Sure, it has pretty much everything one would expect from a serious driving game, ensuring that the passionate Forza community who prefers the sim side of things is catered to. Forza 3 offers over 400 real world cars, more than 100 tracks on which to race them and impressive physics modeling that simulates some of the world's most coveted rides. And while players can enjoy Forza 3 with a traditional progression, starting small, improving their skills and purchasing better and faster cars, almost everything is available to you from the start.

Now that we've kicked Forza 3's tires—and peeled out with them—would we recommend you get behind the wheel?

Loved
From Arcade To Sim: Look, I'm kind of a driving game lightweight, not the type who would label myself a fan of simulations of almost any sort. I don't have a passion for cars, don't own a driving wheel controller and almost always play using a camera that follows behind the car. Thankfully, catering to my sim phobia, I was given the option from the beginning to play Forza Motorsport 3 according to my preference, effectively putting the game into arcade mode. This toggled on a number of driving assists, including auto-braking, full suggested driving and braking lines, traction control and an inconsequential damage model. Easy. However, as time went on, I became comfortable with Forza 3's handling, learning how to brake on my own, eventually becoming disgusted with my reliance on driving lines and automatic anti-lock braking hand-holding. After just a few hours, I'd turned off many of those assists, then more later on, letting me swim near the deeper end of driving simulation. For serious sim fans, the option to turn on manual shifting (with clutch!) and tire wear is easily accessed from many menus, letting you play the game as you wish.

Bring That Corner Back: One of the most helpful features in Forza Motorsport 3, the option to rewind a race a few seconds at a time, letting one correct one's mistakes, was also the one instrumental to me learning how to drive properly. Had I not had the opportunity to attempt a problematic corner again and again and again, without having to revisit the entire race, I'd have quickly lost the desire to compete. Rewind is a wonderful feature, a welcome addition to a simulation driving game that eases the frustration of that one botched chicane. Granted, rewind can't be used in multiplayer games, so drivers can't rely on it to fix every little mistake in Forza 3.

Power Leveling & Sweet Loot Drops: "Just one more race," I'd find myself saying while playing through Forza 3's rich single-player career mode. The constant allure of leveling your driver via the accumulation of experience points and the free cars gifted to you as you progress makes for a surprisingly addictive experience. Action RPG-like almost. Season-long race events interspersed with hundreds of shorter driving challenges ensures that there's plenty of variety, letting the player experience new tracks, new cars or simply become more familiar with the vehicle of their choice. There's some nice variety here, even if you'll revisit many tracks over the course of 220 available events.

The View From The Inside: Normally, I wouldn't have experienced Forza 3's wonderful in-car cockpit view, playing as I normally do. But after having done so to secure one of the game's achievements, I find myself opting for the cockpit view over everything else, feeling like I had a better feel for the road, an option made more palatable by the beautifully modeled interiors of each car.

Simple, Classic, Beautiful: The presentation here is top notch, with clean, crisp, well-designed menus making it easy to navigate Forza Motorsport 3's many modes and its collection of hundreds of cars. With the exception of a few exclusions—I would always assume I could tune, repaint or upgrade my car from the My Cars section—getting around (in the menus) is easy. Oh, right. The cars look stunning too, with plenty of options to take photos of each or just generally lust over them.

Quick Upgrade: Apologies for belaboring the point, but being somewhat behind the curve on how transmissions, differentials and other car upgrades work can make upgrading a car from stock to A-class race competitive is a little beyond me. Fortunately for the car un-enthusiast like me, the Quick Upgrade option, available when entering races, makes getting your car up to spec a one button affair. Of course, if you want to delve deeper into how brakes, wheel widths and intakes improve the various aspects of your car, Forza 3 lets you do that too. Me? I like pressing the A button and watching credits disappear.

Let's Shop: One of Forza Motorsports 3's biggest innovations is the addition of a virtual storefront, letting players sell cars, designs, vinyls, tuning set ups and more. Since I'm not much of a content generator myself, i rely on the idle time of others to help me customize and expand my car library. Buying and bidding on items is easy and intuitive, thanks to the well designed storefront. Categories for each, including Turn 10 picks and popular downloads, help the cream rise, making sure you can marvel at the excruciating work others put into their creations.

