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Forza Rewards program keeps your franchise career on track
That's right – we call playing multiple games in the same series a "career" now. It's a sensible term for Microsoft's Forza franchise, which now rewards players for their loyalty and unwavering quest to earn the glossiest models on the Nüburgring catwalk. The Forza Rewards program tracks your progress across multiple Forza Motorsport games, starting at Forza Motorsport 2 and extending to recent games like Forza 4 and Forza Horizon. In-game progress translates to a universal pool of points, which corresponds to several tiers of rewards that can take the form of in-game currency, tokens and cars (also in-game). You're welcome to compare your progress to other players as well, but we don't recommend obsessing over tier pressure in a game like this. If Forza's cross-game consistency sounds familiar, it's because of Microsoft's Halo Waypoint, a similar (though not as actively rewarding) program that spans the space-faring series. Just think of it as trading the lore for, umm, DeLoreans?
Groupon: 4GB Xbox 360 bundle with Forza 4, Alan Wake for $200
Groupon has posted the rare gaming-centric deal. For the next two days, you can purchase a 4GB Xbox 360 S console with included copies of Forza Motorsport 4 and Alan Wake for $200. If you feel it's a good enough deal to buy in bulk, you can purchase up to three through this promotion.This exact bundle was introduced during the holidays last year, albeit with a 250GB console. Also of note is the included copy of Alan Wake, which is not a physical disc but rather a download code. Consider it the tutorial puzzle preamble to Wake's nightly meandering through the Pacific Northwest.
September Pennzoil car pack rolls into Forza 4
The 11 cars now available in September's Pennzoil car pack for Forza Motorsport 4 are all pretty ... slick. For 560 MS Points ($7) you'll get a couple of Vipers, an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale and a '53 Corvette, just to name a few. The full list of the cars can be seen past the break.Players that picked up a season pass for the game will have to shell out money for this DLC pack, as the last add-on to be included in the pass launched in April. New Community Monthly Rivals Mode events, including one that features the Pennzoil-sponsored Vipers, accompany this new release.%Gallery-164406%
Thrustmaster unveils Ferrari Vibration GT Cockpit 458 Italia Edition and Ferrari gamepad for Xbox 360, we go hands-on
It's been almost a year since Thrustmaster rolled out its first replica Ferrari 458 Italia racing wheel and pedal set for Xbox 360, and the company's finally outed its successor: the Ferrari Vibration GT Cockpit 458 Italia Edition. Like its elder, the GT Cockpit has an 11.2-inch replica of the Ferrari 458 Italia's steering wheel, with A,B, X and Y buttons in place of turn signals and an Engine Start button that's actually a d-pad. It also sports brushed metal paddle shifters and 16-bit resolution to ensure a realistic digital driving experience. However, the new wheel is attached to a base sporting a pair of stamped steel pedals via an adjustable steering column. The whole thing has metal underpinnings and weighs 22 pounds to provide stability as you virtually race around Sebring or Laguna Seca. Plus, it's foldable, so you can easily stow it out of the way when you're not doing your best Stig impersonation.%Gallery-162413% In addition to the GT Cockpit, Thrustmaster has also outed the GPX LightBack Ferrari F1 Edition Gamepad. It largely looks like a standard corded 360 controller, with a Ferrari-style white and red paint job (replete with racing sponsor logos), backlit thumbsticks and two rows of LEDs at the top of the controller. The LEDs are programmed to provide visual indicators for engine speed or braking power, and the thumbsticks have been tweaked to be more precise than those on other available 360 gamepads. The F1 gamepad's up for pre-order today for $49.99, and the GT Cockpit can be yours in September for $300. Wanna know more? Check out our hands (and feet)-on impressions after the break.%Gallery-162412%
Forza 4 picks up 10 new cars, a pair of suicide doors
Have you been playing Forza Motorsport 4 and thinking to yourself, "Man, I like Forza, but there just aren't enough cars in it." This news is for you then, because the August Playseat Car Pack has just been released. This baby comes packing 10 new cars, ranging from Chevy to Ford to Peugeot to Scion. There's also a 60s era Lincoln Continental with suicide doors, which you might recognize as the ride Morpheus picked up Neo in before The Matrix went sour. The movie, not the Toyota Matrix (which isn't in Forza 4, incidentally).You can pick up the whole pack for $7, or individual cars for $3.%Gallery-161910%
PSA: Forza 4 July Car Pack now available
The latest round of fuel-injected and/or naturally aspirated DLC has hit Forza 4, bringing with it a swatch of blacktop devouring beasts from modern times and days gone by.The aptly named July Car Pack, available today for 560 MS Points, features the following sick whips (in chronological order): The 1952 Hudson Hornet, 1954 Jaguar XK120, 1956 Lotus Eleven, 1973 AMC Gremlin X, 1995 RUF CTR2, 1998 Aston Martin V8 Vantage V600, 2011 McLaren 59 GT MP4-12C GT3, 2012 Spyker C8 Aileron, 2012 Ascari KZ1R and 2012 Mercedes-Benz SLK55 AMG, all of which can be seen in the trailer above and gallery below.%Gallery-159677%
2013 SRT Viper GTS rolls into Forza 4 as free DLC
The common man can't afford an ultra-sexy car like the 2013 SRT Viper GTS, now available for download in Forza Motorsport 4. A vehicle like the Viper is the equivalent of car porn on wheels, loaded with elegant curves and 640 horsepower under the hood.Still, anyone can play Forza 4 and download this DLC pack for the Viper free of charge, but will have to dole out in-game credits or car tokens to obtain this beast in career mode.
