Though many of the big reveals for tonight's Spike Video Game Awards were known (or at least heavily rumored) in advance, a few of the titles announced came as complete surprises -- specifically Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Forza Motorsport 4.

The newest title in Microsoft's sim-racing series was introduced by Top Gear's Tanner Foust and Rutledge Wood, and indeed the Top Gear logo appears prominently alongside that of developer Turn 10 Studios and the Microsoft Games Studios logo at the end of the game's debut trailer. This would seem to indicate that Top Gear has some sort of significant involvement in the upcoming title, but for now, the nature of Top Gear's contribution to the game remains unknown.

What we do know is that the cars in the game are going to look good. Really good. Though the debut trailer features quite a bit of real world footage of various kinds of racing (along with a few shots of deadly animals and the number 4), the rendered car that does make an appearance looks remarkably detailed. Take a look at the Forza Motorsport 4 trailer:

Too fast to keep up? Turn 10 has been kind enough to release a few shots of the car in the trailer. Check them out below.

At E3 2010, Forza Motorsport 3 was identified as a title that would receive Kinect support, primarily in a mode that would allow players to virtually walk around and examine their cars. The icons that appear around the in-engine car in the Forza 4 trailer seem to be in line with what was promised for Forza 3 and, indeed, a trip to the Forza Motorsport website reveals that the upcoming game will support Kinect. It further notes that the game will also feature "the classic controls you’ve come to expect from the Forza series," which leads to the conclusion that players will actually be able to drive cars in Forza 4 using Kinect. I, for one, am extremely curious about how that might turn out.

Ranters, what are your thoughts about Forza Motorsport 4? Were you surprised that it was revealed during tonight's VGAs? What do you think about Kinect support for the game?

Forza Motorsport 4 is due next Fall, exclusively for the Xbox 360.

Source: Forza Motorsport