Latest news with #ForzaHorizon5
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Get Ready to Drool: Our Favorite 5 Supercars from the Exclusive Super Sunday
If you're an automotive enthusiast in the Sacramento area, you've likely heard about Super Sunday. This yearly private event hosted by the 9sixteenexotics group is exclusive to media and supercar owners, and yours truly happened to qualify. To say that Super Sunday brings out the best rides around would be an understatement, so I'm instead going to show you five of what I consider to be the finest examples at this year's showing from a field of over 150 cars, in no particular order. Buckle up and hold your jaw, trust me on this one. You might be familiar with the Noble M400 thanks to video games like Forza Horizon 5, but seeing one in person is the kind of event you won't soon forget. English automaker Noble only made 75 examples of the M400 from 2006 to 2007, making it as rare as it is damn sexy. Using Ford's 3.0 L DOHC Duratec V6 engine with special forged pistons, an oil cooler, a larger baffled oil sump, and extra cooling ducts, the M400 makes 425 hp with a top speed of 187 mph. The interior is as barebones as you can get, but hey, it still has AC, so your top speed runs can be done in style AND comfort. One of our local collectors, Bob (@1slocrx), blessed us with the presence of his Pagani Zonda F. Named after famed Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio, the Zonda F featured an even more powerful 7.3 L Mercedes-AMG M297 V12 engine which, thanks to enhanced intake manifolds, a new exhaust, and a revised ECU, made 594 hp and 561 lb⋅ft of torque through a stronger transmission and differential. Only 25 of these full carbon fiber beauties were ever produced, giving the already impressive Zonda an extra layer of *pizzazz*. Imagine if a classic air-cooled Porsche 911 were brought into the 21st century and carried a $2 million price tag: that's the Singer 911 DLS or "Dynamics and Lightweighting Study." Apart from a gorgeous brown leather and carbon fiber interior, this modern reimagining is finished in a stunning shade of green with a menacing widebody stance, revised lights and turn signals, and a 4.0L flat-six engine that revs to 9,000 rpm. Word around down is that with options and all, this particular example, owned by local collector Jeff Miller (@fjmiller), cost somewhere around $3 million. This thing is so glorious, it might get its own article in the near future! This is the first time I've seen a 12Cilindri in person outside of Monterey Car Week, and I was equally as stunned. Ferrari's latest 12-cylinder marvel sports 819 hp and 500 lb-ft of torque to go along with its svelte, low-slung silhouette. The long nose houses semi-disguised headlights within a black accent stripe, while the short rear deck showcases slim taillights and a rear window that extends into a similar black accent bar. The Maranello-based automaker is still knocking it out of the park with its new models, and we couldn't be more over the moon. The second iteration of the first-generation Dodge Viper, otherwise known as the Viper GTS, is probably the one you grew up with in Need for Speed. Its screaming 8-liter Viper V10 made 450 hp in GTS guise, complete with airbags for the first time in the model's history. This particular silver example was outstandingly clean and a welcome breath of fresh air among the modern supercars surrounding it. The Viper will forever keep its place as one of the most outrageous and outstanding American supercars, and if Dodge ever decides to revive it, the automotive world would likely implode. Huge shout-out to Brian and the rest of the team at 9sixteenexotics for putting on such an astounding showing every year. If you're involved in the automotive scene in any way, I encourage you to seek out these kinds of private shows in your area. You never know the marvels you'll see! Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Tom's Guide
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Tom's Guide
Exclusive: I got early access to the best sim racing rig of 2025 — but it's so early I can't even tell you what it's called
Asetek is launching its first ever value sim racing rig to support consoles, and I'm the first person on the planet to tell you all about how it drives — months before its release. As the sim racing guy, I can always sniff out a good chance to race at any press event I go to, and Computex 2025 is no different. But even I didn't expect to come across something like this — especially given the fact it technically isn't coming out for months. Asetek is a brand more well-known for creating the best of the best for pro racers at a big price. But hiding in plain sight amongst the booth is a rather nice premium-feeling, hefty sim rig for passers by to jump on and try. What you don't know, though, is that this is Asetek giving its brand new entry a test drive before unleashing it on the public. Even better? It's a value sim bundle with a shockingly good price that packs console support. Let's talk about it, but first a heads up. Out of caution, we're blurring