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Exclusive: Behind the scenes at Turn 10 Studios and the making of Forza Motorsport 4
Exclusive Interview: Forza Motorsport 4 Lead Design Bill Giese on cars, Kinect, the future of racing, and funny hats
Exclusive: Forza Motorsport 4 Director Dan Greenawalt on new Forza features, innovating a genre and why racing is the smallest part of Forza 4
Exclusive Video: Forza Motorsport 4 car audio recording ears-on!
Exclusive: Forza Motorsport 4 behind the scenes Kinect video bonanza and Top Gear commentary first look
PlayStation Vita is official: the future of the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation-branded 24-inch 3D display and affordable 3D glasses announced, priced
Resistance 3: the war begins September 6, new Sharp Shooter bundle announced
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: breaking necks with multiplayer beta June 20
Far Cry 3 debuts at E3: lands on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2012

Exclusive: Behind the scenes at Turn 10 Studios and the making of Forza Motorsport 4

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Exclusive: While Forza Motorsport 4 developer Turn 10 was busy prepping for its latest E3 appearance, Electricpig was there to keep them company. A few weeks ago we were invited to an exclusive behind-the-scenes peep inside, where we got to see everything that goes down at the studios brand new HQ.

Read on, and join us for an exclusive tour.

From drawing board to final concept, and a glimpse of how those supercars sound just like the real thing in-game – we got to see all that and more up close. Check out the photos below as we now take you on the same tour:

Turn 10 is a Microsoft-owned first-party development studio based in Redmond, Seattle. The makers of Forza 4 moved here only five weeks ago, Studio Manager Alan Hartman told us.

From outside we could have been at any Microsoft studio. Walk past the lobby and you’re greeted with the Turn 10 logo, and the first sign that you’re about to step into a game developer’s studio. To our disappointment, those were not copies of Forza Motorsport 4 sitting in the corner there. So much for a freebie.

Because no award-winning games studio is complete with a trophy cabinet. As if any motivation were needed to work on what just might be the racing game to own this year wasn’t enough, this trophy and memorabillia stronghold features all sorts: model cars, trophies from various video game award shows, magazines and websites. There’s even a collectible Stig on the right…

Not to mention a signed copy of Forza Motorsport. Recognize the signature there? It’s from someone pretty big on the Microsoft circuit – none other than Bill Gates. How much would that go on eBay for?

There’s Top Gear’s Stig again. The Turn 10 team are massive fans of Top Gear and its presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who does some terrific voiceovers for the game. Other items here include a rather snazzy Spike TV Video Game Awards trophy and a bowling ball from the Forza Motosport 3 ship party signed by Turn 10 staffers.

Before we toodled along some more, Game Director Dan Greenawalt spoke to us about the studio’s passion for cars, why racing is just a small cog in the Forza Motorsport series and how Forza Motorsport 4 will “transform the genre.” Greenawalt’s a genuine car fan who himself has spent much of his life tinkering with real-life cars of his own. We promise you – this man loves cars.

Here he is showing off the Forza series impressive track record. “Highest-rated racing game of this generation [for] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 – Forza Motorsport 3. You know what the second highest-rated one is? Forza Motorsport 2,” he says here. “In this version [Forza Motorsport 4], we want to transform the racing genre.”

By now we’re well inside the studio. It’s a large open-plan affair that Turn 10 moved into just five weeks ago, so the team hasn’t quite bedded in yet, not that it felt that way. Nice little touches such as the checkered flags you see and the inflatable football above someone’s workstation gives the studio a cosy feel. However, we weren’t inside for long…

…because Dan Greenawalt quickly took us outside to show us his car – a kitted out BMW with black rims. With the sun shining that day, nothing was going to stop him showing it off. For a moment it felt like being on the set of Fast & Furious. Dan says tells us that he has always loved tinkering with his motors, and plans more upgrades to this very model.

A better view? Ah! Here you go, car fans.

