“Forza Motorsport 3” unites the racing game genre, making it possible for everyone to experience the thrill of the world’s most exotic and exquisite cars. Live the most realistic racing experience ever as you take the wheel of more than 400 of the most-beloved cars on over 100 renowned real-world tracks and exotic road courses from around the globe. With breathtaking high-definition graphics and the most advanced vehicle performance modeling in a video game, “Forza Motorsport 3” includes a host of driving assists and adjustable skill levels to make the game a gripping pick-up-and-play experience for audiences of all ages and skill levels.

Your escape into the world of car culture in “Forza Motorsport 3” doesn’t stop at the track. Turn 10 is a proven leader in user-generated content creation in games. “Forza Motorsport 3” further fuels the imaginations of its already thriving community of painters, tuners and photographers with improved customization tools and brand-new ways to share creations with the world via Xbox LIVE. Xbox LIVE makes your journey into the “Forza Motorsport” community and the world of user-generated content easy and fun.

A love of cars lives in all of us. “Forza Motorsport 3” is the automotive playground we’ve all been waiting for.

To celebrate the 77th 24 Hours of Le Mans, Xbox 360 has partnered with Peugeot Sport to host a press event at the Le Mans circuit together with Peugeot Sport’s top driver, Stéphane Sarrazin. The event, held in Peugeot Sport’s Hospitality at Le Raccordement announces the debut of the famed Le Mans Le Sarthe and Bugatti circuits as well as a new multi-class racing mode, all to be included in “Forza Motorsport 3”, when the game launches exclusively on Xbox 360 in October. A consultant to developer Turn 10 on the re-creation of the track for Forza Motorsport 3, Stéphane took some laps on the in-game version of LeMans with press prior to joining his Peugeot 908 teammates to prepare for Saturday’s race.

In the true spirit of motorsport, no “Forza Motorsport 3” experience is complete without the inclusion of the finely tuned and highly engineered racing machines designed by the world’s most prestigious racing teams. To that end, Xbox 360 also announces at Le Mans the first set of more than 100 race cars that will be featured in the game. For the first time in Forza Motorsport history, fans will be able to get into the cockpit of some of the world’s most famous race cars including the Peugeot Sport 908, the Audi FSI Champion Racing R8 and the Ferrari MOMO Doran Racing F333 SP. With the best graphics and most realistically performing cars in gaming, “Forza Motorsport 3’ will let racing fans worldwide live out their love of motorsport like never before.

In the U.S. this weekend, Xbox 360 and Audi North America invite motorsport fans and media to the Audi Forum New York City for a host of activities celebrating Le Mans. Among them, Xbox 360 and Audi North America are hosting the AXF-24 Audi-Forza Challenge where nine of North America’s top “Forza” drivers as determined by rankings on Xbox LIVE will compete in a simulated 24-hour endurance competition complete with regular pit stops to refuel and replenish as that challenge themselves and each other on the just debuted Le Mans Le Sarthe circuit in "Forza Motorsport 3." The competition runs concurrent to the actual race in France with gamers being split into three teams of three drivers, just like Le Mans racing teams then compete to win an all-expenses paid trip for them and a guest to the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans race hosted by Audi. Other activities for media and guests include taking their own turns on Lemans in the Forza Motorsport 3 racing pod, witness pit stop demonstrations featuring the real-world Audi R8 and R10 Le Mans race cars as well as view a live broadcast of the race from France.

Gamestop's Exclusive Forza 3 Limited Edition ($79.99) includes :

• Forza Motorsport 2GB USB Storage and keychain: Show off your Forza pride with these specially branded items.
• Forza Motorsport VIP Membership* and Exclusive Car Pack*: Want to be a top painter, tuner, driver or just more active in the community? VIP membership is the way to get yourself noticed. Includes special treatment within the online Auction House, Community Storefront and on the Forzamotorsport.net forums. Also includes 5 of the hottest cars from the roster of Forza Motorsport 3, available only through your VIP membership.
• Exclusive Collector’s Edition Car Pack*: This one is for the fans. This pack includes 5 cars that have been hand tuned and hand painted by the developers at Turn 10 to fly the Forza Motorsport colors.
• Exclusive Forza Motorsport 3 Theme:* Customize your Dashboard experience with this limited availability Xbox 360 theme.

