking your car that if you tilt the right stick in a direction for a second or two, the menu stuff will all disappear as the car continues to spin in whatever direction and speed you want, allowing you to check out every angle of your ride!

Even cooler, perhaps, are the race replay functions, which include among others slow-motion replay, multiple camera angles and free-look capability (on certain cameras). Ryan and I both agree that the telemetry data you can access during replays is very cool – almost as cool as when the brake rotors get red-hot under hard braking! SWEET!!! I guarantee this will be a huge thrill in the multiplayer over Xbox Live.

I drove all of the Class A and C cars to victory with full driving aids in no time. I like all of the cars but if asked what my favorite one to drive is, it would be the Gallardo since I actually can compare it to the one I drove in real-life a couple years ago. Once I get access to the over 300 cars available in the retail version of Forza2, I’ll let you know if that still stands up in a few weeks.

Before signing off, here’s one last link to the official Mugello Circuit website where you learn all 15 turns. Until we meet up in the game, keep it on the track and drive it like you stole it mofos.

Domo arigato, Mr. journauto

journauto — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 03:30:30 +0000

People always ask me on Xbox Live what my gamertag (name) “journauto” means. They don’t always pronounce it right, Basically, ‘journ’ comes from ‘journalist’ and ‘auto’ is short for, well, ‘automobile.’ That’s it really. And, when I’m not out test driving the latest and greatest on four wheels or writing about it for one of my clients, I can often be found playing games on my Xbox 360 during spare moments.

Project Gotham Racing 3 and Gears of War are two of my favourite 360 games right now. Gears for the addictive game play and friends I have made online; and, PGR3 to help keep my competitive skills sharp, speed urges at bay, and the chance to drive some way cool cars that even I couldn’t get the keys to myself. While I have driven some some incredible cars like the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Audi RS 4, Bentley Continental GT, BMW M Roadster, Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago, and even a super-rare Spyker C8 Spyder, PGR3 gives me access to countless more vehicles like the Ariel Atom 2, Ferrari Enzo, Noble M400, Pagani Zonda, RUF Supercar Concept and TVR Sagaris, for example. For an automobile journalist, it’s a cornucopia of information and a great way to go for a quick virtual test drive. As games improve, so will the actual feedback.

This year I hope to get out to the Nurburgring to finally experience it in person; and, I’m hoping to drive some more doozies in real life this year, including the ultra-fast Ariel Atom 2, SSC Ultimate Aero TT, and a handful of high performance trikes like the G-2, T-Rex 1400R and VT-ROD, even I can get excited and anxious to play the new Forza Motorsport 2 when it’s released in May. I mean, just look at the list of cars that will be in the game to date. What more could anyone ask for? Not only that, this game is touted as having a very realistic physics engine and every vehicle will be tunable with real-world dyno-tested results. It’s going to be crazy! If you get the game too and want to race, just send me a message and we’ll go head-to-head. Until then, drive it like you stole it!

Project Gotham Racing versus real life

journauto — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 16:30:27 +0000

Though there really is no substitute for the real thing, video games are excellent ways to curb your own need for speed. You won’t die in a fiery crash. Your insurance premiums will never go up. You don’t even have to leave the house.

Although I haven’t been playing for a couple weeks now, PGR3 is definitely one of my favourite 360 games. In HD, the environment graphics are phenomenal – much better than NTSC broadcasts. A relative sense of speed is present in all car classes (A through E). In-car view is my favourite because it’s the most realistic. Every car in PGR3 has its pros and cons like real life; but, what’s really interesting for me is that I’ve driven several of the actual cars of those in the game.

Most recently, I test drove the Spyker C8 up and down Las Vegas Boulevard (no joke) thanks to Symbolic of L.V. Inc.’s Lamborghini/Spyker/exotic dealership while in town for SEMA. Not the Double 12 in the game, but the ultra-exclusive and sportier, hand-built aluminum, 400-hp Audi 4.2L-powered Spyker C8 Spyder convertible. A naked windscreen meets the sky without a center span-support structure – there’s simply a beveled edge with the removable hard or soft top out.

Despite hinderences like stiff brakes and an extra large turning circle, the real deal is much better with its grizzly exhaust note, smooth acceleration, remote controlled Lambo-style doors and a stunning design like nothing else. The car’s in-game behaviour is similar to actuality whereas the RWD C8 does tend to get a bit squirmy in quick corners in both situations (LSD is an option in real life), but even PGR3′s in-cabin view doesn’t even come close to capturing the beauty of this purposeful, airplane-inspired interior with its unique gear lever design.

I’ve noticed the game graphics are also not kind to round details like car badges and round gauges, but what are you going to do? The game play is great! Spyker is based in The Netherlands and has been making high-end airplanes for a very long time. It’s coachbuilding heritage dates back to 1898 in Amsterdam where two brothers built their first Benz-engined motorcar.

After reviving in 2000 and appearing in the ’02 24 Hours of Le Mans, Spyker currently offers the C8 Spyder, CS Spyder T, C8 Laviolette and the C8 Double 12 through its network of 13 U.S. distributors including Spyker of Las Vegas. Each model shares the same DNA, but has its own distinctive character. I’m waiting for my colleague PhotoJoost.com to send pics from his home in Belgium before he heads off to the Arctic Circle on an automotive excursion – the Fulda Challenge – in a couple weeks.

A few other cars I’ve had actual seat time in and that are also in PGR3 include the Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago R-GT. I drove both in Hockenheim, Germany at a press day the same day as the London terrorist bombings. Okay, it wasn’t a real R-GT, but a modified Murcielago with replica carbon fibre R-GT aero kit and engine mods owned by Lamborghini Stuttgart. My line of work has certain benefits.