Hated
Wait... You Lost Me At Tuning: Given Forza Motorsport 3's easing into the simulation space—auto upgrades, driving assists, free cars!—I was a little disappointed to not see the same attention paid to the games tuning portions. Yes, these sections are simple to muck with, offering mostly clear explanations of what each tuning characteristic does, and Turn 10 offers a handy benchmarking option, but I was hoping for some suggested tuning options. Fortunately, the community appears to be picking up the slack.

As you might have gathered, I am not the driving sim authority capable of deeming whether Forza Motorsport 3 is the "definitive" racing game of this generation. What I can tell you is that the game, including its single-player Season Play mode and its ample online multiplayer modes, are incredibly fun to play, whether you prefer to keep the accelerator jammed or watch telemetry data tell you just how mangled your 10,000 credit tire upgrade has become over the course of a 34 lap endurance race.

This is a beautiful, broad package, one that was surprising in its most personally important aspect—how fun Forza 3 was to play. It may or may not be definitive, but Forza 3 is a must have for the Xbox 360 owning driving enthusiast. And maybe even the casual Sunday driver.

Forza Motorsport 3 was developed by Turn 10 Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360 on October 27. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through three seasons of career mode, played multiple online multiplayer races of each type.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

But for those of you who consider 400 "a nice start," developer Turn 10 Studios has revealed the official list of each and every car that will appear in Forza 3. It's a list so long that it spans two DVDs. Hell, it goes beyond that with five limited to the collector's edition of the game, five for the Forza Motorsport VIP Membership Car pack and six only for those who pre-order.

That full list begins... in 3... 2... 1...

The Cars of Disc 1:

