Volume 79 -- Feb. 15, 2008
Forza Motorsport 2 Goes Pro...
By: Che Chou, Community Manager
Hey everybody, hope the week was as productive for all of you out there as it was here at Turn 10. As you may have noticed from the press releease, our blog post earlier this week, the ad on the front page, as well as the plug on the "Inside Xbox" dashboard newsletter today, a big deal is being made out of the partnership between The Championship Gaming Series and Forza Motorsport 2. Let me tell you why. Those of you who play the game on a regular basis know that Forza 2 is, if nothing else, a game of great skill and patience. Our realistic physics system and tire simulation model forces players to consider all manner of strategic factors.
By that token, I'm also very proud to admit that the Forzamotorsport.net community has probably the majority of the fastest Forza 2 players in the world. So in talking to the folks from CGS, everything just clicked. What they saw in Forza 2 was a great sandbox for showing off the purity of driving skills and team strategy, while, for Turn 10, we saw a way to elevate the competition in our community to the next level by giving our players the opportunity to "go pro".
Here are all the details you need for the chance to land yourselves fat contracts with the CGS who pay good money for winners and losers alike. Read on...
The CGS/FM.net Combine and Draft Invitational
So what's the deal?
The Championship Gaming Series has selected Forza Motorsport 2 as its official racing game. Their 2008 season is about to kick off, so now is when the general managers of the six CGS teams are looking to recruit new blood to own the Forza 2 competition. Forzamotorsport.net is helping the CGS narrow the field and identify who the best players are in our community by holding a very special and competitive Hot Lap Challenge on Xbox Live for the next 7 days.
Where is the North America Region Combine and Draft?
The Combine and Draft will be hosted in the ScreenBurn Arcasde at the South by Southwest Interactive Festival at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas.
When is the North America Region Combine and Draft?
Participants should check in at the event on Friday, March 7, 2008, beginning at 11AM CST. More information on the specific location of participant check-in will be provided in the Event Packet, to be distributed to all registered attendees prior to the event. Participant travel arrangements should include the flexibility to stay in Austin through Monday, March 10, 2008, since drafted players will be required to take part in orientation and other follow-up activities until approximately 12:00 PM that day.
I wanna go pro! So how do I get involved?
Simply head over to your Forza 2 in-game tournament section (yes, in the game) and look for the qualifying server "CGS Qualification - Forzamotorsport.net for info". This particular hot lap challenge involves running a stock Mugen-tuned Honda Integra Type-R on Laguna Seca, with no assist restrictions. Because this is a low-powered, FWD, stock car race on a technical track, the times are going to be very close, and the overall field very competitive. You have 7 days to climb the leaderboard and put in your best lap times.
Who gets chosen to go to Austin, TX for the CGS Combine and Draft event?
Here's how it works. The CGS held open online registration for their draft event at the South by Southwest Interactive festival starting 3/7/08 earlier this week. Thanks to all of your interest out there, online registration is full and closed. However, if you're able to be in the top 4 slots on the leaderboard by 11:00AM, next Friday (2/22/08), you are not only guaranteed registration to the combine and draft event, but you will also receive a $1000 reimbursement voucher for travel costs upon arrival at the CGS registration desk at the Austin Convention Center on 3/7.
Yes, there are currently only 4 slots open for registration and reimbursement, which will make this hot lap challenge one of the most competitive and heated qualification rounds in the history of the game. Yup, this will bring out some of the fastest C-class stock car racing we've ever seen on Laguna Seca. We also know that 4 slots is extremely limited, so I'm currently in talks with the CGS folks to expand the invitations out to an additional 64 entrants, which would mean that if you're in the top 64 slots on the leaderboard, there's a good chance you could be invited out to Austin, TX to show off your skills as well.
Who can participate in the CGS Combine and Draft event?
All participants must first meet certain eligibility requirements before being able to participate in the Combine and Draft. Those requirements include:
- A player must be 18 years old or older on March 7, 2008. All players will be required to present government-issued identification for age verification.
- A player must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States or Canada.
- A player must have no criminal convictions and must not have undertaken any past act or conduct which could negatively impact the reputation of CGS.
- A player must be available to sign an exclusive services agreement with CGS without potential for that agreement to violate or conflict with any other agreement into which the player has entered.
For all rules and regulations, visit the CGS website and FAQ.
So what actually takes place at one of these Combine and Draft events? You'll be facing off in random races with pick-up strangers who have also made it out there on their own dime for a chance to get drafted to one of the six teams. The teams themselves are comprised of 10 players each -- half the team consists of Counter-Strike players, then it's 2 players for Dead or Alive 4, 1 player for FIFA, and a 2 person team for Forza 2. All in all, a total of 12 Forza 2 players will get picked for the draft, and it really all depends on how well you do out there at the event, and how you've managed to impress the team managers.
Good luck, and godspeed. We will be watching the CGS leaderboard challenge closely this weekend and all next week to see who will be the top 4 -- and let you guys know the instant we find out that the CGS has opened up the combine and draft registration to the top 64 players.
