I’ll start:
Mine all started in my college dorm room. I had a PS2 and an Xbox (the original one). Gran Turismo had just announced GT4, and Microsoft had answered with a new title, named Forza Motorsport. I was stoked! It appeared to be as good or better than GT on paper. Fewer cars, but they were all cars I cared about. The track list was spectacular as well, with original and real life tracks littering its digital media.
Being 2004, I immediately went to my local EB games with my two best college gaming buddies and we all three preordered that beast.
Gran Turismo 4 came out first; it was fun, but felt basically like Gran Turismo 3 with more cars and slightly polished graphics. Nothing special. Same old cars, same old tracks, but it did have “The Nurburgring,” this legendary track that I had heard about and played in Project Gotham Racing 2, I believe? And Forza 1 was inbound with its own version.
Release day came, and as luck would have it…I had a final or some large test… I was studying, going to the test, etc. My friends got their games, and went to town, sending me IMs over AOL Instant Messenger about how great it was. I am convinced that I could have done better on that test had Forza not been so on my mind. Long story short, the game was amazing; everything I wanted and more.
Fast forward two years: I had broken my leg a few weeks before release. I had to go back to my parents house for rehab, since no one was in the area I was currently living. My now wife, then fiancé was busy finishing college, and I was starting our life in South Carolina. I had ordered the Canadian LCE copy, having it shipped to the US. It was going to my South Carolina house and wasn’t going to arrive until several weeks after release. I did what any fan would do, and simply bought a second copy to use while I was off my feet in Massachusetts.
I began painting, tuning, etc… Anything to occupy my time and disassociate my mind with the pain in my leg. We eventually headed back to South Carolina, my fiancé (now wife) in tow, and I was still not really able to be terribly active. I delved deeper into painting, which is when I was contacted by a user, SwiftWolf 2, to join his newly formed tuning garage, SW2 Tuning. Swift, AntiYou, and myself were three of the first members of the new garage, one of the first of its kind. After GS disbanded, others took it upon themselves to start their own. We ended up with Tuning AG, Gearbox, and SW2 as the main names for the better part of a year. Others cropped up and disbanded, but for a while, SW2 was the longest running garage. I used to know the formation date, but I’ve since lost it.
What I haven’t lost is touch with Swift and Anti. Swift was not even old enough to drive when he formed SW2, but was significantly more mature than the typical board goer at that point. Since then, he has gone on to college, and has, believe it or not, actually parlayed the name SW2 Tuning into a real life tuning store.
And that logo…Anti designed that for his real store, and helped him with the graphics. I’ve helped answer some questions as well.
As for me, I now have two children. My oldest started kindergarten last week. I don’t have as much time to paint and tune anymore, but I still love it. While my Forza time has dwindled in recent years, I’ve had a number of special automotive experiences. I’ve driven every car imaginable, up to and including my father’s Porsche, my brother’s Lotus, and my own M3. I’ve done track driving, auto-crossing, and even was able to take a couple of laps of the Nurburgring. I’ve been to Petit Le Mans, Lime Rock, Baltimore, and several other racing venues, and have even taken my oldest to Lime Rock a few times. One of my favorite pictures is a photo of him standing in front of a McLaren F1 at Lime Rock, pretending to take a picture of me while I was taking one of him. He was two at the time; some go a lifetime without having the privilege of gazing upon a McLaren F1.
I had an SW2 sticker on my M3 before it was totaled by a truck in my work parking lot, and I have one on my current daily driver as well.
I have had every special edition of Forza available in North America, and will be taking next Thursday off, continuing a tradition I started with Forza 3 of making sure that I’m not in the office on a day that a Forza game is released.
I can’t wait, and I’ll see all of you on the 10th.