I have been eagerly anticipating this game’s release for well over a year, tracking [...]]]> 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.

I played with the 360 a few weeks before subscribing to the XBOX Live service. After hours upon hours of playing PGR3, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo over and over again all by myself, I was ready to get onto Live.

My cable modem and, thus my [...]]]> Jan 27/06 .. EST 11:10 PM

I played with the 360 a few weeks before subscribing to the XBOX Live service. After hours upon hours of playing PGR3, Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo over and over again all by myself, I was ready to get onto Live.

My cable modem and, thus my Internet connection, is located two stories above in my office, however, the logistics of running an RJ-45 Ethernet cable down to the console itself seemed ridiculous. Not only would I be able play online games finally, but I was also super keen on streaming my music and viewing photo slide shows straight from my PC. I already owned a U.S. Robotics 8054 wireless b/g turbo access point and router and have an existing wireless network at home. Given that, I should be able to get on XBL, right? You bet!

I started doing a bit of research on forums aware that there are virtually dozens of gaming adapters, both wired and unwired, available that are supposed to plug in and just start working. Always skeptical of such promises, I dug deeper and found on one site some guy talking about this spare D-Link wi-fi router he had lying around; and, was using as an Ethernet-to-wireless bridge to play on Live wirelessly. After a few minutes I knew what I had to do! So, I headed to my local Best Buy to get the goods to make it work.

I walked past the $185 CAD LinkSys wireless plug-and-play gaming and $129 CAD XBOX 360 USB-to-wireless adapters to a three dollar (after $60 mail-in rebate) “blanc” 802.11 b/g WLAN broadband router (Update: It’s actually a GigaFast WF719-CAPR and till in regular service today]. I picked it up and was on my way with a satisfied grin. And, why not? I’d just saved over $150 and was certain I’d be up and running within the hour. As expected, I was able to configure this bargain of a router to communicate with my PC running Windows XP SP2 in almost no time.

It’s important to know that router capabilities vary from manufacturer to manufacturer along with the user interface, however, they all allow you to take control of a lot of the same things. I’ll do my best to explain what I did to configure the blanc to communicate with my U.S. Robotics (use the screen shot links for reference – blanc interface shown), but that doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Let me start by saying that I’m not an IT professional, but here’s how I got things to work: After unpacking the router and plugging it in, I connected a laptop (with the wireless radio disabled) to one of the blanc router’s LAN (not WAN) ports via RJ-45 cable.

I then opened a browser (i.e. Internet Explorer or Firefox) and typed in the address of the router found in the instruction manual. A status screen comes up with all of the default settings loaded (figure 1). At this point, I don’t have an internet connection nor can I access my network, but I can see some of the settings I’ll need to change.

This particular router comes with a setup wizard, which I won’t walk you through. I changed the “operation mode” to “bridge” mode (see figure 2) whereby all Ethernet ports (of this router) and wireless interface are bridged together, and NAT function disabled.

In the basic settings area, I switch to "client" mode from “AP” mode (see figure 3), select the band(s) my U.S. Robotics router transmits (b/g in this case) and enter in my wireless network SSID info (same as upstairs router).

With the U.S. Robotics, which is connected to the high-speed cable modem, hosting the internet connection, you need to input the security information (figure 4 and 5) required to access the host router (it must match exactly). There are several types of encryption available. I’ve set up a 128-bit protected networked protected with a shared WEP key assigned by me.

A key part of the install is to reassign the client router’s IP address to reside within the range of the host router’s IP address range. This can be changed in the LAN interface section (see figure 6). Setting up the WAN to automatically configure itself is shown in figure 7.

Once you change the LAN address (different from the factory default), this will be the new address you type into your browser to reconfigure the router later on if necessary. After making all of these changes (figure 8), I’m happy to report that I can play games Live without any lag whatsoever.

I don’t know how fast my connection is, but I have not noticed anything strange (that is if you don’t include the invasive Symantec Norton Personal Firewall software I had installed on my computer). Oh, firewalls can hav e a serious impact on network performance. You’ll need to configure it properly (I disabled mine). Ask your manufacturer for suggestions.

Once everything is set up properly, you’ll be able to access the internet with the laptop, which is still connected to one of the blanc’s LAN ports via RJ-45, and verify your connectivity. Now in the home stretch, run the network tests found in the "Network Settings" section of the 360 dashboard. Once everything checks out and the 360 passes a series of network and system tests, it’s off to the races. Of course, you’ll need to have a Live subscription first. You need an MSN passport (i.e. Hotmail account) for this, but the rest of the subscription process can be done directly on the 360 now that it’s connected.

Hopefully, this tutorial has been helpful and you’re ready to go. If that’s the case, I’ll see you on the battlefield son.

Although I haven’t been playing for a couple weeks now, [...]]]> 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.