Promised to kick the RX-8's back and vomit the Brera's face

When the new Volkswagen Scirocco came here on FM3, we thought that this was our only chance to try out Volkswagen's explosive hot hatch because it was sold in most parts of the world but not in the USA and in the Philippines. Turns out some rejected ad made by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson and James May were right (reference to Season 13 Episode 7 of Top Gear). The Scirocco has its back kicked by the Mazda RX-8 and the face was vomited by the Alfa Romeo Brera.

Warming up this Scirocco R
for today's Hockenheimring match!

The regular Scirocco got sick of having its back side kicked by the Mazda RX-8 and its face vomited by the Alfa Romeo Brera so by solving this, the November Speed DLC Pack included the all new Volkswagen Scirocco R. This was meant to be promised to counter these attacks but is it worth a drool-worthy V-Dub? James May, better reject that jingle you made for the Scirocco and Jeremy Clarkson, prep up some explosives because this new Scirocco R is EXPLOSIVE!

The Scirocco R is STIG APPROVED!

The Scirocco R is heavily inspired from its experiences from the 24 Hours Nurburgring race. Thanks to its dual victory at the 24 Hours Nurburgring, this was the first of its kind on Volkswagen's new R lineup consisting of this and the Golf VI R. Speaking of which, you might think that the Scirocco R and the Golf R are like two sides of the same coin because it was powered by the EA113 (2.0L T-GDi) engine but no. While the Golf R produces 267 HP of power and 254lb-ft of torque, the Scirocco R produces 261 HP of power and 258lb-ft of torque. It is believed that the Golf R is better than the Scirocco R because it has more power and more importantly, it's All-Wheel Drive. However, despite the lag, the Scirocco R has more torque and lighter than the Golf R. Seems like these two are going to be somewhat "neck-and-neck" between those two.

You should know that this hatch
was developed for Nurburgring purposes!

The Scirocco R could be the most explosive Scirocco ever built but still a modified Mazda RX-8 will kick its back side and a modified Alfa Romeo Brera will vomit on its face. This car is all about "power with responsibility" not "Berlin to Warsaw in one full tank". Who knows, this might cause a Mass Exodus among V-Dub fans worldwide. Sorry VW but you'll gonna have to be better than that! The world God only knows that this one could be "STIG APPROVED" if I tried it on the Top Gear Test Track...

Those who're playing Forza 4 and downloaded the November Speed DLC Pack; Get Ahead. Get a new Scirocco R. For people who valued their arms...

Google Let It Snow Easter Egg

Let It Snow

As heard from most sources, when most people typed "Let It Snow" at Google, what they'll be experiencing that the Google page drops snow and then it got covered in snow until they clicked the "Deforst" button to remove the snow. No wonder there's another Google easter egg happened since the "Do A Barrel Roll" part.

Scoop: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2133545/Let-It-Snow-Google-Easter-Egg-Blankets-Search-Results-in-Snow

BANANA SPLIT CLOWN IN A MILLION UPDATE 12/17/11

At the December 17, 2011 episode of Banana Split, the remaining four contestants are struggling to vie as the remaining three and for that challenge, they have to impersonate the most famous personalities. Karen Dematera impersonates as Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, while Super Tekla impersonates as Mommy Dionesia, then Onse impersonates as Annabelle Rama, and Mimi Aringo impersonates as Miriam Defensor-Santiago!

Talk about craziness, huh? But guess who got kicked out from the competition? Onse got eliminated!

A whole family of Stigs...

The Stig Family Sticker

This looks weird by Gearhead created some kind of "Stig Family Sticker" that costs $7. Like what it said, "Some Say He's A Family Man..." Guess this features, The Stig, Mrs. Stig, Stig kids, a "Baby Stig" (remember that from the Top Gear Christmas Special 2010?) two Stig dogs and two Stig cats.

This could be "Stig Approved" but rubbish...

Scoop: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/17/stig-family-stickers-are-a-nifty-stocking-stuffer/

PSVita

PlayStation Vita

Welcome the big one! The all-new, all-compact, PlayStation Vita (or PSVita) from Sony. Now, there are two reasons about this new PSVita. One: How did they name it after the character from Nanoha (or also the Japanese version of the Opel Corsa)? And Two: How can be possibly be better than the old PSP and the Nintendo 3DS?

Well, certainly, at the suggested retail price of 24,980 Japanese Yen (or my guessing price would be 25,000 Philippine Pesos) for the standard PSVita Wi-Fi variant up to 29,980 Japanese Yen (or my guessing price would be 30,000 Philippine Pesos) for the flagship 3G/Wi-Fi variant, I was gonna say that this is somewhat too expensive than the 3DS...