Back inside the studio we waited around for the next part of our tour, but not before playing developer paparazzi, snapping the devs at work/getting down to some Forza 4 action. At the time of visiting Turn 10 had yet to finish the build of the game they showed at E3. In the video below, John Wendl briefly explains how the Forza Motorsport team is hand-picked from around the world.

In the above video, John Wendl briefly explains how the Forza Motorsport team is hand-picked from around the world.

Members of the Turn 10 hard at work. We didn’t quite get close enough to hear what was being said at this desk discussion here without drawing suspicious glances. There was a lot of screen pointing going on.

We were soon given a 10-minute demo of Forza Motorsport’s garage feature by Design Lead, Bill Giese. The garage can be controlled using either an Xbox 360 pad or Microsoft Kinect. Players can literally walk around cars from the game, open their doors using their hands and move in for a closer look. Don’t forget to check out the video we took of it in action.

After that we finally got to see the head-tracking skills in action. Here it is being shown off as part of a steering wheel set-up. “We actually watched how players drive. And the way they drive when they get excited is they tend to move their had a little bit when they get stressed out. We just reeled that in and have it look into the corner for you,” Dan Greenawalt told us earlier.

“At first it feels a little bit strange because it’s new and it’s different. But after you just relax and stop thinking about it and just play the way you would any racing game it just works. It just looks into the corner for you.”

It was soon time to head out to a nearby garage, where we got to see up close how the engine sounds from real-life cars are put into the game. Here is “where we capture all the sounds we need,” Nick Wiswell, Turn 10′s Creative Audio Director explained. Over 1,000 cars have been recorded at this Redmond-based garage. Here we got to see a Subaru WRX STI accelerate hard with the handbrake off. The car is securely fasted and on a dynamometer so that it won’t shoot off in either direction. It was loud. We actually had to sign a form absolving the studio of any blame were we deafened by the experience. Luckily, our eardrums escaped intact.

Strategically placed microphones capture the sound directly from the engine, before being relayed to a number of devices. Turn 10 do this for every car they get hold of, including those from members of the public. Wiswell earlier wrote on a forum pleading for anyone with “a cool sounding car” to show up. It worked. A Dodge Viper turned up that very day.

Once back at the studio, it was time to play some Forza Motorsport 4, this time on triple-screened simulator with 5.1 surround sound. Gaming on a conventional television has now been thoroughly spoilt for us.

Back to the drawing board. Or boards, rather. Here’s where all the brainstorming goes on. This is where ideas for tracks, and their design come together.

Each real-life track is visited by members of Turn 10 and studied in detail before making its way into the game. This sometimes involves walking for miles around whole tracks, resulting in some seriously sore legs by the end.

This is the sound room. All the sound and music you hear from the game are played and tested right here in this cosy sound studio. Curtains are clipped to the wall to eliminate as much noise as possible. It gets loud around here. Fellow Turn 10 staff working nearby are often seen sporting headphones when it does.

John Wendl, the Content Director and our tour guide for the day explained how Turn 10 captures all manner of real-life car sounds, as you can see from this gathering of exhaust pipes. It’s the same with tyres. “Games tend to have poor tyre audio,” he tells us. And those car crashes? “We purchase a bunch of cars and record them smashing into each other.” Of course.

Onto the next room. Wendl tells us we’re going to one of the most important rooms at Turn 10. Going in, we noticed that each room is a car model.

And here’s that room. This is where the most heated arguments take place, all the biggest decisions are made here. The decision to include that car you’ve always wanted, the next downloadable content, the next Turn 10 game – all born in this room.

Just as important is this pair of Audi R8 headlights, hooked up to the Turn 10 servers. A red light means the build of the game is broken. Nobody goes home until it’s fixed. Don’t worry Forza fans, it’s just the flash from our camera doing that.

As we wind down, Wendl points us to the beer tap that the studio has installed. Booze on tap? In the office? These guys work and play hard.

Our tour concluded with some Forza 4 action as we played alongside Turn 10 staff after a busy day working their socks off on as then yet-to-be-finished E3 demo. We hope you enjoyed the tour.

