Forza 2: triple-screen play video (on Samsung M8s)

Australian Post Posted by Seamus Byrne at 4:55 PM on May 29, 2007

UPDATE: Boom! It's here! Six minutes of Nürburgring action (race starts 40 seconds in, sorry) - and it ends with a bang!

It's even better in real life than in the pictures.

The three-screen mode of play is simply phenomenal, and if you listen carefully you'll hear the sound of car nut's engines revving in anticipation. I've just come back from the local launch event, where we got to get hands on with one of these beastly setups.

Read on for a detailed examination of the pros (and pros) of this ultimate driving experience (they are Samsung's latest LCDs too).

 

forza-screens.jpg

Three 360s, three 40-inch Samsung M8 LCDs; one kick-ass racing chair with Xbox 360 steering wheel (which, let's not forget, was designed in part by the Forza developers). That's around $15,000 worth of kit, but OMG it is the best driving experience I have ever had. Except the time I got to drive a V8 Supercar... but that's a different story.

This actually shows up the shortcomings of nosecam race view in a standard config (I feel more justified in my general use of driver / chase view than ever). But this setup is how racing games were meant to be experienced. The side views are meaningful! You get a real sensation of speed, and you get a much better feel for where your corners are, with a more direct sense of the relationship between you, the road, and the wheel.

And the wheel is now delivering everything it has promised. PGR3 was good, but this is the first game to land that genuinely supports everything that wheel can do. I'm not bad at racing games, nor am I great at them, but between the wheel and this immersive screen arrangement, I was instantly a lot better than I recall ever being before. It all just comes together and really sings.

Now the sad part. Going back to a much more sedate gaming arrangement... time to save some dough - or win a lottery.

Comments

Marcus

Posted May 29, 2007 10:40 PM

That's unreal, but I can't believe they went to so much effort to put that feature in there when hardly anyone will get to enjoy it. It's plausible you might have two mates with 360's, but the chances of putting your three different TV sets together and having it look that good are pretty slim. Maybe on LCD computer monitors you might have a bit of luck as they're pretty standard, with the right adaptors of course. Great video.

steven

Posted May 30, 2007 10:30 AM

awwwww..... I heard some rumor that it could support 8 360s and 8 screens for full 360deg octo vision mania. That'd be phwooooooor yeah! one expensive shiela!

speedypete

Posted June 3, 2007 9:41 AM

Dude that was awesome! Where was this? @ some launch party? This set up will spoil you for sure. Your Forza 2 experience at home will be ruined forever. I love the youtube link. I myself am still waiting for my copy to be delivered. I am one of the geeks that didn't buy the pre-order,which I wrote about in my blog.

Seamus

Posted June 8, 2007 11:53 AM

You're right, speedypete. Getting to taste that has definitely made me feel sad every time I load up a racing game at home now. It really is disgustingly good - the way a racer should be played.

I'm now considering buying two Dell 24-inch widescreens (I already have one), and the necessary Xbox 360s...

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