The Playstation Vita is dubbed as the Next Generation Portable that will soon replace the old and aging PSP, although sales will continue with lowered price, and this could be the tip of Sony's technological iceberg, we think. Primarily, the PS Vita features two analog sticks, motion sensor, and touch screen that lets you play hard but it won't let you kill yourself and that's also the tip of Sony's technological iceberg.

You can never get too bored with this because the Playstation Vita allows connectivity among other players socially and for added fun, it is packed with two cameras, which is great for taking pictures and can be great for some augmented reality games just for fun. Then we get to the Cross Platform Play part, that there are some PS3 games allow PSVita owners to continue their progress on the go. For example, pretty soon, Konami will release an update on the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection that lets players continue their MGS2 and MGS3 progress via PSVita.

Sadly though, the PSVita's internal memory is 512MB so it can be somewhat too small to store everything and with that, you might need to spend some cash for some bespoke PSVita Memory Cards ranging from 4GB to 32GB.

However, there are rules:

1) The PSVita has a "one account per console" policy. Memory Cards are linked to PSN accounts but owners can use memory cards in PSVita to which the account is attached.

2) Vita owners would have to format their data and reset factory settings in order to sign in with a different account.

3) In-game trophies can only be earned on the system the game was started. If you play a game with another PSVita, you may not earn trophies.

4) Backup files can be possible to a PS3 or PC but data saved to the Vita game card cannot be backed up.

5) Screenshots can be take by pressing the power button and the power button simultaneously.

6) Charge times will be 2 hours and 40 minutes. Battery life will be around 3-5 hours for gameplay

7) The PSVita supports 18 languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, and others.

My comment:
I never heard everything about Sony's next generation portable but the "one account per console" policy seems to be somewhat very harsh. Even though that this one's region-free, and it provides freedom to play PSP games no matter which language is this game, especially Japanese, you should be careful about the "one account per console" policy.

Over the moments in Japan, we experienced about limited edition PSP games in the market that features figures, especially most are Nendoroids and figmas. Do we think that the PSVita will have a very different experience? Not sure but be patient.

The PSVita has nothing wrong with it but there's no heart. It's like it was engineered by science and this would have been a proper gentleman's new hand held console.

Driving Music (What is the name of the song on car commercial?) Volume 20

Well, car enthusiasts who are addicted to car commercial songs, hope we're happy about the delays of the nightmarish SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) vote. But don't think of it that we've won. Watch out because if that could happen next year, there's only one suggestion: RACE FOR YOUR LIFE!

Yes, we said it. RACE FOR YOUR LIFE...

Remember that it wasn't our fault about this whole online piracy stuff. You should know that there are some songs featured in car commercials worldwide and we, as car enthusiasts, became the cause of this and we respected that, a bit. We may think that we are "Rebels With a Car", but just imagine if the SOPA bill is passed, The Stig will have nothing to hear it on a certain car audio while performing some hot laps at the Top Gear Test Track.

Know this, Car Commercial Songs not only that are favorites among car enthusiasts, it will soon be "Stig Approved". For now, here's another set of five Driving Musics (Car Commercial Songs) that will soon to be STIG APPROVED.

5) Bing Bang by Ohashi Trio - as heard on the latest Toyota Ractis commercial. The commercial featuring the world's largest UFO Catcher at Roppongi Hills.

4) Theme from Harry's Game by Clannad - as heard on the 2005 Lexus GS Japanese commercial

3) Story by Yuzu - as heard on the 2007 Toyota Ractis Japanese commercial

2) Your Heart Is As Black As Night by Melody Gardot - As heard from the 2011 Renault Bose Edition lineup French commercial

1) Exaelitus by Yoko Kanno and ORIGA - as heard from the 2006 Lexus LS460 Japanese commercial.

And there you go! I hope those can be "STIG APPROVED" and yes, all those car commercial songs I've mentioned in our past entries would be sure that will turn us into an army of Stigs. Or a whole family of Stigs. See you then!

GT5's Red Bull X2010 replica coming at 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon

Red Bull X2010 S. Vettel

The Red Bull X2010 is Gran Turismo 5's finest speed machine that exceeds expectations, especially that this racecar is "Stig Approved" when we perform some "shakedown tests" round the Top Gear Test Track.

Word from the public is that the 1:1 Scale Model of the Red Bull X2010 will make its live appearance at the 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon and the Fukuoka Motor Show 2012. This will make a good opportunity for Japanese GT5 players to see the Red Bull X2010 replica live and in person!

Scoop: http://www.gran-turismo.com/jp/news/d15599.html