Don’t forget to check out the rest of our exclusive Forza Motorsport 4 coverage right here.

Exclusive Interview: Forza Motorsport 4 Lead Design Bill Giese on cars, Kinect, the future of racing, and funny hats

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Exclusive: We travelled to Microsoft HQ in Seattle to witness the making of Forza Motorsport 4, where we bumped into Bill Giese, lead design on the game to talk all things Forza 4 and how Microsoft Kinect will be used. He says “we’re not trying to make the best racing game.” Say what? All will be clear, after the break.

Why Microsoft Kinect and Forza Motorsport 4 make for the perfect marriage…

If you’re out on the streets, a public place and an exotic car or something special drives by, you see everyone look. They’re like “what is that?” There’s an inherent reaction when these cars go by.

I think with Kinect especially we’re able to take some of that head-turning that you get and bring it to more people. At the end of the day we’ll still have a great racing game with all the great content, we still build giant core experiences but there’s more people than just core people that like cars.

Why Kinect..?

They [Microsoft] did the ball demo, there was a bunch of basic demos that came out and it was more about, we weren’t necessarily trying to think about Forza 4 and what Kinect meant for Forza 4. It was more of what Kinect would do for our studio and what could we develop with Kinect. I talked a little bit about UI (user interface). Can you navigate 3D space with Kinect? What does that look like?

That Kinect-inspired eureka moment…

We wanted to see three-dimensionality. We wanted to break through the screen. And then from there in a six month period it started to click. Wow! We can do a lot with this. This is crazy.

Quickly, we grabbed one of the car guys. [as if to ask a question] “Can you just break of the doors and just have ‘em […] we just want to see what it looks like to open a door. “Wow that’s really cool, OK break off the top.” So we had this car that’s all beat up – we’re ripping parts off and polygons off it to do so, and that slowly turned into ‘Wow this could be really special’ and something we could tie into our franchise.

Bill Giese demonstrates how Microsoft Kinect is used to deliver the experience of being able to peer inside in-game cars as if they were real

What else can be done with Kinect that hasn’t already been done?

I think Kinect is an uncharted territory and a lot of people are learning what you can do with it.

We got to go to E3 and we got to see what Ubisoft was doing with their fitness game, and what Dance Central was about and [Giese recounts]…wow I never even thought of that. I think that’s going to continue. And I hope that some of the stuff that we show will push other developers to do the same thing.

We had a lot of ideas around customisation, of customising the car via Kinect being able to paint, and do this stuff. I think there’s still stuff there that we can look at, but right now I think when we talk about who we’re building it for, I think our ideas are basically, as of today, they’re state of the art.

I think there’s going to be a lot more that comes out of the heat map, so the camera can pick out joints of my skeleton but it’s also projecting points so that we can project depth, and that’s what we’re kind of doing with our head-tracking. I think there’s going to be a lot more that comes out of that with facial recognition and how that works.

We haven’t figured out a way to use that yet but I think that a lot more games will and I’m excited to see what they come up with.

Do you think motion control in “hardcore”racers will be an ongoing trend?

I definitely do. I’m going to go back to head-tracking. That’s been around for years, but it’s been for guys that are setting it up on the PC, and they’ve got their funny looking hats. It’s been around forever.

It’s just something they really want to use. And there’s cultures like that not just with racing games, with flight sims, with other types of things, these hobbyists that want to build these experiences that are as immersive as possible. I can definitely see this as something that other racing titles should pick up. Again, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but, it’s something that’s logical and it just works.

Microsoft Kinect-enabled head-tracking in action

What about the accusation that motion control is a fad that doesn’t enhance the gameplay experience?

When we went to E3 people were scared, they were like wait a sec’ “whoa-whoa-whoa I don’t want to drive with”…we’re not building this to replace anything that you do. We’re inviting more people.