2008 Acura #15 Lowe's Fernandez ARX-01b
2008 Acura #26 Andretti-Green Racing ARX-01b
2002 Acura #42 Realtime Racing NSX
2008 Acura #66 de Ferran Mortorsports ARX-01b
2009 Acura #66 de Ferran Mortorsports ARX-02a
2005 Acura NSX
2002 Acura RSX Type-S
2007 Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione
2009 Alfa Romeo Brera Italia Independent
2008 Alfa Romeo Mito
2006 Aston Martin #007 Aston Martin Racing DBR9
2008 Aston Martin #008 Bell Motorsports DBR9
2008 Aston Martin #009 Aston Martin Racing DBR9
2005 Aston Martin DB9 Coupe
2003 Audi #1 Champion RS 6
2008 Audi #2 Audi Sport North America R10 TDI
2006 Audi #2 FSI Champion Racing R8
2006 Audi #8 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R10 TDI
2008 Audi A4 Touring Car
2009 Audi Q7 V12 TDI
2010 Audi R8 5.2 FSI quattro
2006 Audi RS 4
2003 Audi RS 6
2000 Audi S4
2004 Audi S4
2007 Audi S5
1983 Audi Sport Quattro
2004 Audi TT Coupe 3.2 quattro
2007 Audi TT Coupe S-Line
2004 Bentley Continental GT
2009 BMW Motorsport 135i Coupe
1971 BMW Motorsport 3.0 CSL
2001 BMW Motorsport #6 Prototype Technology Group M3-GTR
2009 BMW Motorsport #92 Rahal Letterman Racing M3 GT2
1997 BMW Motorsport M3 E36
2005 BMW Motorsport M3 E46 Coupe
1991 BMW Motorsport M3 E30
2008 BMW Motorsport M3 E92
2002 BMW Motorsport M3-GTR
2009 BMW Motorsport M5 E60
2009 BMW Motorsport X5 xDrive48i
2008 BMW Motorsport Z4 M Coupe
2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4
2008 Cadillac #8 Remington Shaving CTS-V
2009 Cadillac CTS-V
2004 Chevrolet #3 Corvette Racing C5.R
2005 Chevrolet #31 Whelen Engineering Corvette Z06
2006 Chevrolet #4 Corvette Racing C6.R
2007 Chevrolet #4 Corvette Racing C6.R
2003 Chevrolet #50 Corvette Racing C5.R
2003 Chevrolet #73 3R-Racing Corvette Z06
2005 Chevrolet #99 Tiger Racing Corvette Z06
2009 Chevrolet Aveo5 LT
2002 Chevrolet Camaro 35th Anniversary SS
1990 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS Coupe
1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1979 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS-454
2005 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Coupe
2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2006 Chevrolet Corvette Z06
2008 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS Stock Car
2008 Chrysler 300C SRT-8
2006 Chrysler Crossfire SRT6
2009 Citroen C4 VTS
2002 Dodge #1 Team Zakspeed Viper GTS-R
2008 Dodge #11 Primetime Racing Group Viper Competition Coupe
2008 Dodge #2 Mopar Viper Competition Coupe
2004 Dodge #22 3R-Racing Viper Competition Coupe
2003 Dodge #23 Magellan Financial Viper Competition Coupe
1970 Dodge Challenger R/T Hemi
2009 Dodge Challenger SRT-8
1969 Dodge Charger R/T
2006 Dodge Charger SRT8
2008 Dodge Charger Stock Car
2006 Dodge Ram SRT-10
2003 Dodge Viper Competition Coupe
2003 Dodge Viper SRT10
2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR
2005 Ferrari #11 Larbre Competition 550 Maranello GTS
1964 Ferrari 250 GTO
1998 Ferrari #30 MOMO Doran Racing F333 SP
1967 Ferrari 330 P4