the wheel itself so you don't know what it's called! The truth is I know more details about this wheel than I'm letting on — that's the deal with a job like this. But you've got to play the game and work your way around the limitations put in place. I have to be indirect in what I say here… got it? So to navigate around the minefield and find a balance between telling you all about it while not messing up some poor PR team's campaign (as someone who's worked in PR in the past, I feel your pain), here are just some things that could be true about it: Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. You got all that? Good! Let's take it out for a spin on Forza Horizon 5. Starting with the rig itself, the use of metal keeps a nice rigidity to it all, while the seat has a great plush cushioning that you sink into nicely — sure to keep me comfy for those longer endurance races. And then you start to drive. The wheel itself has a great feel to it — packing that trademark wallop of direct drive force feedback, but also offering up those small granular details to help you indicate oversteer and the surface on which you're driving. Based on having a feel of all the elements, there's a plastic construction to the wheel and pedal base, but nothing that feels cheap at all. While Forza Horizon is not really a game that relies on intricate controls, all the buttons and dials on the face of the wheel are placed nicely within a thumb's reach to adjust key controls on more complex race cars. Meanwhile, the pedals feel satisfyingly weighty under the feet. The brake pedal has a nice load cell sensation to it, with a realistic increase in resistive pressure as you push harder. That is sure to help you nail the small percentages for trail braking around more complex corners. Throw in some nice tactile paddle shifters, expandability for hand clutches and a versatile modular build for you to upgrade key elements over time as you become more of a seasoned sim racing veteran, and this is a seriously slick package. Not a total revolution in driving accuracy like more expensive solutions, but more than enough given the value its aiming at. But here's the kicker. I was here thinking this was a solid mid-range direct drive wheel to get you into the sim racing scene, and that's when I was told by Asetek that the plan is to sell the whole thing (wheel, wheel base, pedals and the seat to connect it all to) for $1,000. Yes, that's still four figures, but to get something equivalent to the accuracy of simulation and build quality would cost you at least twice that — and that's before even thinking about the racing seat. And with this ticking all my boxes, it's easily become my personal favorite discovery at Computex. Everything you'd find for vastly more, but for much less than you expect. Sim racing has a huge gap in the mid-range, as people are normally starting with a beginners toy wheel like the Logitech G29 — only to then have to reinvest a ton of money when it's not enough. To be able to get everything at the same time for a price like this is a seriously good long-term investment... Well, it could be. We're not supposed to talk about this so keep it to yourself!
Khaleej Times
20-05-2025
- Automotive
- Khaleej Times
Is 'Forza Horizon 5' on PS5 worth it? Full review, graphics, and gameplay breakdown
The roar of the engine, the blur of the landscape, the meditative art of drifting through winding roads — Forza Horizon 5 is no longer just a crown jewel of Xbox's racing lineage. As of April 29, this award-winning open-world racing epic is finally available on PlayStation 5, and the wait has been worth every rev of the engine. Having experienced Forza Horizon 5 originally on Xbox, I was curious to see how it would fare on PlayStation 5 (I play on the digital slim version). In short: it's glorious. Whether you're speeding past towns or cruising along Mexico's sun-drenched coastlines, the visuals are nothing short of breathtaking. It runs at a silky-smooth 60fps. The PS5 port isn't just a simple transplant—it arrives with the Horizon Realms update and includes all the core campaign content, both massive DLCs (Hot Wheels and Rally Adventure), and the iconic ever-evolving Mexican landscape that's made the game a genre-defining masterpiece. The zen of the open road There's something hypnotic about driving in Forza Horizon 5. The world is vast, vibrant, and at times, oddly peaceful. Cruising along mountain roads or skimming across desert sandscapes feels less like gaming and more like therapy. The lack of traffic or real obstacles when free-roaming may bother some purists seeking challenge, but for others (myself included), it only enhances the sense of boundless freedom. Drifting for points, executing near misses, and launching off cliffs becomes its own kind of meditation. The car is your canvas The game offers many cars to unlock, collect, and, of course, race. From hypercars to rally beasts, the garage is a gearhead's dream. While the customisation options are robust, there's still a sense that Playground Games could have pushed things a bit further. Compared to other sim-lite