Xbox Gaming in South Africa

I'll admit to having had pangs of jealousy when it was revealed that the Top Gear test track would be making an appearance in the upcoming Gran Turismo 5, but I'm totally over that now. Why? Because Microsoft has announced that, starting almost right away, the Forza Motorsport franchise and BBC's Top Gear will be teaming up for a long term collaboration, integrating the Top Gear brand into future Forza releases for the duration of the partnership.

The collaboration kicks off this month with the release of Forza Motorsport 3 Ultimate Collection, which will include the following exclusive Top Gear content:

• Stig's Garage Car Pack, featuring the The Koenigsegg CCX, Lexus LFA, and Mercedes Benz SLS-AMG.
• 90-minute Top Gear video featuring your favourite three petrol heads, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, doing what they do best.
• Top Gear Xbox 360 dashboard theme

That's a good start for Top Gear fans, but the parties involved assure us that this is just the beginning:

“Bringing together Top Gear and Forza Motorsport is a natural fit,” said Dan Greenawalt, franchise director at Forza developer Turn 10. “Top Gear is all about automotive passion and playing around with cars which is exactly what we deliver with Forza Motorsport games. We are looking forward to collaborating with their team to bring some of what they do so well on television to our game design process.”

Andy Wilman, creative director at Top Gear, added, "It's incredibly exciting to be teaming up with such a big name game, I fear we'll have to be a bit more ambitious and a bit less rubbish when dealing with these chaps."

Forza 3 Ultimate Collection will be on store shelves starting 29 October in the UK, with a South African release date still to be confirmed.