1994 Ferrari F355 Berlinetta
1995 Ferrari F355 Challenge
1999 Ferrari 360 Modena
2003 Ferrari Challenge Stradale
1991 Ferrari 512 TR
2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello
2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
2004 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
2006 Ferrari #62 Risi Competizione F430GT
2008 Ferrari #71 Tafel Racing F430GT
2003 Ferrari #88 Veloqx / Prodrive Racing 550 Maranello
2008 Ferrari #90 Farnbacher Racing F430GT
2009 Ferrari California
1969 Ferrari Dino 246 GT
2002 Ferrari Enzo Ferrari
1987 Ferrari F40
1989 Ferrari F40 Competizione
2004 Ferrari F430
1995 Ferrari F50
1996 Ferrari F50 GT
2005 Ferrari FXX
1984 Ferrari GTO
2010 Fiat 500 Abarth SS
2009 Ford #1 TeamVodafone FG Falcon
2004 Ford #10 Tiger Racing Mustang
2009 Ford #25 Britek Motorsport FG Falcon
2009 Ford #5 Ford Performance Racing FG Falcon
2009 Ford #9 Stone Brothers Racing FG Falcon
2009 Ford Fiesta Zetec S
2009 Ford Focus RS
2006 Ford Focus ST
2003 Ford Focus SVT
2008 Ford Fusion Stock Car
2005 Ford Ford GT
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429
2000 Ford Mustang Cobra R
1993 Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R
1985 Ford RS200 Evolution
2009 Holden #2 Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore VE
2009 Holden #33 Garry Rogers Team Commodore VE
2009 Holden #39 Supercheap Auto Racing Commodore VE
2009 Holden #51 Sprint Gas Racing Commodore VE
2005 Honda #18 TAKATA DOME NSX
2005 Honda #8 ARTA NSX
2004 Honda Mugen Civic Type-R
2006 Honda Civic Si Coupe
2007 Honda Civic Type-R
1991 Honda CR-X SiR
2009 Honda Fit Sport
2002 Honda Mugen Integra Type-R
2000 Honda Integra Type-R
2002 Honda Integra Type-R
1992 Honda NSX-R
2005 Honda NSX-R GT
2003 Honda S2000
2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe
2003 Hyundai Tuscani Elisa
2008 Infiniti G37 Coupe Sport
2009 Jaguar XKR-S
2008 Koenigsegg CCGT
1988 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 QV
1999 Lamborghini Diablo GTR
1997 Lamborghini Diablo SV
2005 Lamborghini Gallardo
2006 Lamborghini Miura Concept
2005 Lamborghini Murcielago
2007 Lamborghini Murcielago LP640
2008 Lamborghini Reventon
2003 Lexus IS300
2006 Lexus IS350
2009 Lexus IS F
2002 Lexus SC430
2005 Lotus Elise 111S
2009 Lotus Evora
2006 Lotus Exige Cup 240
2008 Land Rover Range Rover Supercharged
2005 Maserati #15 JMB Racing MC12
2008 Maserati GranTurismo
2004 Maserati MC12
2009 Mazda #16 Dyson Racing B09/86
2009 Mazda Mazdaspeed 3
1994 Mazda Miata
2007 Mazda MX-5 Roadster Coupe
2001 Mazda Mazdaspeed Roadster
1997 Mazda RX-7
2002 Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type-A
2004 Mazda RX-8 Mazdaspeed
1997 McLaren #43 Team BMW Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR
1997 McLaren F1 GT
2009 Mercedes A200 Turbo Coupe
2004 Mercedes C32 AMG
2009 Mercedes C-Class Touring Car
2009 Mercedes ML 63 AMG
2009 Mercedes SL 65 AMG Black Series
2005 Mercedes SLR
2003 MINI Cooper S
2009 MINI John Cooper Works