racers or full-on car builders, there's room for more granular detail in body kits, liveries, and tuning presets. Still, hopping into a new car, tweaking it to your liking, and blasting across the open world never gets old. The storytelling? Let's be clear — no one comes to Forza Horizon 5 for a rich, narrative-driven experience. The campaign, while expansive and featuring new additions like Expeditions and showcase events, doesn't exactly shift into fifth gear emotionally. It's serviceable and sometimes even charming, but its real value lies in unlocking new areas and events rather than telling a compelling story. That said, some missions that introduce you to lesser-known cars or celebrate automotive history are genuinely engaging. It's moments like these — where gameplay and education meet — that make the campaign worthwhile. It's almost like how Assassin's Creed educates us on major historic events and characters. I just had to make that reference; I still haven't finished AC Shadows. Horizon Realms & the new Stadium Circuit The Horizon Realms update brings a curated mix of community-favorite environments back into the fold, capped off with the brand-new Stadium Track. This permanent addition adds a fresh layer of speed-centric design and tight racing turns that cater to players who thrive in structured, competitive environments. Whether you're revisiting familiar ground or burning rubber on the new Horizon Stadium Circuit, the Realms update feels like a thoughtful expansion rather than just recycled content. Final Verdict After years of being a flagship Xbox experience, Forza Horizon 5 on PlayStation 5 finally hands the keys over to a whole new set of drivers — and what a joyride it is. With the full suite of DLCs, seasonal content, and the Realms update baked in, this is not a watered-down port. It's Forza in all its unrestrained glory. It is a high-octane love letter to car culture, open-world exploration, and technical brilliance. It's not perfect, (hardly anything is) — the story mode lacks real weight, and customisation could be deeper — but it delivers an exhilarating, gorgeous, and deeply addictive racing experience that few games can match. Safe to say, PlayStation users won't have to turn only to Gran Turismo for a little racing adrenaline. So buckle up. Mexico awaits.
Top Gear
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Top Gear
The secrets behind a Forza Horizon world map: Playground Games spills all
Gaming The open world racing developer has a unique talent for building worlds - here's how Skip 8 photos in the image carousel and continue reading November 2021. Nearly two years after the coronavirus pandemic began, the general public has adjusted to a very different pace of life in which their bins go out more often than they do. We're all thoroughly sick of banana bread and Joe Wicks YouTube workout sessions. We did pub quizzes every Friday on Zoom for a bit, until our whole family fell out over the scoring. It's been a long time since we went anywhere exotic, so Google Maps has become our favourite source of entertainment. And then it arrives: Forza Horizon 5 's verdant, sun-kissed Mexico. The automotive holiday destination we were all so desperately in need of, delivered by a game developer with a singular knack for condensing vast and varied areas into one remarkable vehicular round trip. Advertisement - Page continues below As Forza Horizon 5 makes its way to PS5 with all the post-launch content bells and whistles it's amassed since those covid days, lead game designer David Orton and art director Don Arceta have a moment to reflect on a place they created where over 45 million players have since visited. And maybe even share the recipe for the studio's secret sauce. ' It is like the ultimate magic trick,' says Arceta. 'Whenever we approach selecting a location, it's a big process. It's almost like choosing a location for the Olympics.' You might like There are few factors to consider before the team sticks a pin on a map and starts modelling either palm trees or icicles: 'Are there iconic roads that you experience in different in a particular country? Is there a new ecosystem or biome [to the series] there? What is the car culture like in that country? What seasons do they have? What unique weather do they have?' Over the course of five games, the regions which ticked those boxes have been southern France in Horizon 's 2012 series debut, then Colorado in the 2014 sequel. Things seem to dial up a notch or two for Horizon 3 's depiction of Australia in 2016, though. Not only was the game engine capable of humbling just about every other competitor for vehicle and scenery fidelity, it also built a heck of a world map. Advertisement - Page continues below One round trip around the outer perimeter of the environment takes about 10 minutes. In that time, you transition from beach to sleepy surf town to dense rainforest, out into the sun-beaten red soil of the outback, back into the jungle, and then into a massive urban conurbation complete with Skyscrapers and precariously placed al fresco dining. It shouldn't make any