I think that’s hard for core audiences. If you had a band that’s up-and-coming, and the second that their hit single gets picked up they start doing more bigger venues. This loyal group is like “well I’ve been through when they were at smaller bars and they’ve sold out and they’re not real anymore.” No, they’re inviting more people and I think that’s the same thing we do, when we build experiences like this. We build Forza 4 by itself, and then we build the second portion that allows more people to play it.

My kids, they still play the Wii. They love the Wii. I don’t think that it’s a fad to them. Think of some people as early adopters, they get the newest software, piece of hardware, new technology and they get tired and more on, but I really think for are people who do enjoy it and, I think Kinect sold like 10 million units, and I really don’t think it’s a fad. Again I really think it depends on the player.

Can you use Kinect for the showroom, but then use a joypad for the racing?

Yeah, when you launch our game we’ve designed out this scenario so that at the very beginning of the splash screen, if you want to use the Kinect as the showroom, you can. Just wave in, you’re going to be able to experience the showroom, do split-screen, Hot Lap, a bunch of the mini fun stuff, but it’s still plugged in on that splash screen if you hit A on the controller you’re going to be able to do the showroom and foreplay and all that other stuff with the controller. We’re just allowing you to do one path with Kinect, and then do that same path with the controller.

Can Kinect control be used across all modes in the game.

We’ve specialised it to things that matter to the users that care. Casual players, they’re not going to paint, they’re not going to sit and tune cars all night, they’re not going to battle in the Auction House, we’ve tailored those experiences to the controller because traditionally, that’s what the hardcore players like to play. The casual guys, they’re like “I like cars, I wanna race I wanna bang up cars”. Great, you can do that, you can totally do that. Things like the head-tracking, the voice, that’s on regardless of where you go with the controller, so you don’t have to choose anything – it’s just on and working when Kinect is plugged in.

Check out the rest of our UK online exclusive Forza Motorsport 4 coverage here.

Exclusive: Forza Motorsport 4 Director Dan Greenawalt on new Forza features, innovating a genre and why racing is the smallest part of Forza 4

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Exclusive: Continuing our behind-the-scenes look at Forza Motorsport 4 we heard from Game Director Dan Greenawalt, who told us all we need to know about developer Turn 10′s latest racer.

From the philosophy that continues to shape the series, to how Forza Motorsport 4 will “transform the racing genre” – read all about it here.

You only need to spend a few minutes in the company of Forza Motorsport 4 Game Director, Dan Greenawalt to realise how much the man loves cars.

Prior to E3 we hung out with him at Turn 10 Studio, where he talked about nearly everything there is to know about Forza Motorsport 4, the passion that drives the studio to make the best racing game possible, the brief history of the series and a sneak peek at some of the new features in the game.

“Obviously I’m a bit of a car freak, and a lot of people here are deeper into cars than others, but I would argue that everybody loves cars. They have an emotional impact on people.”

Even those that wouldn’t consider themselves automobile obsessors can get in an emotional tizz when they see a car on the street that they would never dream of owning, Greenawalt says:

“When they do see a car like this it hits them. They say ‘Oh my god that guy riding that car, he spent too much money it, that’s just silly, that’s a waste of time.’ “Or maybe they say ‘Wow look at that car – it’s beautiful. It’s incredible. The engine sounds amazing.’ “Either way they are polarising, they speak to people, they get you excited.”

Dan Greenawalt shows us his motor and explains how much he has always loved tinkering with cars

Or like the first car you ever owned. The one that, no matter how much trouble it gave, you always fondly remembered.

“This is my first car” [Greenawalt says, pointing to a slide of his 1973 Toyota Corolla]. Your first car is your first love. It’s also a compromise. It’s not the car you wanted. It’s the car you could afford. It’s the car you got from your brother. It’s the car that the guy down the street was able to sell to you for $250.

"Racing is actually the smallest component of the game. It's about community, and bringing people together”

“But for the next few years you start to fall in love with this car, you start to realise what was so great about this car. It was your key to freedom. It was the only time that you can be away from your family. It’s the way that you can see open roads, the way you can go visit other places and visit your friends. And that attachment. That car becomes part of your life, it becomes who you are.”