2003 Honda S2000 by: hira - S2000 Drifting Photomode Comp.
In case the CGS qualifications is too hardcore for you, or just too much of a personal commitment, I'm happy to announce that there is another cool Forza 2 tournament in the works. We've been working with Gamespot.com on helping them fine tune their own Forza 2 online tournament, the registration of which began this afternoon. For full rules and details, head over to Gamespot and check out their official tourney page. There's plenty of prizing on the line, and Buttkicker has graciously offered some awesome kits for random audience gifting as well! Be sure to head over there, register at Gamespot.com and grab all the details.
Turn 10's Car of the Week: The VW Rabbit GTI - Cooler than your Vuarnets.
As always, don't forget to visit our latest Turn 10 Car of the Week article in our blog section, where we discuss our favorite cars (of all types) and invite you to jump into the fray. This week, our sentimental friend and car lover J. Mason waxes about his first love, the Volkswagen Rabbit GTI. Is this the hothatch that started it all? Did you used to drive a Rabbit yourself? Sound off in our blog and let's hear it. Next up, Landin checks in with one of his buddies who actually lived the life of a pro gamer in the CGS last year. His team came in second and his buddy was the PGR3 expert. Very cool stories, interesting lifestyle, and definitely worth a read. So keep on keepin' on folks... ciao!
2000 Nissan Silvia Spec-R by: ForZaJunkee - FC Photomode Comp.
The Life of a Pro Gamer.
By: Landin Williams, Community Moderator
It’s CGS week here at Turn 10, and we are all very excited to see how it all goes down. I hope to see some familiar faces running in the 2008 season, and wish you all the best of luck in the qualification round! Considering we are talking about CGS this week, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to chat with one of my good buddies from back in my PGR3 days, who just so happens to be a professional gamer for the
CGS team Carolina Core, and one of the fastest dudes to ever pick up an Xbox 360 controller. Joe Tackett aka “R1R Phantom” not only participated in the 2007 CGS season, but placed second in the overall World Championship, securing well over 100,000 dollars for him and his teammates. This is an incredible achievement for his first season as a professional gamer, and considering all of the hype and excitement surrounding the 2008 season I wanted to find out more details about his exciting career. Having a chance to talk about his experiences really gave me a glimpse into the life of a pro gamer.
1999 Toyota GT-ONE by: DaggetDagnabbit - FC Photomode Comp.
So the big question is how does this all begin? What needs to happen for someone to cross the threshold from an average household videogame fanatic, to a professional athlete? I think it is safe to say that almost every gamer in the world dreams about playing games for a living, and Joe is living that dream.
“My career started just like any other normal player,” says Tackett. “I played for fun and mainly for the love of anything car related, but my competitive edge quickly pointed me into serious competitions online and at lan events. I attended events for WSVG, WCG, and the holy grail of tournament gaming, the CGS.”
I can attest to Joe’s competitive edge, as even when we were challenging each other for fun on the PGR3 scoreboards he would never spare me even a hundredth of a second. With so much talent and a commitment to being one of the best, it is no surprise that he is now playing games at a professional level.
And when you consider what it means to be a professional gamer, it is easy to assume that winning is all about individual skill and performance; however when speaking with Joe it became apparent that it is not only about you as an individual, but it is about working together as a team.
“It takes more than just raw speed to win,” Joe tells me. “As it's been proven race after race. You need to establish good teamwork in order to be successful.” Since the Forza races in the CGS will be in the 2 vs. 2 format, having good teamwork is an essential part to being successful in the CGS. And as with any professional sport there is also the element of creating winning strategies to defeat your opponents. Creating a winning strategy is one thing, however, executing that strategy is not always as easy as you may think.
2003 Honda S2000 by: Punesack - S2000 Drifting Photomode Comp.
The CGS is such a monstrous event that the pressure builds up quickly, as do the stakes. You are competing on a huge stage in a televised event that reached approximately 100,000,000 homes across the world in 2007! If that isn’t enough to rattle your cage you are also fighting for a huge salary that only grows bigger as you win events.
With the current CGS tournament structure every signed player starts with a base salary of $30,000. When you win events, you win even more money on top of your base salary. With so much on the line I was really interested to find out how Joe is able to deal with all the pressure.
“The stage is a different world,” he explains. “There are lights, tons of cameras, a live audience, general managers over your shoulder, six figure salaries on the line, and all of your friends and family watching on TV. All of this can drastically affect a person’s ability to compete. I have seen people absolutely crumble under the pressure and I have seen it make stars,” says Tackett.
And when he says “stars”, he means it. All of the CGS competitors are treated like royalty when they are flown all around the world to compete in various events. The life of a pro gamer is not only exciting and rewarding, but apparently it is pretty luxurious as well. “The way we are treated is rock star status. All flights, living arrangements, and transportation is completely taken care of. The fans are amazing and treat us like movie stars. It really is an incredible experience every time we compete.”