sense at all - you're probably covering an area equivalent to the A19 ring road around York, but the layout is designed to let you suspend your disbelief and enjoy an epic adventure. With the addition of a changing seasons mechanic in 2019's Horizon 4 , the United Kingdom provided a perfect venue. Here, if anywhere, it makes sense that the roads would be under blue skies one week, and sheet ice the week after. Horizon 4 packed an incredible variation of country lanes, motorways, quaint villages and big cities into its map, so the bar was set very high for the fifth game. In the end, it all came down to a Volkswagen Beetle. ' We eventually work it down to a short list of about five locations,' says Arceta. And ultimately choice five was Mexico. It was the diversity there that really sold us. And there's a cultural element which we didn't really dig into in past Horizon games, so we leaned into that with our Vocho stories.' The Beetle occupies a unique place in Mexican culture, ubiquitous in both its factory floors and roads since the early Sixties, and subsequently customised for every possible discipline, surface, and purpose. That gave Playground a unique hook. A set of driving missions in its Vocho Stories that would only make sense in this one particular setting. Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. Look out for your regular round-up of news, reviews and offers in your inbox. Get all the latest news, reviews and exclusives, direct to your inbox. ' When we're having these discussions,' says Orton, 'it's really inspiring the design team what kind of experiences from a gameplay perspective we can put into it. 'So with Mexico being so diverse that led to this campaign about expeditions where you go to these areas and you set up festival outposts in these different regions, that campaign drive to go and experience the diversity of this map.' It's a process that goes deeper than identifying places that look pretty and have roads, then. It's striking that Playground works art first, and uses the characteristics of that area to inform gameplay. 'We are looking at it definitely from an art perspective,' says Orton. "And then that gives us energy and we start brainstorming: 'Okay, well there's this new region that we've never had before. What could we do there?' And then away we go. You get a small idea and then suddenly you're making a campaign.' There are technical aspects to consider too. As their game engine evolves and unlocks the potential to render scenery, lighting or weather in new ways, the team looks for opportunities there. The volumetric lighting and particle technology levelled up a lot for Forza Horizon 5 , which gave Arceta and the team the chance to add spectacular dust storms to the mix of weather events. Of course, Google Maps will only get you so far. At some point, you have to put the reference books down and go out on a field trip. The pandemic made that harder than usual for Playground during Horizon 5 's development, but where possible the team did visit Mexico to capture photography and experiences that would inform the art, design and open world map. The ultimate barometer for whether the team has succeeded in building their take on a location is whether players just drive around without an objective. Which of course is a core activity in Horizon 5 's Mexico, and something that Orton, Arceta and the wider team see as strong evidence that their hard work paid off. Four years later, the allure of Mexico's roads hasn't dulled. It's going to be tough to top that location in subsequent games. Then again, they say that at the end of every Olympics too, don't they?
Forbes
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Playing Xbox's ‘Forza Horizon 5' On PS5 Has Me Questioning Everything
Forza Horizon 5 I started gaming seriously during a time when you were either a Sega kid or a Nintendo kid, full stop. NES or Master System. Genesis or SNES. Blood code Mortal Kombat or 'E for Everyone' sweat. There was no in-between, because nobody I knew owned both consoles, and on the playground, you had to choose sides. The console war was serious as blowing into cartridges or renting games from Blockbuster on Fridays, and we were the willing, passionate soldiers. No conscription here, only the voluntary battle of Yoshi's Cookie versus Altered Beast. Hell, even later on, when I acquired a PlayStation in 1995, I had routine (and playful, admittedly) disagreements with an acquaintance at school about what current console was superior. He'd gotten a 3DO the year prior, and we know how that ultimately turned out, but it was fun verbally sparring over games of kickball. Hey, at least the 3DO had Gex as a timed exclusive, and don't forget the enduring classic Plumbers Don't Wear Ties. My point is, for as long as I've been playing video games, such platform tribalism has existed. Whether or not you think this is a healthy or productive use of people's time is up to you, but us humans do tend to turn literally everything into exclusionary competition, and we sure love to 'other' the humans who aren't in our tribe. Forza Horizon 5 