Text Adventure: Rolling Start: Forza 3 Drifting and Blur Beta

Much like I have expanded my Zombie Action News blog into the Survival Horror genre with ‘Scare Tactics’, I am now pushing my video game racing blog posts beyond Forza and into other racers. ‘Rolling Start’ is now my catch-all video game racing blog post that will appear when I have some racing game news or stories I would like to share. In this, my first edition, I will recount my success on obtaining a certain drift achievement in Forza Motorsport 3, my impending Blur beta key, and a little introduction on one of my new favourite Zune Marketplace TV shows.

Drift Lap
Earn over 100,000 points in a single lap.

Gamerscore = 5 Acquired 6/3/2010

Achievement Unlocked – Drift Lap: I had previously made several attempts to gain this achievement to no avail. I did have a feeling though that my Ford Focus RS would be the car to take me there. The only thing was that I did not think that this front-wheel drive car had the hp to make my drifts score high enough to get the total of 100,000 points that I needed.

So yesterday I decided that another attempt needed to be made, this time though I auto-tuned my car into the ‘B’ Class to give it the power it would need to keep those tires spinning after the fact. My first lap was somewhat of a failure, only garnering me 87,000 points, but it did allow me the practice I needed to get the feel for the new upgrades I applied to the car. So next up was lap 2, and I was not going to be denied.

Right from the get go I could feel that with each corner I was producing more points. At the half-way point I was already at 50,000 with nothing but down hill in front of me. The picture above was taken near the end of my run, but I almost got ahead of myself as I was able to produce just enough points to get the achievement. I have only a handful of achievements yet to earn in Forza 3, all surrounding the season mode. So I hope to earn the rest over the next few months. Stay tuned for that.

A Bizarre Turn of Events: I thought I had sworn off Bizarre Creations. I have been a staunch supporter of their brand since the days of Metropolis Street Racer on the Sega Dreamcast until the release PGR4 a couple of years back. When BC was picked up by Activision, lost the PGR brand, and then was off to make a ‘Mario Kart’ style of racer, I figured they had jumped the shark so to speak, and I would move onto bigger and better things.

Sometimes for me my interest can turn on a dime, and with the recent buzz about the Blur beta, I suddenly have found myself back on the BC train! At present I am waiting for my code to enter into the beta (thanks to twitter-friend @thewesker). I actually once again find myself excited for an arcade racer. I know if anyone can pull this off it is the team at BC. And with features like twitter integration, challenges, and massive multiplayer racing, it is no wonder Blur has my attention. Stay tuned for some of my Blur impressions in an upcoming post.

Top Show, Top Gear: My brother introduced me to this show and I now I am a die-hard fan! If you like cars and like being entertained you will love Top Gear. Heck, I wager that even if you did not like cars you would still love it (I made my wife watch…she loved it). It is hard to explain why it is so good, I just recommend that you go to your Zune Marketplace and download an episode and see for yourself. Even the culture barrier is shattered as both North Americans and Europeans will find common ground and common laughs during an episode.

And that is all for now. Be sure to check in on my Storefront in Forza Motorsport 3 (Gamertag SUPERGHOST of course). While there please be sure to view and rate my photos as well as do a little shopping. Check out my latest creation above for my 2010 FIAT Abarth 500 esseesse. Get it while it is hot! On the web, check out my Profile Page at forzamotorsport.net. Until next time, don’t let off the accelerator!