Forza 4 Xbox 360 bundle tosses in steering wheel, debuts in mid-June
We can't imagine why anyone would buy a console right before E3, but if you simply must have an Xbox 360 right now, Microsoft is looking to entice with a new bundle. The Forza Motorsport 4 bundle includes a copy of Turn 10 Studios' latest, a 250GB Xbox 360 S console with one wireless controller, and a wireless racing wheel – sorry, no Kinect sensor.You can grab all of this for $299, starting in mid-June at participating retailers.
Xbox 360 250GB Racing Bundle totes Forza and a wheel, driving talent extra
Most Xbox 360 bundles focus on shiny colors over extra features. We'll take them any day, but we prefer functional pack-ins like that in the just-unveiled 250GB Racing Bundle. On top of Microsoft's higher-end console, you'll find a copy of Forza Motorsport 4 to build your racing chops and a Wireless Speed Wheel to give a slightly more faithful driving experience. The effect won't match that of a Motion Simulation TL1, but at $299, you'll have money left over to buy a real car when the Xbox bundle arrives in mid-June -- and only a slight premium over the usual 250GB console's $249 price tag.
Porsche joins Forza 4 lineup today
Porsche was not included in the launch of Forza 4 due to complications with EA, who had the license at the time. But Porsche makes its return to the Forza franchise today (as promised) with the Porsche Expansion Pack DLC.The Porsche Expansion Pack is available to download right now for 1600 MS Points ($20) in Forza 4, and adds 30 new rides to the virtual garage and new Porsche events in World Tour and Rivals modes.
Forza 4 'Top Gear' DLC pack drops 10 more cars off at the garage in May
This May, Forza Motorsport 4's already crowded virtual garage gets another set of wheels. The Top Gear DLC pack adds 10 new whips for 560 MS Points ($7).You'll get the usual exotic newcomers, like the '66 Lotus Cortina, along with the '92 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, 2012 Smart ForTwo and ... a Ford Transite SuperSportVan? And here we thought the station wagon was the king of least thrilling cars in Forza 4. There are several vying for that throne in this very update!%Gallery-154019%
2013 SRT Viper pulls into Forza 4's garage this summer
The latest car to join Forza 4's immense garage is special because you can't buy it yet. If you want to test-drive it in a video game, however, that's entirely possible. Turn 10 Studios has announced the 2013 SRT Viper will be available in the upcoming Viper DLC pack, which has yet to be dated and priced.
Forza 4 gets 10-car Alpinestars car pack on April 3
Forza Motorsport 4 is getting a new "Alpinestars Car Pack" right at the beginning of next month. April 3 will bring ten new cars to Microsoft's driving game, including the awesome Aston Martin AMR One, the gorgeous 2012 Jaguar XKR-S, and the classic 1995 BMW M5. Oh, '95 isn't classic enough for you? The pack also includes the 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz Convertible, also known as the big huge boat of a car driven by Elvis.At 560 Microsoft points, the pack will set you back less than buying even just the floor mats for any of these cars. If you haven't yet, you can also subscribe to the Season Pass for Forza 4, which costs $29.99 and gets you all of the previous add-on content (four car packs including this one), as well as two more upcoming packs and the special IGN Car Pack. Although, if you're spending that much money, you might as well just pick up a Jag for yourself, right? Heck, why not two? %Gallery-151596%
Forza 4 update raising level cap to 999 tomorrow
The level cap in Forza 4 will be increased dramatically to level 999 via an online update, which should be a welcome change for racing fans stuck at a mere level 150. It fixes a number of bugs and adds some fresh whips, and should be available tomorrow."Players are putting in a lot more hours than they ever did in Forza 3," Greenwalt boasted during a Forza 4 behind-closed-doors session at Microsoft's annual showcase event in San Francisco last week. He said that the level cap of 150 was initially designed to be unattainable within a span of 9-12 months, but found that the most diehard players had hit that goal within four months of launch.How long will it take to hit the new max? We don't know, but we're happy to race you to it.