More than racing, it’s “car passion” that Greenawalt says Forza 4 is all about. It’s a strange admission, but one that Greenawalt believes makes Forza Motorsport stand out from the competition, by attempting to make players fall in love with cars.

“For me this is what Forza Motorsport’s all about. It’s about the cars that matter to you. It’s not just about the supercars.

“Racing is actually the smallest component of the game. It’s about community, and bringing people together. We don’t want you to put the car down. We don’t want you to unlock the Ferrari and forget your GTI. We want you to be able to upgrade that GTI and go racing, paint it and fall in love with it the same way you did with your very first car.

“That’s affected our vision from the very beginning. While business-wise, this was about the Xbox, and this was about owning racing. From a team perspective this is about turning gamers into car lovers, and car lovers into gamers.”

It’s a vision that started in 2005, with the release of Forza Motorsport 1, and has paid huge dividends to cement the studio as arguably the premier racing game house.

“Forza Motorsport 1 came out in 2005. But for us as a team it was about developing a culture, developing a team. We slept the game, we worked long hours, we thought. We tried to figure out what we were about, what was our vision, who are we,” Greenawalt says.

“The best looking game on Xbox”

“Forza Motorsport 2 was about building credibility. It wasn’t just about the team now. It was about simulation: 60 frames-per-second, amazing graphics, cutting edge physics, new community features, bringing people together.”

Two years ago he himself took to the E3 2009 stage to deliver a confident pitch to hail Forza 3 as the definitive racer. This, at a time when rival Polyphony Digital were still yet to release Gran Turismo 5.

“At E3 2009 we got up in front of the world and said [Forza Motorsport 3 will be] “the definitive racing game of this generation.” Some people were like “Wow you yankees were all chest-pounding, what’s going on with that” and for us it was a challenge.”

The bravado proved justified. Forza Motorsport 3 sits pretty on score aggregate site Metacritic with a score of 92 out of 100. Greenawalt now hopes to transform the genre, as he talks about graphics, authenticity, innovation and community as the pillars of Forza 4. “These four ideas have driven the game that we’ve made,” he wants to make Forza 4 “the best looking game on Xbox.”

“Innovation has been a hallmark of Forza Motorsport. Livery, Auction House, Storefront, the way we bring communities together.” Again, Greenawalt says, Forza Motorsport isn’t just about the racing.

“We have people trading things, trading paint jobs and tunes. We have people not only racing. We have people playing cat and mouse. They’re playing tag. They’re playing these playground games. And not only is it a lot of people. It’s nearly 50/50 in our community. These people that are not the hardcore racers, but they just wanna mess around with cars.” Some don’t race at all.

Dan Greenawalt explains what it is that makes Forza Motorsport special.

“All they do is paint. They paint, they trade, and they broker cars. They’re a very important part of our community because they’re stoking the car passion of other people. It’s how these groups interact. How a painter interacts with a tuner, [how a] tuner interacts with a racer to make a very vibrant community,” the game director explains.

Forza 4 will feature voiceover from non other than Top Gear legend and host Jeremy Clarkson, along with a number of Top Gear-flavoured race obstacles. More than popularity by association, Top Gear and Forza 4 combined is about enhancing the Forza culture, with a little help from Clarkson and co, Greenawalt says.

“Top Gear for us is not just about us getting some licensing and getting some content. Top Gear is about humour and bringing people together. It’s really about getting friends together and screwing around with cars. Sure, they were new cars, but it’s mostly about the humour and the culture of cars”

The authenticity Greenawalt earlier spoke of comes from the little details – even if it means going to absurd lengths, such as spending days measuring car parts.

“We don’t trust the manufacturers. They’re not in the business of telling us the truth about their cars. They tell us the horsepower this way, the marketing guys tell us this car can pull so many G’s. Bull*hit. It’s just not true. We end up having to dyno cars, we take the cars apart, we call the manufacturers to actually send the parts to get real gear ratios from, from many different manufacturers so that we make sure we have the right input all the time.”