It's imperative that we fight against this dark urge, in my opinion, and as of very recently, Microsoft has leaned into ending the long-standing console war for good. A peace treaty, if you will. Is it out of altruism? Nah. It's out of sheer survival, probably. FEATURED | Frase ByForbes™ Unscramble The Anagram To Reveal The Phrase Pinpoint By Linkedin Guess The Category Queens By Linkedin Crown Each Region Crossclimb By Linkedin Unlock A Trivia Ladder I heard Colin Moriarty comment once, and I think it was in an episode of his podcast Constellation, that maybe Xbox has inadvertently fallen into an advantageous and possibly future-proof position by, well, failing in some sense. I'm inclined to agree. Following slowing hardware sales and a move into cross-platform publishing, Xbox games have slowly started to trickle onto the other guys' machines, namely PlayStation, and it seems like a glimpse of gaming's inevitable future. Huge and previously Xbox-exclusive properties like Minecraft, Sea of Thieves and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are now playable on PS5, as well as Doom: The Dark Ages, Oblivion Remastered and Forza Horizon 5. The excellent South of Midnight hasn't hit PS5 just yet, but I'm sure it's on the way, given Microsoft's no-boundaries 'This is an Xbox' publishing strategy. Then there's Gears of War: Reloaded, a remastered port of the original 2006 game, which is coming to PS5 in late summer of this year. Halo, arguably the ultimate Xbox IP, can't be far behind. Forza Horizon 5 I've been playing a good deal of Xbox racer Forza Horizon 5 on PS5, and boy was it a strange feeling logging into my Microsoft account through the PlayStation Network. But also, it felt like… it's about damn time. We're finally reaching a point wherein it doesn't matter which arbitrary box you're playing a particular game on. All that matters is that you're playing the game, and that's a really beautiful thing. Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 is essentially the same experience it was (and is) on Xbox hardware and PC, which is to say you've got a premium racing game to blast through, packed with an insane amount of content to explore, including cool Hot Wheels stuff. I will say that the DualSense offers some noteworthy haptic feedback in this particular version, and the resistance of the triggers adds an extra and welcome dimension to Horizon's already tight controls. Controller preference might be the only argument left when it comes to platform preference, I'd wager, and I do prefer the DualSense to the Xbox controller. But now I have a choice: I can play Forza Horizon 5 on Xbox or PlayStation or PC now, and I wouldn't be surprised if it graced Nintendo's upcoming Switch 2 at some point. The new console could certainly handle it, even if developers had to dumb down the graphics a smidge. Forza Horizon 5 Xbox's extension to PlayStation has honestly upended my outdated gaming worldview, and in the best possible way. I'd already sort of abandoned such nonsense in recent years, because the console wars were never actually real to begin with. It was all marketing, and marketing is stupid. You can quote me on that. Spread it around Twitter where the console wars are still kept alive via delusion, sadness and regressive human thinking. But back to what I said earlier, about how Xbox may have accidentally raced ahead of the pack, and what Colin said in his podcast. I do believe the future of gaming lies in platform agnosticism, and this is a huge step in that direction, hopefully. I'm sure, in ten years, we'll look back at the notion of console exclusivity, and walled-garden platforms by association, as archaic and silly. I already do, in most respects. So the fact that Xbox games are now free to land on any platform might be a harbinger of things to come, and this could give Microsoft a foundational head-start in the race toward a different future. One day, I bet, all the big gaming publishers will have their titles on most available hardware, and in most major thriving software ecosystems. The battle won't be fought with boxes anymore, but rather with art and on its merits alone, and maybe that's how it should be. Sure, hardware will still play a vital role in how we play games, and products like convenient handhelds (portable Xbox?!) will continue to exist, alongside under-TV boxes that run games. But the days of the true console wars seem numbered, and thank God. Plus, as game streaming gets better and better, the hardware itself will become less and less relevant. Forza Horizon 5 If you haven't played Horizon 5 yet, and you own a PlayStation, it's a great time to try a fantastic game. The visuals are impeccable, the open-world map is enormous and the soundtrack is very solid. We're talking Beastie Boys, The Killers, The Struts and even The Offspring, which can sometimes give the game a retro Crazy Taxi vibe. And while you're playing, know that you're participating in the evolution of an industry that continues to give us waves of amazing interactive expression, now increasingly without the annoying guardrails of exclusivity.