Additionally, if you pre-order Forza Motorsport 3 you will receive exclusive downloadable access to the community designed and chosen, 2010 Audi R8 V10.

Features:

• Featuring the latest and greatest production offerings as well as the world’s fastest and most exotic street cars, “Forza Motorsport 3” offers more than 400 fully customizable and tunable cars from over 50 of the world’s leading manufacturers. Whether your passion is classic American muscle cars, European roadsters, purpose-built race cars or high-tech Asian imports, “Forza Motorsport 3” puts you in the cockpit of the cars you love.
  In addition to the return of world-famous tracks from previous “Forza Motorsport” games, including Suzuka, Nürburgring Nordschleife and the Sebring International Raceway, “Forza Motorsport 3” invites you to conquer the corners on more than 100 tracks, including some of the most beautiful road courses in the world. New environments like the gorgeous mountainous Montserrat region in Spain, the rugged Amalfi Coast in Italy and the American Southwest are presented in such majestic detail that you might find yourself pulling over just to take it all in.
• The appreciation of the automobile in “Forza Motorsport 3” is due in large part to the team’s attention to detail. This is why automotive engineers from manufacturers like Audi and champion race teams like Peugeot as well as experienced computer graphics specialists from across Microsoft Corp. have all teamed up with Turn 10 to make “Forza Motorsport 3” the most beautiful and realistic racing game ever made. All 400-plus cars in the game have been built with more than 10 times the amount of polygons as “Forza Motorsport 2.” This includes painstakingly researched cockpits and interiors for every vehicle. But realism isn’t just about pretty graphics. Turn 10 takes realism to new heights, leading the industry with the most advanced physics model, artificial intelligence and damage calculations. Whether it’s the differences in how each car handles through the corners, how the engines sound at top speed or how different tires and upgrades impact your car’s performance, you’ll find yourself leaning into your turns as if you were really behind the wheel of your favorite ride.
• Forza Motorsport 3 redefines the racing genre. Simulation games can be too hard for some players. “Forza Motorsport 3” rises above the distinction between simulation and arcade games. Using a myriad of cutting-edge driving and gameplay assists such as auto-braking, gameplay rewind and auto-tuning, “Forza Motorsport 3” delivers an experience where everyone can have fun behind the wheel, regardless of your skill and dexterity. Whether you’re a newcomer or a seasoned racing game pro, “Forza Motorsport 3” caters to how you drive and evolves with you over time as your skills increase.
• Painters and tuners will once again be able to showcase creativity through the celebrated Livery Editor, Auction House and deep tuning garage in “Forza Motorsport 3.” The car is literally the artistic canvas as some of the world’s most creative car painters and designers find new layers of depth and freedom to create shocking visual masterpieces before sharing them with others over Xbox LIVE.* Each car in “Forza Motorsport 3” is fully upgradable, allowing gear heads to take on the challenge of turning a Honda Civic into a supercar killer. New Xbox LIVE Leaderboards celebrate not only the greatest racers but also the most prolific car tuners and painters in the community.
• Forza Motorsport 3 is an epic racing game featuring more content and more ways to play than any racing title today. An innovative single-player season mode puts you through a completely personalized racing calendar that includes more than 200 different events, including Circuit, Oval, Drag, Drift and Timed Events. No two calendars are the same; they react to the cars you love and the races you enjoy most. In addition, the online multiplayer mode* gains an all-new game rules editor. This gives players a never-ending variety of ways to play with friends. Whether you’re a speedster, dragster, drifter, painter, tuner or just a lover of cars, “Forza Motorsport 3” is the definitive racing game for you.

Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 3, developed by Turn 10, is currently scheduled for release on Oct. 23, 2009.