"We don't trust the manufacturers. They're not in the business of telling us the truth about their cars. Bull*hit.”

A partnership with tyre-maker Pirelli gives the team access to handling data, direct from the tyre manufacturer. “We worked with Pirelli to get everything, and put that directly into the game.”

All that is put into cars from 80 manufacturers, which Greenawalt claims is “more than you’ll find in any other game.” Listening to the man speak, we couldn’t help but think this approach sounded like the total opposite to the here’s-all-the-cars-you-could-ever-wish-for approach Polyphony Digital appeared to take with the obvious, but relevant example of Gran Turismo 5. Instead, Greenawalt hopes players will tinker with the cars to make them play like different models.

“I don’t expect you to collect 500 cars in your garage. I think you’re going to have about five or 20 cars. Cars that you pull apart. They’re all going to be completely different.”

However, innovation is what we’re told will set Forza Motorsport 4 apart from the competition. Greenawalt sees Microsoft’s motion sensing Kinect Xbox 360 accessory as key part in the studio’s ambition to make more people love cars and racing, describing Kinect as “the new frontier” to encourage more people, young and old to play and get excited about driving.

“When I look at my kids, they don’t know how to drive, they don’t know about simulation, but they sure as hell like to smash cars up. They like to open cars, they like to run around and jump in a truck and have fun. Kinect is such a natural interface that allows us to go into that broader audience with kids – people that are not into simulation, and get them excited about cars in a new way.”

Kinect-specific features include an interactive garage, letting players physically walk around a car, examining its body parts, engine and dashboard by pointing at them on screen. It’s like being able to push past the velvet rope at a car convention.

“We see this as the future of automotive and that’s affected our design aesthetic as well. This kind of UI we call an Ironman looking HUD, it’s very futuristic, you see it throughout the game. This is the future of how you’re going to interact with cars.”

In a first for the series, Forza Motorsport 4 will feature Kinect-enabled head-tracking. The camera inside Kinect tracks the left and right movements of players heads to give the illusion of being in the driving seat.”We actually watched how players drive. And the way they drive when they get excited is they tend to move their had a little bit when they get stressed out. We just reeled that in and have it look into the corner for you.”

A new feature called Rivals Mode lets you challenge and take on people in the leaderboards, as well as your friends. Defeating them nets players a bounty. The best players can always look out for those sitting atop the leaderboards in order to challenge their time. Even novice players will be able to challenge the times of those around them, to slowly work their way up the rankings.

Greenawalt talks through the new modes in the game

“It’s kinda like headhunting – wanted dead or alive,” Greenawalt says. You can take your friends on, you beat them on one of these time trials, and these are also not just about racing. You collect money for that, and then they get a challenge. ‘Hey, so and so just beat your time, go beat it back. Take your money back from them.’ This becomes an area that just seeds the community asynchronously.”

And then you’ve got 16-player multiplayer. One would think it is a feature designed specifically for the hardcore racer – a winner takes all mass race-to-the-death-no-holds-barred experience with only one winner, but Greenawalt insists it will be the biggest area for the casuals, and those that like to team up.

“You can imagine when we have these larger fields, it’s more co-operative, team-based, it’s just fun to play. It’s much, much better. And of course yes, we also have racing. But if truth be told, with 16 players there are a lot of losers. So, you gotta take the good with the bad there.

“I think when you start getting into the more interesting game types: multi-class racing, team-based racing that 16-players really comes into its own. If you just judge it on straight-up racing, one against 15 it’s OK, but the real magic comes with the rest of the gameplay.”

We came away from our time at Turn 10 Studios with the impression that the team has thought of everything. “We are very proud of our game and we worked very hard on this,” Forza’s head-honcho proudly says. Will it be enough to “transform the genre”? It just might.

Exclusive Video: Forza Motorsport 4 car audio recording ears-on!

