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!