It is pretty obvious that this sort of a career is an amazing opportunity for anyone who has ever enjoyed gaming, and is something that can easily lead to other doors opening in the gaming or entertainment industry. Joe has already experienced features in advertisements, multiple television interviews and coverage at the many CGS events.
With all of these experiences I was curious to know what Joe considers to be the best memory of the 2007 season. “That is a hard one to answer as there have been so many memorable moments, but if I had to pick one it would be our semi-final race against the Berlin team.” He continues: “It came down to the last game of the night, which was PGR3. That race was one of the most tense moments of my gaming career, because it not only put us into the world finals and won us a huge amount of money but it came down the last corner of the last lap.”
Hmm. Sounds a bit like what Risi Competizione's Jaime Melo went through in real-life racing during last year's 12 Hours of Sebring in the American Le Mans Series. Now Joe didn’t go into any specific details regarding the race, because he wants everyone to go and watch it for themselves. The race described by Joe is located near the end of the video, however all of the matches are very intense and definitely worth a look!
Here we see Mr. Tackett deep in thought before an upcoming battle
So before closing out the interview with Mr. Phantom, I asked him if he had any advice for new players looking to get involved in the series. He explained how it is not an easy task especially when you consider the number of talented players that will be rolling over from PGR3 to Forza 2.
According to Joe, the best way to approach the CGS is to be open minded and to learn from the players who are currently involved in these events. In simple terms, Joe says “Being humble is the first step in order to grow.” And with that last bit of wisdom for all fellow gamers he vanished into the night, eager to tackle Forza 2 in what is most likely going to be the beginning of an intensive Forza 2 training camp. When it all boils down to it, being a master at video games is what being a professional gamer is all about.
I want to send a big shout out to Joe for taking the time to talk about his experience with the CGS, and also a shout out to the entire crew playing for the Carolina Core! We wish you all the best in the 2008 CGS Season. For more information about the Carolina Core, visit their website here. Also make sure to check out Rank One Racing's website here. R1R is a very well known and talented racing team on PGR3 and PGR4 that will soon return to the realm of Forza Motorsport 2, with R1R Phantom leading the way.
2004 Mazda RX-8 by: Little Vixen and Abner Ray Jay - Fantasy Comp.
The Forza Motorsport 2 Community Updates
So with so much hype regarding the CGS we have decided to delay the final round in the Hotlap Series, partly because we want everyone to focus on the CGS qualifications without having to worry about another event. This means we will continue where we left off next Friday once the CGS qualification has ended. As mentioned earlier the CGS qualification is only open to players in North America, and as a result we have created a special Hotlap challenge for our friends in Europe, so make sure to check the in-game tournament option for details on this race. We are putting up 15 Million Credits for 1st, 10 Million for 2nd and 5 Million for 3rd, so there should be a good reason for everyone to participate! As always the top 10 will also receive a free gift car of choice, so if you live in Europe make sure you run the challenge!
Week 4 of the Hotlap Challenge has recently been completed and the points from week 3 are official. Racing to Perfection has moved into an even more dominant position with a 323 point buffer zone separating them from the 2nd place team the Italian Pro Racers. With such a big margin it is going to be difficult for IPR to catch up with week 4 already completed. We will be posting the point totals on Monday, but for now here is how things went down in week 4. You all know the deal, so get us your car requests over the weekend.
2006 Dodge Challenger Concept by: POOPFRUIT1306 - Fantasy Comp.
Hotlap Series Week 21 Top 10 (Series Week 4)
1 R2P KimiMatt
2 DBP Lemon
3 TRC Scooty
4 SqR LukeJS
5 MEF1ST0
6 IPR TurbONE AbS
7 IPR BackBone
8 SqR Parabolica
9 RBR In Ya Chops
10 Gator300
Click here to see if you have been selected as one of the Random 30 from Week 22!
I wanted to take a quick moment to mention our Team Seattle Replica Livery contest. We have received all of the submissions are are currently in the process of judging the finalists with the help of our good friends over at MSN Autos. We will be announcing the grand prize winners next Friday, so stay tuned to find out who's car not only looks the best, but also drives the best! Alright before I dash for the weekend here are a few other community events that everyone should check out over the weekend.
Cyber Racing World Championship - Mugello Race Video:
The CRWC has completed another great video showing off the second race in there series on Mugello. This is another great video broadcast that features some close racing, so I encourage everyone to check it out here.
ETCC – Final Race from Season 3 happening Sunday Feb 17th
The ETCC is holding the final race of season 3 this weekend, and it looks like the IFCA Racing Champion R2P CoNCepT is going to walk home with a win. For all the details regarding the ETCC and for information regarding how to participate check out their forums here.
2000 Nissan Silvia Spec-R by: SD Kami sama - FC Photomode Comp.
Wow what a report this week. There is always so much happening on our forums so make sure to browse around and find a sub-culture within our community that suits you best! If you have any questions, concerns, ideas, or a story for the next Community Update make sure to send off an e-mail to forzafb@microsoft.com!
Enjoy the weekend and thanks for reading!
Peace
Landin