Available right now for free is the 'Hyundai Genesis Coupe Car Pack' for Forza 3, and it won't cost you a single MSP, providing you're Gold.

This December 8th will see the 'Hot Holidays Car Pack' on Xbox Live, though that isn't free. It'll include 10 hot 2010 cars for 400 MSP.

EA Games' Frank Gibeau admits the publisher "failed to put adequate resources" behind the racing franchise and it suffered in quality.

Need for Speed is on the road to recovery though, with Burnout developer Criterion's take on the series expected to release sometime next year.

The collective might of the Need for Speed franchise cannot be denied as publisher EA reveals it has screeched past 100 million sales worldwide, topping $2.7 billion revenue.

EA Games' Frank Gibeau says it's "a huge honor" to have such a franchise, and thanks the millions of fans for "driving us to this milestone." Need for Speed began in '94, and now has 15 titles.

Bit of a mouthful there, but it's true. The upcoming Sega Racing Classic to hit Sega's Ringwide arcade hardware is in fact a high-def remake of racing classic Daytona USA.

These arcade machines come with a 32" HD screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, and four cabinets can link up with a billboard leader display for old skool brags. No 360/PS3 port.

Anyone caught playing ill gotten Forza Motorsport 3 or Borderlands will face a permanent ban from Xbox Live warns Microsoft's head bouncer, Stephen Toulouse.

Gamers who've managed to score a copy early, and have paid for said score, don't have anything to fear from them. Toulouse notes "if you got a receipt, play away"; others may cower.

Publisher Black Bean, along with developer Milestone, will be taking on DiRT from Codemasters as they've just inked a three-year deal for World Rally Championship.

They plan on turning it into an annual franchise with the first due in spring on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Milestone has "a lot of respect" for their rivals, will try to "match and possibly beat" them.

Oh noes! Software piracy has struck again and its latest big haul is the upcoming Xbox 360 exclusive Forza Motorsport 3, from developer Turn 10. It's leaked way ahead of launch.

The racing simulator releases on October 23rd here in Europe, but swashbuckling coves have gotten hold of a 13.39GB file saying it's the full game with extra cars and race circuits.

Tomorrow the Games on Demand service for Xbox 360 will have its latest arrival, Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV. That's one fine scoop for the digital game shop.

While Niko and Liberty City hit October 13th, Visceral Games' Dead Space and DiRT arrives the 27th. Sonic Unleashed, Midnight Club LA and Army of Two go live the 20th. Awesome.

Gran Turismo 5 and Forza Motorsport 3 will be compared, it's inevitable. Frankly us mortal gamers will have a hard time of it according to Kazunori Yamauchi and Phil Spencer.

GT's Yamauchi-san declares that number 5 looks visually "better than reality," that real life has nothing on it. Microsoft's Phil Spencer calls Forza 3 the "only racing sim" coming out this gen.

This month Forza Motorsport 3 will exclusively release on Xbox 360, and developer Turn 10 has started to spill what fans can expect to see. There's over 400 cars and 100 tracks...

Among the automobiles are "30 Ferraris, 28 iconic Porsches" and ones never seen before in a racer. They also announce 'Motorsports Legends Car Pack', some free DLC for launch.

Black Bean Games have announced that it's working on a new World Rally Championship game for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The game is being developed by Black Bean Games and its in-house studio Milestone, who brought us MotoGP and SBK Superbike.

Executive producer Gavin Raeburn has left publisher Codemasters after having successfully rebooted two racing franchises. He was "at the top" of his game.

Raeburn leaves "an incredibly talented team" behind at Codemasters that he put together. They include "key players" who will push their "racing portfolio forward." He's wished well.

The Xbox 360 doesn't reach its technical limit with Forza Motorsport 3 says developer Turn 10. "Of course not," says game director Dan Greenawalt, it's "a really powerful" platform.

You always use "100 percent" of the hardware, but as they're first-party and have "really clever" developers on staff you "learn tricks" along the way. Greenawalt likens it to Tetris.

Some blue skied artwork for Sega Racing Classic has caused fans to feel nostalgic for Daytona, Sega's old racing series that make up its arcade heritage.

Avid watchers of all things Sega spotted the very Daytona USA-like feel to the artwork. It's developed by AM2, and has all the same characteristics except for the RingWide symbol.

A bug has surfaced that caused one users Need for Speed: Shift to crash. It happened when his Xbox 360 copy of the game attempted to connect with the PlayStation Store.

Whoops. The gamer said when his "rage had subsided" from the crashes he noticed the cause, and was "pretty shocked" at his find. He noted Microsoft are "not going to be happy".

Electronic Arts has informed Strategy Informer that a demo for Need for Speed Shift will be available to download from the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace on 1st October.

Players will sample this year’s most intense authentic racing game by pushing one of four cars to its limits on the world-famous Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the tight city circuit of London River. Players that dominate each track and collect enough stars will also unlock the ultimate racing machine; the Pagani Zonda F.

The Crash Time series isn't a big contender on the Xbox 360, as its popularity in fact doesn't travel much beyond Germany. However that hasn't stopped another sequel.

Crash Time III will be burning rubber and crashing some on the tracks when it arrives for Xbox 360. Until then some screenshots of the racing action have been splashed around.

Forza Motorsport 3 and Brutal Legend demo's are now available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Click full story for more details.

Activision announced today that Blur, the upcoming racing game by Project Gotham Racing developer Bizarre Creations, has been delayed until 2010. The game was to be released in November for PS3, PC and Xbox 360.

"We are committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise, and we are very encouraged by the game's design," said Mike Griffith, President and CEO, Activision Publishing.

Exclusive to the Xbox 360, Forza Motorsport 3 arrives in the UK next month on October 23rd with Microsoft confirming it'll be accompanied. Modern Warfare 2 isn't so special after all.

Forza 3 will also be bundled with a 250GB Xbox 360, though it's unclear if it's a custom paint job. The "Super Elite Bundle" comes with 2 wireless controllers and a standard game copy.