The season pass is officially the hot new DLC trend in gaming, and for once, it's not an abhorrently disgusting trend. I mean not, of course, the whole "you need a code to play online at all" version of the season pass--that still pretty well sucks--but rather the idea of offering DLC discounts to the most dedicated of players of big new games. Say what you will about downloadable content pricing, the idea of offering an appreciable discount to players who have every intention of purchasing all of a game's downloadable supplements is hardly something to bunch one's panties over. Unless you just really like bunching up your panties over things. I suppose I can't fault you for that. Whatever turns you on, you know? I don't judge.
If you are the panty-bunching type, prepare to get thoroughly bunched up over today's news that Microsoft and developer Turn 10 will be offering up a $30 season pass for Forza Motorsport 4. The pass covers all six of the DLC expansions Turn 10 plans to release between the game's October launch and April of next year. Any interested motorhead who purchases the pack will also gain access to a free bonus pack of American muscle cars, which includes the following musclebound vehicular behemoths.
- 1965 Pontiac GTO
- 1968 Pontiac Firebird
- 1970 Buick GSX
- 1970 Dodge Cornet Super Bee
- 1966 Chevrolet Nova SS
- 1969 Shelby GT500 428CJ
- 1971 Plymouth GTX 426 Hemi
- 1967 Dodge Cornet W023
- 1968 Dodge Dart HEMI Super Stock
- 1964 Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt
Between the six packs in question (and presumably not counting the bonus pack), the DLC will include a total of 60 new cars for the game, which with the discount applied, averages out to about 50 cents a car. Intriguingly, the press release only discusses cars as DLC, and makes no mention of potential track DLC. Perhaps that means Turn 10 isn't planning on adding any supplemental tracks, or it could just mean that any planned additional tracks simply aren't part of this deal. We'll just have to wait and see.
Regardless, as someone who spent a bunch of money on Forza 3 DLC, and most recently on the season pass-less DiRT 3, I see this as a welcome help to my wallet. I will download all of the cars. All of them.