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Exclusive: Ever wondered how the car engine sounds you hear are recorded and put into the game? As part of our behind-the-scenes tour of developer Turn 10 Studios, we got to see first-hand just how it’s done for incoming Xbox 360 racer Forza Motorsport 4.

We wanted you to see too, so we recorded a video. Ear plugs at the ready?

Bigger game development budgets now means that no stone (or car) is left unturned in the quest to make the best racing game possible. A few weeks ago we found ourselves in the middle of Redmond, Seattle to listen to cars being recorded in a garage for Forza Motorsport 4.

Each car is revved to the hilt and recorded using microphones and a dyno to record engine output. That’s the machine you can see in the video above.

According to Creative audio director, Nick Wiswell, the difference between a normal recording, and a dyno recording is such that it is essential to go through the effort of getting each car into the garage, where the sound of wheel spin, locked brakes, tyres pressing into the ground and more are grabbed.

Doing it this way records “far more detail than they way they were done before,” Wiswell says. It’s one heck of an effort – over 1,000 cars have been recorded in the Redmond-based garage.

The team have even given fans of the game a chance to have their own cars recorded – having posted messages on automobile forums asking nearby residents to bring along any car with “a cool engine sound.” It works.

We were watching a Subaru WRX STI being recorded, but it wasn’t long before the car park was slowly populated with Chevrolet Vipers and the like, owned by said forum users. After all, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to have their car in Microsoft’s biggest racing game?

Want to see more? Then click on our exclusive tour photos in the gallery above.

Exclusive: Forza Motorsport 4 behind the scenes Kinect video bonanza and Top Gear commentary first look

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

Exclusive: Forza Motorsport 4 will be the first game in the series to sport motion controls. Microsoft Kinect will let players steer cars with just their bare hands, explore cars like never before and track head movements when playing. Forza Motorsport 4 won’t be in shops until Autumn, but we paid a visit to developer Turn 10 Studios in Washington for a first-hand look. We’ve got it all on video, right here.

Forza Motorsport 4 will get three core Kinect-specific features. One of which was first shown at E3 2010 – the ability to tour cars in your garage by literally walking around them, and moving in for a closer look as if they were real.

Kinect garage

Play the video above from the start to see Lead Design Bill Giese peer around a Ferrari Enzo, opening up its boot, car doors and demoing the points of interest feature that lets players learn more about the cars in the game.

The studio has also secured the help of Top Gear’s Jezza Clarkson, who provides audio summaries and descriptions of the motors. If you’re a Top Gear fan, it’s well worth a watch. Jeremy doesn’t hold back. Watch at the 5-minute mark to hear Clarkson dispense some Ferrari Enzo trivia, or the 10:35 to hear the Top Gear legend rip into the Ferrari California.

Kinect driving

Want to see some actual driving? Then check out the video below. Here, Giese drive around the new Alps track, which we were one of the very first to see. Intended for more casual players, breaking can be taken care of, letting players concentrate on steering. Players can move their foot forward to lay off the gas. “We kept falling into this pit of trying to design it for the core,” Giese explains in the video. “It’s not for them.” Take a look.

Kinect head-tracking wheel gameplay

Microsoft Kinect will also be able to track the movement of players heads. It’s not a new innovation, but remains a first for the Forza Motorsport series. We’ll admit, it’s difficult to see the full effect of Kinect-head-tracking here in this video – the developer has a steady head, it seems. Take a quick glimpse of it below.

Will you be combining Microsoft Kinect with Fora Motorsport 4? Impressed by what you’ve seen so far? Let us know in the comments section below.

PlayStation Vita is official: the future of the PlayStation Portable

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 07:01 PM PDT

The cat is out of the bag. The successor to the PlayStation Portable, NGP, is officially known as PlayStation Vita (PS Vita). With dual touch pads, analog sticks, a multi-touch 5-inch OLED screen, and dual cameras for an augmented reality experience — this is the future of portable gaming. Sony promises new ways to interact with your world, friends and entertainment, all powered by PS Vita.

