Forza 3 Launch Party

Last night myself and JimmyDrama ventured into the bright lights of Central London to check out the launch event for the new Forza 3 videogame.

The event promised a talk from legendary F1 commentator Murray Walker, as well as the arrival of a special guest to introduce the game. And, of course, the chance to get our hands on a full version of Forza 3, hooked up to an Xbox steering wheel, with pedals and race-seat.

Having braved the hordes of commuters on the tube, we arrived at ‘The Forza Garage’ or rather Stratstone – A plush car dealership in the heart of Mayfair, just a stones-throw from the Ritz Hotel – that had been especially made over for the evening.

Parked outside was a smattering of high-end exotica – a pair of Lambos, a Ferrari, and an Aston Martin – although I’m not sure if the Aston was just parked in its usual residential space… hey, this is Mayfair after all!

Inside people waited for the show to start, and the arrival of Murray and the special guest. They (and we) didn’t have to wait long. Both Murray and the special guest – who turned out to be the lovely Miss Jodie Kidd – arrived in style in a Forza liveried Ferrari and a Lambo, and were promptly assaulted with flash photography from the waiting press.

Nevertheless the pair found their way inside and onto the stage to get the presentation going. After a short talk from Murray about Forza, and a highlight reel with clips of the game and interviews with the likes of Tiff Needel and Johnny Herbert, there was a quick ‘comedy’ vid of two Xbox reps trying to drive the first production copy of Forza 3 from Edinburgh to this press event in London in a Lamborghini Murciélago (the pearl white one in the photo’s). Lucky gits.

After this the lovely Miss Kidd took the wheel on stage to play an online match around the Silverstone GP circuit against several of the other guys in the room, with Murray commentating the race.

The presentation was rounded off by an awesome Norwegian metal band – El Caco – playing a title track from the game. Check out out their Myspace here: www.myspace.com/elcaco - they seriously rocked!

I wont say too much about the game as I’ll do a full writeup once I get a copy home (watch this space), but needless to say, it is a huge achievement. The graphics are absolutely stunning, and the gameplay has lost none of the feel and attention to detail that made the First two instalments of Forza a worldwide smash.

I know our resident video-editing superstar, Mr. Drama is working on a vid of the evening so be sure to check that, and his pics out once they are live.

A big thanks to the guys and girls at JCPR and Xbox for a cool evening, and of course the people at Turn 10 for turning out another awesome Forza instalment.

My pics:

Forza 3!

Yes Murray, she is very tall!

Jodie Kidd, just about to spin coming out of Brooklands!

El Caco!

Dont give a Lambo to Xbox reps! Ouch!