Insane custom cars already in Forza 2

Forza 2 hasn't even been out for a week and already we're starting to see shots of custom paint jobs roll in. The designs are all over the place, from anime, to KFC, to iPod, to Jack Sparrow, to Gears of War. We particularly like Reggie Lee seen above. Follow the "read" links below to see many, many more custom Forza 2 paint jobs. Do any Xbox 360 Fanboys out there have custom Forza cars they'd like to share? If so, hit us up with a tip or submit a link in the comments. We'll compile the best ones and stick them in a special gallery. Bonus points to anyone who makes an X3F car.

First DMC4 playable Dante gameplay footage

Capcom has released the first gameplay footage of Dante from Devil May Cry 4. If you don't know, the protagonist featured so far is in fact Nero, though he bears a striking resemblance to Dante. Among other things, Dante has duel-wielded pistols, which are so popular with the kids these days. The clip is very short, but it does showcase some pretty nifty maneuvers for Dante. We like the upside down, spiraling double guns in particular. Check out the video and a new gallery after the break.

EA take a new approach with their sport games

EA, at times, can be exceptionally frustrating. Mass-producing their below-average games, it’s annoying that they dominate the gaming world as much as they do. This is particularly true of the sport genre. Buying up every licence under the sun, EA make it impossible for other companies to produce games with real player names, and they never do anything different with the their sports titles that play the same year in, year out. Finally though, there is hope. With a new trick that plans to synchronise real-life events with the game, it could change the whole way we play sport games.

EA have signed a new partnership with US broadcaster ESPN, it will allow EA to incorporate real-life events into their games. This will naturally work via a high-speed internet connection. The reaction has been mixed at this news, but let’s explain how it works first.

Starting in the next iteration of their American Football game, Madden NFL 08, the new technology will mean that should Matt Cassel break his leg in a real-life game for the New England Patriots, it will render the player within the game unusable until he returns to the field of play in real-life.

Similarly, if a Baseball player is hitting home runs left right and centre in real-life, within EA’s MLB games, that same player may receive a statistic boost for a few weeks in the game, meaning that the player in question will be fantastic for a short while.

It’s an interesting idea and certainly something different. However critics have suggested that merging the fantasy world with the real world could cause problems. David Walsh, a psychologist and president of the National Institute on Media and the Family said:

“For many people, that’s going to be very exciting. For some other people, it could become addictive and can have the same harmful effects that other addictions have.”

Whether this has any worth is up to the individual playing the game, but if Jack Thompson were righting this post he would naturally suggest that this could have detrimental affects on the children playing the game. ESPN have stated that they hope it will mean gamers won’t have to turn on the TV to find out the sports news; it will be directly fed to the gamer in-game.

Unfortunately, this may come at a price to gamers. EA have said that they are not currently sure whether it will affect the price of the games. Currently running at $60/£40, such an innovation may warrant a hike in price, which could annoy those not interested in the feature, or those without a broadband connection.

It remains to be seen how gamers react to this news, especially if it forces a rise in the price of EA games. There’s a limit of how much people will pay for a game, and EA don’t want to push out fans of their games. Hopefully this will be an optional feature, or a bonus addition, so those that want just the game can have just the game. Come on EA, you’ve shown you can innovate, now show you can be reasonable with it.

Kill Kenny with custom South Park Forza 2 car

Forza 2 allows aspiring artists to go crazy on their cars with numerous customization options and photoshop'esque layers. And Zonks took full advantage of the customization features by creating a South Park car featuring our favorite four kids from Denver. It's very well done indeed.

We know Forza 2 has only been out for a few days, but we'd like to see how you've customized your racer. Have you gone old school and added some flames? Or did you decorate it based on some sort of theme? We'd like to see your customized car creations, so we'll sit in a circle and have a little show and tell session. Okay, now you go first.

First Guitar Hero III footage hits the net

Word on the tubes is that these videos (one above, one past the break) are for the Xbox 360 version of the game, but they still exhibit some of the changes the franchise has received and showcase two of the new confirmed songs in Weezer's "My Name is Jonas" and Foghat's "Slow Ride." These changes include a revamped HUD, new chain gauge telling you how many notes you hit in a row and a series of lights replacing the old Star Power meter.

Gears of War book sighted online

"Besides eating and sleeping (and the dreaded 'working'), you have to do something between gaming sessions. What better way to utilize this dead space than to read books about video games? If Gears of War is your thing, you're in luck, because It looks like a Gears of War book is in the works. We've found it listed at several retailers, including Wal-Mart. Assuming the listing is correct, the book is being written by game history guru, Steven Kent, most famous to gamers for his book, The Ultimate History of Video Games. Clocking in at 352 pages, the book is slated for an August release from Del Ray. We're assuming the title, Gears of War 1, is only a placeholder (it had better be)."