There's been speculation over the why Sony named the NGP the PS Vita, but we now know Vita means life. PlayStation Vita will be the first product that blurs the lines between entertainment and your 'real life'. The combination of cutting-edge hardware and the PlayStation Suite is the backbone behind Vita. Two new services, PlayStation Near and Party handle the social networking and location-based gaming aspects. Not much is known about either service, but Sony promises more information will be available soon.

The real shocker in Sony's E3 press conference was the move to make At&t its official partner to deliver 3G data. As the nation's fastest mobile data network, At&t and Sony are reportedly the perfect fit. We'll let you decide whether that makes or breaks the PS Vita. Saving the day for the PS Vita was the Street Fighter cross Tekken announcement — yes, the PS Vita will have its own version and incorporates Cole from inFamous.

Coming Soon | PS Vita | $249 WiFi (£249), $299 3G (£299)

PlayStation-branded 24-inch 3D display and affordable 3D glasses announced, priced

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 06:23 PM PDT

Sony is making a big push to bring 3D gaming to the masses with two new accessories, a 24-inch 3D monitor and new 3D glasses. The 24-inch display will be sold bundled with a pair of 3D glasses, Resistance 3, and a 6-foot HDMI cable for $499. Meanwhile, the 3D glasses may be purchased separately for $69.99/each.

The big draw to Sony's 3D product announcements was certainly not the price. A 24-inch 3D-capable monitor bundle for $499 is hardly a slick deal, but when you dig deeper it just might be a steal. According to Sony the monitor allows two people to game without having to split the screen. While we haven't tried the set ourselves, the demonstration at E3 shows two gamers sharing a single display, but depending on the vantage point — a different view is created. Essentially you have two independent TV sets. When you factor in the cost of purchasing two 24-inch 3D monitors the bundle starts to look like a much more compelling proposition.

Coming Soon | Sony | $499

Resistance 3: the war begins September 6, new Sharp Shooter bundle announced

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 06:09 PM PDT

It’s official. Resistance 3 takes place in August 1957, four years after the events of Resistance 2. With humans facing extinction, our hero – Joseph Capelli, the last sentinel, has made the difficult choice of leaving his family in Oklahoma in order to attempt a daring last ditch strike against the Chimera in New York City.

Sony confirmed both 3D and PlayStation Move support are baked into Resistance 3. The company also announced a $150 Resistance 3 Sharp Shooter bundle (September 6, 2011) which includes the game, the sharp shooter, a PlayStation Move motion controller, a navigation controller and a PlayStation Eye Camera.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception: breaking necks with multiplayer beta June 20

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 06:01 PM PDT

The third installment in the Uncharted franchise, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, kicked off the Sony E3 2011 press conference this evening. After watching an extended trailer and nearly five minutes of live game play, the goods were dealt. On June 20th the multiplayer beta goes live, but a new partnership between Sony and Subways looks to be the icing on the cake.

PlayStation and Subway restaurants have partner up to offer early access to the game. Instead of waiting for the official November 1, 2011 release date, Subway will get you in the game first. Expect more details on the exclusive partnership to follow shortly.

Far Cry 3 debuts at E3: lands on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC in 2012

Posted: 06 Jun 2011 04:35 PM PDT

The highly anticipated sequel in the Far Cry franchise, Far Cry 3, will be released on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2012. In a surprise turn of events, Ubisoft dealt the news to an audience of star-struck gamers during its E3 press conference. There's been only one promised made with Far Cry 3, "you'll need more than luck to service".

If the game play footage is any indication, Far Cry 3 will be amazing. The razor-sharp graphics and fluid movement have us feeling Call of Duty: Black Ops is a bit dated. That alone, speaks volumes to fine level of detail the folks at Ubisoft have put into the third installment. For now, not much is known about the game other than it takes place on an island with bloody secrets, and like always, we must improvise and use our environment to survive.

After watching the seven minute trailer it's safe to assume we're fans. Look for Far Cry 3 to launch on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC next year. If you're ready to commit, you can place your pre-order today.

Coming 2012 | Ubisoft | Pre-order now