Porsche makes its Forza 4 debut in May
Porsche was absent from the racing lineup in Forza 4, much to the disappointment of many series fans -- including Turn 10 creative director Dan Greenwalt. It was with visible pleasure, then, that Greenwalt announced the return of the iconic German roadsters at an Xbox showcase event last week.Set to arrive in May, the Porsche Expansion Pack -- priced higher than the usual DLC, Greenwalt said -- adds 30 new cars to the game, seven of which are entirely new to the series Greenwalt wouldn't go into specifics on the lineup, but confirmed the Porsche Expansion Pack adds 20 new Porsche events, fully integrated into the main campaign, and brings the total number of cars available in Forza 4 to 625.
New 'March Pirelli' DLC for Forza 4 is basically a sack of cars
Themed DLC packs are great and everything, but there's no law that say all DLC has to be themed all the time. Take Forza 4's March Pirelli DLC pack, for instance: The 10 cars contained within the pack have literally nothing to do with each other, other than the fact that they're all cars of some variety and would probably be jolly good fun to drive. It's like a big grab bag of Hot Wheels, only digital and impossible to step on in the middle of the night.Available March 6 for 560 MS Points (or "free" to Season Pass holders), the pack comes with the 2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato (Villa d'Este), the 1971 Ferrari #2 Ferrari Automobili 312 P, the 2012 Ultima GTR, the 1969 Chevrolet Nova SS 396, the 2010 Renault Clio RS, the 1966 Ford Country Squire, the 1995 BMW 850CSi, the 2011 Wiesmann GT MF5, the 1969 Chevrolet Corvair Monza, and our personal favorite, the 1986 Alfa Romeo GTV-6.%Gallery-149222%
How Turn 10 sources cars for (dis)play in Forza
The Forza 4 devs at Turn 10 pride themselves on their obsessive attitude about car modeling. If you ever wonder where they start with getting the cars looking so nice, watch the video just above.
Forza 4 Le Mans Series DLC Pack drops 10 new whips on Feb. 7
No, "Le Mans" isn't French for "The Dudes" -- it's the name of a city located in northwestern France that has played host to the annual "24 Hours of Lemans" endurance race since 1923. The awesome thing about Le Mans (the race, not the city) is that manufacturers build beautiful, incredibly fast vehicles specifically to handle the event's unique challenges, and those prototypes are the focus of the lastest DLC pack for Forza Motorsport 4.Well, by "focus" we mean "there's also a Dodge Challenger owned by a UFC dude," but mostly the DLC is about Le Mans' proud racing heritage. Jump past the break for a complete breakdown of the 10 cars your 560 Microsoft Points will earn you when this pack arrives on February 7.%Gallery-146156%
Best of the Rest: Arthur's picks of 2011
Battlefield 3 I love Battlefield 3. I love it almost as much as it seems to hate its players. At least, that's the way it feels sometimes, trying to get into a game, trying to get correctly squaded up, trying to find a server with room, having to use a server browser on consoles in 2011, downloading 2 GIGABYTE patches ... y u no luv me, BF3? But when it does love me, it loves me so well ... and there I go, into that cycle of abuse again.
Best of the Rest: Ben's picks for 2011
Battlefield 3 The time I've spent with Battlefield 3 this year is only bested by the many, many hours I've spent stalking dragons in Skyrim. The hours with BF3, however, were distinctly more dense, while I shouted at teammates to provide cover fire, slowly inching towards a heavily-guarded objective, or lead the charge on an enemy base from the driver's seat of a large, mobile, metal death box. It's a crime that Battlefield 3 isn't on our top 10 list, because it's by far the best multiplayer shooter experience available, and it's certainly this year's best (in yet another year with several genre entries, including an Infinity Ward-developed CoD title). The main campaign isn't very good, sure, and the co-op is even less impressive, but the "Battlefield Moments™" you'll experience in multiplayer more than make up for the package's shortcomings. Worried you've been waiting too long and won't be able to compete? BF3 mitigates that with support classes, allowing players of all types to participate. Squad up on Team [JOY]!
