Last Friday night saw Zen Garage’s 2nd event, this time around an industry night to launch Forza Motorsport 4. The lads from Xtreme Sim Gear were in early to set up and calibrate 2 Next Level V2 simulators, the beer fridge was well stocked thanks to Dayton at The Malt Shovel Brewery and thanks to Microsoft a box full of Forza Motorsport 4 games were handed out throughout the night. Tha Tith Brothers were in the house filming too, so be sure to check back soon for their video coverage of the night. Amazing photographs of the night captured by photographer Matthew Mead.


Justin flashing Garth the packed beer fridge. Choices choices!


The Zen Garage Deathtrap Project.


The set-up. Check Herman’s race face! So on.


The pedal set-up was amazing on these sims.


Force feedback was impressive too.


Justin’s R32 GT-R.


The abandoned office.


Michael, founder of OzMazda was present, so too Christina Lock, founder of VWGolf.net.au. Christina rocked up with a flat tyre.


Carmen (pictured) dropped in with a spare wheel to help her out.


The boys managed to re-inflate the flat tyre without issues.


John was quick to get her wheel back on.


From the outside looking in.


The pong action, it was fierce!


Lap times were dropping well into the night.


A pre-sim waiting station was set up for guests waiting to get onto the 2 race sims.


Photographer Taz Ali behind the wheel.


Head of Art at Soap Creative Matthew Willis behind the wheel.


Sean with Archie the warehouse dog.


Archie – booze hound!

Links:
http://forzamotorsport.net
http://xsimgear.com.au
http://www.malt-shovel.com.au
http://www.matthewmead.com.au
http://vimeo.com/kimtith

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8 Responses

  2. Justin Fox
    Justin Fox Reply

    It was invite only Matyi, about 40 people. Was a good test for us to check out how many people could comfortably hang out in the space.

  3. Auth Reply

    -Note: I will add a LOT more to this review the more I play it. Stay tuned.-First thgnis first here’s what you get when you get Forza 4 at or soon after launch date:The limited quantity Ship Bonus car pack available for fans who order Forza 4 early: 1965 Ford Mustang GT Coupe 2011 Koenigsegg Agera 1997 Lexus SC300 2011 RUF RGT-8 2011 Tesla Roadster Sport It’s finally here! After what seemed like decades, Forza Motorsport 4 is now available, much to the delight of video game and car enthusiasts everywhere. Given how great Forza 3 was, could Forza 4 be even better?The answer is, well yes.Forza 4 is everything the third was, and more. More cars, more manufacturers, more racers online (16-players!), and, although not TOO many more, more tracks. I could make this review be 5,000 words long, but rather than do that, I’ll try to make it relatively short. This game’s incredible. I already said that, didn’t I? Aw but seriously. The World Tour mode is absolutely brilliant, and makes the single-player more fun to play, whereas in Forza 3 at least in my opinion the game was much better online. The only real downfall in World Tour is that, although the A.I. is SUPPOSED to get better or worse depending on your playing abilities, it doesn’t work all that well, and you’ll breeze through half the career or so with no trouble at all if you’re a somewhat competant driver. The best thing about the World Tour, is that you unlock cars each time you level up. And now you’re likely saying, Hey. Idiot. We could do that in Forza 3. But this time? You get a selection of normally between 2 and 5 cars to pick, and let me tell you, a lot of the time you are going to rip your hair out trying to decide which car you want. Lamborghini, Ferrari, or McLaren. Hm Also in the single-player is the all-new Autovista mode, which allows you to take a look at a handful of the game’s hottest cars, inside and out. Not only do you get some random British guy giving you information, you also get a bit of commentary from Top Gear’s own Jeremy Clarkson, and lucky for us, Turn 10 didn’t give him a script to read he’s as Jeremy-ish as ever. I should also let you know that to get the cars available in Autovista, you have to complete single-player tasks, so you can’t turn your 360 on, go to Autovista, and check out Halo’s Warthog right out of the gate. As a matter of fact, it’ll take you quite a long while before being able to check that thing out. Autovista isn’t going to be for everyone I for one find it pretty cool, but I wouldn’t check out a car more than once, but there are some people that will spend quite a bit of time drooling in it, and then another group of people that will find it completely and utterly boring.That sums up the single-player in a nutshell, really. Given that the game hasn’t been released at the time of this review, I’m unable to review the multiplayer effectively, so I’ll add that in at a later date. How’s the game look? How does it sound? Let me just say that this is the best looking game I’ve ever seen on a video game console it’s CAR PORN at its finest, and the sound only enhances it. While Forza Motorsport 3 had some cars that sounded sort of meh, Forza 4 is just insane that’s really the only way I can think to describe it. The tire squeeling, the engines reving, the gears shifting, all of it is pretty much unbelievable. The one downfall is the soundtrack, which I believe would be more at home in an arcade racer, not a simulation game like Forza.I’ve already said it probably half a dozen times, but Forza Motorsport 4 is THE GAME for fans of cars. With so many cars and more to come in the way of downloadable content over the months, there is something for anybody with a pulse. This review was quite brief, as I didn’t want to explain every single little thing in the game, but I think I got the point across I have a gut feeling this game will be my Game of the Year, and I’ve yet to play Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Skyrim, or anything like that yet. Yeah. It’s that good. Pros: Several hundred cars with plenty of more coming in the months following release. Improved everything, as you’d expect car physics are more realistic than ever. 16-player online racing.Cons: Only five new tracks, and developer Turn 10 isn’t guaranteeing there will be more in the future as DLC. No Porsche due to licensing issues, although a few RUFs are available. (It’s rumored that Porsche may be downloadable content after EA’s exclusitivity rights expire in December.) No weather effects or night racing.5/5

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