carlist_4
2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT
2006 Mitsubishi HKS Time Attack Evolution
2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX MR
1999 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI GSR
2004 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X GSR
2008 Nissan #12 CALSONIC IMPUL GT-R
2003 Nissan #12 CALSONIC SKYLINE
2008 Nissan #23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R
2008 Nissan #24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion GT-R
2008 Nissan #3 YellowHat YMS TOMICA GT-R
2010 Nissan 370Z
1970 Nissan Datsun 510
2003 Nissan Fairlady Z
1994 Nissan Fairlady Z Version S Twin Turbo
2007 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V
1992 Nissan Silvia CLUB K's
1994 Nissan Silvia K's
2000 Nissan Silvia Spec-R
1993 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec
1997 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec
2002 Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II
2002 Nissan MINE'S R34 Skyline GT-R
2000 Nissan Top Secret D1-Spec S15
2009 Nissan Versa SL
2004 Opel Speedster Turbo
2003 Pagani #17 Carsport America Zonda GR
1999 Pagani Zonda C12
2002 Panoz #50 Panoz Motor Sports LMP-01
2005 Panoz #51 Panoz Esperante GTLM
2005 Panoz Esperante GTLM
2004 Peugeot 206 RC
2007 Peugeot 207 RC
2007 Peugeot 207 Super 2000
2007 Peugeot #8 Peugeot Sport 908
2009 Peugeot #9 Peugeot Sport Total 908
1968 Chrysler Plymouth Barracuda Formula-S
2009 Pontiac G8 GXP
2006 Pontiac Solstice
2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am Ram Air
1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SD-455
1987 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am GTA
2008 Porsche #16 Dyson Racing RS Spyder Evo
1987 Porsche #17 Racing Porsche AG 962c
2008 Porsche #2 Gruppe Orange Racing 911 GT3 Cup
1998 Porsche #26 Porsche AG 911 GT1-98
2005 Porsche #31 Peterson-White Lightning 911 GT3-RSR
2008 Porsche #45 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR
2005 Porsche #5 XBOX 360 911 GT3-RSR
2005 Porsche #55 Applied Materials 911 GT3 Cup
2005 Porsche #66 AXA Racing 911 GT3 Cup
2008 Porsche #7 Penske Racing RS Spyder Evo
2007 Porsche #80 Flying Lizard 911 GT3-RSR
2006 Porsche #82 Red Bull 911 GT3 Cup
1995 Porsche 911 GT2
1982 Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3
1970 Porsche 914/6
1989 Porsche 944 Turbo
1987 Porsche 959
1998 Porsche 911 GT1
2004 Porsche 911 GT3 (996)
2008 Porsche 911 GT2 (997)
2007 Porsche 911 GT3 (997)
2007 Porsche 911 Turbo (997)
2003 Porsche Boxster S
2003 Porsche Carrera GT
1973 Porsche 911 Carrera RS
2009 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S
2006 Porsche Cayman S
1980 Renault 5 Turbo
2003 Renault Sport Clio V6 RS
2007 Renault Clio Renaultsport 197
2009 Renault Twingo Renault Sport Cup
2008 Saab 9-3 Turbo X
2002 Saleen #11 Graham Nash Motorsport S7R
2003 Saleen #2 Konrad Motorsports S7R
2006 Saleen S281 E
2008 Saleen S331 Supercab
2004 Saleen S7
2006 Saturn ION Red Line
2007 Saturn Sky Red Line
2005 Scion tC
2009 Scion xD
2009 SEAT Ibiza Cupra
2007 SEAT Leon Cupra
2007 SEAT Leon Supercup
2007 Ford Shelby GT500
1968 Shelby Mustang GT-500KR
2003 Subaru #77 CUSCO SUBARU ADVAN IMPREZA
2006 Subaru Impreza S204
2004 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2005 Subaru Impreza WRX STI
2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STi
2008 Lexus #25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430
2008 Lexus #36 PETRONAS TOM'S SC430
2008 Lexus #6 ENEOS SC430
2004 Toyota Altezza RS200
2003 Toyota Celica SS-I
1994 Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
1984 Toyota Celica Supra
2002 Toyota MR-S
1985 Toyota Sprinter Trueno GT Apex
1998 Toyota Supra RZ
2008 Toyota Yaris S
2005 TVR Sagaris
2006 Vauxhall Astra VXR
2009 Vauxhall Corsa VXR
2004 Vauxhall VX220 Turbo
2009 Volvo C30 R-Design
2004 Volvo S60 R
2003 Volkswagen Bora VR6
1995 Volkswagen Corrado VR6
2006 Volkswagen Golf GTi
2010 Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6
1992 Volkswagen Golf Gti 16v Mk2
2003 Volkswagen Golf R32
1984 Volkswagen Rabbit GTI
2008 Volkswagen Scirocco GT
2008 Volkswagen Touareg R50

