After browsing youtube, and perusing the game demo of forza 4, i was curious as to finding out which graphics were better. One video, not on youtube but on eurogamer.net described it all. Forza is good, and xbox 360 is made for those real cartoony games (basically shimmering textures; ala the bumpmapping effect which is why i put it as better in this gen then ps3, see older entries) that are playable and detailed by capcom but when it comes to realism ps3, beats it especially if its a simulator game. Forza is no simulator series, its fast eurocars drag racing fun with tweaks and enhancements. Yet it's painted graphics lack real-life aesthetics such as shadow in daylight or weather (well it lacks weather..all together lol). GT5 shows this and should be listed as one of the games in my history of realism article I wrote a while back. Here on Eurogamer.net it shows the differences, at first forza seems more action orientated and fun, but past the gameplay the truth is revealed and one shimmering sun effect won't save it. Gt5 excels in realism, shadows whilst forza does in textures, gameplay and graphics. But these are two different types of games, which make this console war unfair. DC vs Marvel maybe? Forza vs gt5 no. Ps3 vs xbox 360 yes! Gt5 and forza are two completly different games to tell you the truth. Gt5 has a better chance competing with a pc rally game like toca or better yet shift 2 then this. Graphically though, in the end it is forza4=>gt5>shift series or pc vs console. To explain it more concise I listed my youtube comment below:

"Effects, detail, speed forza. Everything else gt5 (environments, textures, shadows, realism etc) gt5."

^Sigh, now if only i could get my dreamcast logo boot screen to be the katana devkit one...:(

Mini update

from youtube:

Forza=more cars, effects, lighting detail, speed, sound (louder?!?) vs gt5 feel, weather, accuracy, ai, realism, environment. gt5 is a racing sim, forza not. Forza is an arcade racer, ps3 has better adventure rpg sims then xbox 360 franchise wise. Xbox 360 is a action/adventure/fps gaming console. Two totally different games, forza is fully customizable while gt5 is not. Bottomline is Unfair comparison. Since this topic is still hotly debated, on a minor note i have researched the minor details. eg forza will have smoke when crashing into the cars, gt5 will slow and outmaneuver cars, grass will sway in gt5. The bumpmapping and light reflection is superior on forza. Xbox always has superior textures. The polygonal count, glares eg lens flares and framerate always looks alittle better on ps3 anyways though given that its one year older. Xbox 360 is shinier i noticed. Things like that.