We'll kick things off with a real minefield of a rivalry, particularly explosive since it cuts the field between Xbox and PlayStation militia. Forza came late the party, but has quickly stolen a huge slice of attention from Polyphony Digital's infinitely realistic Gran Turismo franchise. Of course these two aren't the only heavy hitters in the racing world - we can't ignore the weight of Need For Speed, DiRT and numerous others - but the Forza VS. Gran Turismo feud has been particularly intense. Two flagship console exclusives; two brutal, unforgiving racers; we weigh these two on the same scale because they offer an incredibly similar gaming experience. Historically both have scored consistently high on Metacritic, although that has been a feeling in recent years that things have become a little too clinical - realism is all fine and well, but must it come at the expense of fun? In that regard we might give Forza the points for this round, purely because the latest instalment, Forza Horizon 2, brings an injection of buzzing excitement that critics and gamers can't seem to get enough of. Then again, the Horizon sub-brand is a different beast to the core Forza franchise, so that is perhaps not an entirely fair comparison - once again it's pretty hard to narrow this down.
Game-obsessed since the moment I could twiddle both thumbs independently. Equally enthralled by all the genres of music that your parents warned you about.