The Cars of Disc 2:

2003 Honda #16 G'ZOX NSX
2004 Honda Civic Type-R
1999 Honda Civic Si Coupe
1994 Honda Civic 1.5 VTi
1995 Honda CR-X Del Sol SiR
2005 Honda NSX-R
2000 Honda Prelude SiR
2005 Mazda Axela Sport 23S
2001 Mazda Mazdaspeed Familia
1990 Mazda Savanna RX-7
1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX
2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse GTS
1998 Mitsubishi FTO GP Version R
1997 Mitsubishi GTO
2003 Nissan #23 XANAVI NISMO GT-R
1997 Nissan #23 Nissan Motorsports R390
2003 Nissan #3 HASEMISPORT ENDLESS Z
1998 Nissan #32 NISSAN R390 GT1
2005 Nissan #46 Dream Cube's ADVAN Z
1969 Nissan Fairlady Z 432
1998 Nissan R390
2003 Nissan Skyline Coupe 350GT
1993 Nissan MINE'S R32 Skyline GT-R
1998 Subaru Impreza 22B STi
2005 Subaru Legacy B4 2.0 GT
1969 Toyota 2000GT
2006 Toyota #25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SUPRA
1999 Toyota #3 Toyota Motorsports GT-ONE TS020
2004 Toyota #35 Yellow Hat YMS Supra
2005 Toyota #36 OPEN INTERFACE TOM'S SUPRA
2005 Toyota #6 EXXON Superflo Supra
1995 Toyota MR2 GT
1995 Toyota Tom's T020 MR2
2002 Toyota Tom's W123 MR-S
2002 Toyota Soarer 430SCV
1992 Toyota Supra 2.0 GT Twin Turbo
1998 Toyota Top Secret 0-300 Supra
2001 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
2002 Audi #1 Champion S4 Competition
2001 Audi #4 Johansson Motorsport R8
2004 Audi #5 Audi Sport Japan Team Goh R8
2004 Audi #8 Audi ABT TT-R
2008 Audi R8
2003 Bentley #7 Team Bentley Speed 8
1999 BMW Motorsport #15 BMW Motorsport V12 LMR
2005 BMW Motorsport #2 BMW Motorsport M3-GTR
1998 Ferrari #12 Risi Competizione F333 SP
2003 Ferrari #72 Team Alphand Aventures 550 Maranello GTS
1961 Jaguar E-type S1
1993 Jaguar XJ220
2002 Koenigsegg CC8S
1992 Lancia Delta Integrale EVO
1974 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale
1989 Lotus Carlton
1972 Lotus Elan Sprint
2002 Lotus Esprit V8
2005 Maserati #35 Risi Competizione MC12
2005 Maserati #9 Vitaphone Racing Team MC12
2006 Maserati GranSport
1997 McLaren #41 Team McLaren F1 GTR
1998 McLaren #41 Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTR
1954 Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Coupe
2003 Mercedes CLK55 AMG Coupe
1998 Mercedes AMG Mercedes CLK GTR
2003 Opel #5 OPC Team Phoenix Astra V8
2007 Peugeot #1 Peugeot 207 Super 2000
1993 Peugeot #3 Peugeot Talbot Sport 905 EVO 1C
2005 Porsche #3 Lechner Racing School Team 1 911 GT3 Cup
1998 Porsche #5 Zakspeed Racing 911 GT1-98
2002 Saab 9-3 Aero
2003 SEAT Leon Cupra R
1998 TVR Cerbera Speed 12
2001 TVR Tuscan S
2005 Vauxhall Monaro VXR
2004 Volvo #24 At-Speed S60 R
2004 Volkswagen Beetle
2001 Acura Integra Type-R
1997 Acura NSX
1987 Buick Regal GNX
2004 Cadillac #16 Team Cadillac CTS-V
2002 Cadillac #6 Team Cadillac Northstar LMP-02
2004 Cadillac CTS-V
1996 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427
1970 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser GT
2003 Dodge #126 Team Zakspeed Viper GTS-R
2000 Dodge #57 Carsport Holland Viper GTS-R
2000 Dodge #91 Viper Team Oreca GTS-R
2003 Dodge SRT4
1996 Dodge Stealth R/T Turbo
1999 Dodge Viper GTS ACR
1998 Chrysler Eagle Talon TSi Turbo
1966 Ford GT40 MkII
2005 Ford Mustang GT
2003 Infiniti G35 Coupe
2003 Panoz #11 JML Team Panoz LMP-01
2006 Panoz #81 Team LNT Panoz Esperante GTLM
2004 Pontiac GTO
1968 Pontiac GTO Hardtop
2001 Saleen #26 Konrad Motorsports S7R
2000 Saleen S281
1965 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C
1999 Shelby Series 1

Exclusive Cars Limited Collector's Edition Cars:

2005 Acura Forza Motorsport NSX
2005 Aston Martin Forza Motorsport DB9 Coupe
2010 Audi Forza Motorsport R8 5.2 FSI quattro
2008 Dodge Xbox 360 Charger Stock Car
2003 Nissan Forza Motorsport Fairlady Z

Forza Motorsport VIP Membership Car pack:

2008 Aston Martin DBS
2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1
2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
2007 Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera
2007 Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997)

Exclusive Preorder Cars:

2009 BMW Motorsport Walmart M5 E60
2009 BMW Motorsport GameStop M5 E60
2009 BMW Motorsport GAME M3 E92
2009 BMW Motorsport MicroMania M5 E60
2008 Mitsubishi GameStation Lancer Evolution X GSR
2010 Audi R8 5.2 Community Edition

The Official Forza Motorsport 3 Car List [Official Site]

As racing franchises continue down a diminishing road of more, with detailed engine tuning, real world physics, realistic damage modeling and road wear, they often leave all but the most devoted fans of their games and autophiles in the dust.

But not increasing the realism, not giving what car fanatics need to get the full experience of driving and driving fast, often leads to bland diversions stripped of any right to be considered a simulation.

With Forza 3, developers Turn 10 Studios hope to make something for everyone. Instead of trying to blend the best of both worlds, the game makers have added so many options, so many helping hands that a gamer can create their own experience.

But how can that translate to the diverse world of online gaming? How can Mario Kart fans play Forza 3 in a way that requires little more than gas and steering online with those who expect an intimate knowledge of gear ratios and part selections from their drivers?

The issue of balancing the experience for hardcore and casual gamers in the same environment is solving a problem created by the developers themselves, said Korey Krauskopf, producer for Forza 3.

That long-tail of niche game development is more about trying to differentiate yourself in a crowded genre, than trying to satisfy gamers, Krauskopf said.

"I think that's more about developers trying to be different, not an indictment of the user," he said. "I think it's that game companies are making their games more specialized.

"We want to serve those who already enjoy our games and invite more in."

The problem, he says, is that people hear that a game like Forza is a "hardcore game" and to many that simply means hard to play.

That's why in Forza 3 the developers layered on assists, like auto-braking and one-button driving, he said. And why the game includes plenty of help for auto-tuning a car, if a player doesn't want to do it themselves.

For online gaming, tells Kotaku, Forza 3 features an incredibly elaborate race rules editor.

While the game will ship with a dozen or so pre-created race modes, everything about them, from the number of laps to start delays and what sort of assists a player can be using, can be changed.

"We have a whole bunch of options that just cascade," Krauskopf said. "There are pages and pages of options they can set to make the race exactly how you want it to be."

Krauskopf likens it to the ability first-person shooter fans have to manipulate the online game rules for Halo 3, but with much more control.

For example, most racing games allow players to choose a track, the car classes and the number of laps. In Forza 3, a gamer can take that basic race and choose to change the rules of how a winner is determined.

Krauskopf explains:
*First they could section everyone into two teams, one team will win.

*They could then decide that a specific person from each team must cross the finish line to determine who wins (we'll call this person the "mouse"), the rest of the players are just there to provide interference to the other team, or protection for their own team (we'll call them "cats").

*Then they could create still deeper challenges by limiting teams to specific car classes, tunings, assists, or upgrades.

*If they want to make things more interesting they can stagger the roll-off times from the start line giving some a head start.

*If the players want to be super specific about their race, they can limit the mice to D-class, front wheel drive European hatchbacks and the cats to all wheel drive turbocharged V10s.

"This results in players running in packs on a track, trying to protect their team's "mouse" and see it safely across the finish line first while trying keep the other team's mouse away from the finish line," Krauskopf said. "A very different type of race!"

The game's online modes have more than 100 rule types to tweak giving players an almost limitless ability to customize the way they want to play, he said.

Krauskopf says that the team expects once the game ships and gets into the hands of enthusiastic gamers they will begin to see far more creative combinations of the rules used to create modes they've never imagined.

Since these personalized race modes can only be saved locally, Krauskopf expects that some gamers will make a name for themselves as popular hosts for their custom races. He added that they are considering one day perhaps allowing gamers to save modes online, but right now have no plans to include that option.

Forza 3 will still include all of the Live support Forza 2 had as well. Other new additions to online play include a new party system that allows gamers to hop into one room and then jump from race to race together.

The team has also worked to blur the line between the game's offline and online modes when it comes to a player's career.

"As people are playing online they are still earning experience points and getting rewarded for in-game credit," he said.

Finally, the game will feature a robust set of leaderboards that will take into account how assisted a driver is when racing, so those hardcore fans can steal easily identify "clean" and skilled drivers from those who win with the help of the game.

"We are going to certify score boards, showing you who use assists, and which are totally clean times," Krauskopf said. "Thats how we serve the people who are our real loyal fan base."

And what about all of those casual racers who might flood into Forza's online racing world when Forza 3 hits?

"If you have someone who really wants to race as realistic as you can get he is going to set up a lobby with restrictions, saying we're going to outlaw one button driving and stock car and only allow cars that have been tuned. "

The challenge, he says, is that the team wants to make sure that the detail and depth is there for those who want to dig into it, but obscured from those who may be put off by it.

"We face challenges," he said. "Educating users who think that Mario Kart is quick to use and fun to play and Forza is for hardcore people, so no you can't have a good time playing it."

Krauskopf respects what Nintendo is doing with demo mode, a mode Shigeru Miyamoto first confirmed to Kotaku at E3 was coming to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which allows a game to essentially play itself.

"What Nintendo is doing with Demo Mode is interesting," he said. "You are building a feature that allows anyone to play the game, but you don't get that badge of honor if you use it."

It's, essentially, a more extreme version of what Turn 10 is doing with Forza 3 online play.

"We are giving everyone the ability to enjoy the game," he said. "But not taking anything away from our fan base."

Turn 10's competition Polyphony Digital may take issue with that, should it ever get Gran Turismo 5 out the door, but looking at new screens of Forza 3 in action, the "real driving simulator" folks at least have to agree that the Xbox 360 racing game looks damn good.

Forza Motorsport 3 packs in more than 400 "fully customizable and tunable" cars from 50 manufacturers and 100-plus real world tracks, which are big numbers. New locations include the Montserrat region in Spain, the rugged Amalfi Coast in Italy and the American Southwest.

Also new is the single-player season mode, which puts players through "a completely personalized racing calendar that includes more than 200 different events, including Circuit, Oval, Drag, Drift and Timed Events." Another big number! Better yet, here's a big helping of screens.

German racing wheel maker Fanatec says its new Porsche 911 Turbo S wheel controller, the one built with Forza 3 in mind, has entered pre-production and will be shown at E3 next month, hinting that it will be tied to the next Turn 10 Studios racer.

What's more interesting is why the wheel appears to have been slower in getting to production.

"It took a little bit longer than expected but Microsoft wanted us to support a new feature for Forza 3," writes Fanatec company rep Thomas Jackermeier. Wonder what that could be?

While the game hasn't yet been officially announced, its existence was not-so-subtly hinted at recently.

PWTS Pre-production started [Fanatec - thanks, Martin!]

It's starting to look like Microsoft and developer Turn 10 Studios will have something to show soon, more than likely at this year's E3 expo. The forthcoming racing game's logo was teased at a recent Xbox 360 showing in Sao Paulo, Brazil, a subtle, hype-generating mention that was spied by CVG. Unfortunately, that video appears to have been removed by the user.

Based on the presentation, it looks like Forza Motorsport 3 will show up some time in 2009, as the title appears on Microsoft's publishing slate alongside games like Bungie's Halo ODST.

When the game was unexpectedly revealed last year, internal documents touted features like 400 vehicles, 100 tracks, car deformation and an "assist system." Rumored to spread across two discs, Forza 3 would be the biggest entry in the series in size and scope.

Forza 3: First official glimpse [CVG]

...you know, we have a great internal racing studio in Turn 10, the creators of Forza Motorsport. And our goal is to roll the studio so that they can do more creative execution within the racing space. So you can imagine a future where they would develop a new version of Project Gotham Racing.

Shane Kim Interview [Kikizo]

Plus, Hartman's not interested in doing the necessary paperwork. With the recent shake-up of internal development studios at FASA and Bungie, plus the snatching away of two third party developers to third party publishers, the Xbox crowd may be worried that Turn 10 has their eye on the door. Hartman's pretty clear, saying of the Bungie deal that it's a "win-win situation as far as I can tell, but not one I'm very interested in."

A Turn 10 Introduction... [Forza Motorsport]

The general answer to that question has always been "yes," we definitely have DLC up our sleeves and will release a series of car packs and new tracks starting in August and running probably through a good chunk of fall. Forza Motorsport 2 is definitely here to stay. We're also going to continually keep an eye on community and its successes and problems, patching and tweaking where we need to and rewarding those who are especially helpful or give back to the community.

Oh, thanks, Che! I love these little conversations we have.

Weekly Pitpass Report [Turn 10 Studios]

Albus Presents: Car Tuning - A Way of Life [Forza Forums]

The Seattle Times has the long version, a chronicle of the interns pitch to J Allard and their move from Microsoft wageslaves with a love for Voltron to real-deal developers at Carbonated and Turn 10 Studios. As far as I'm concerned, side-scrolling shooter development should be a Microsoft intern requirement, not some feel good story. Michael McWhertor

What I did last summer [Seattle Times]