The Batman logo-esque Posimotion Helix clips onto the back of your iPhone or iPod Touch, and adds large hand grips on either side of the device. The grip is designed to provide improved gameplay on accelerometer-based games like racing, FPS and flight sim games, and works in either landscape or portrait modes.

While I like the general ideal of iPhone gaming control accessories, I’m concerned the added bulk of something like this defeats the purpose of having a gaming system you can always keep in your pocket. I plan on checking out the Helix in person at CES next week and will let you guys know how well it works.

The Posimotion Helix ships sometime this Spring and will sell for $19.99 (USD). You can pre-order one now over at the PosiMotion website.

You’ll spend $191,000 (USD) on this device, which is more than quite a few supercars. It’s called the Cruden Hexatech simulator and it kind of reminds me of those Battletech simulators that were all of the rage years ago. I always wanted to play in them, but never did.

This thing is completely suspended on a hydraulic tripod and allows you to simulate F1, NASCAR, WRC, as well as various 24-hour races like Le Mans. The rig allows you to receive feedback from the chassis, track, tire and suspension settings, drive trains, aero load, aero draft, steering, brakes, and various driver aids.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

It comes with three 42-inch screens, but you can go bonkers and project images onto the walls of a specially built room. Sounds completely insane to me. If I had $191,000 to spare, I’d rather buy a real race car!

[via DVice, photo credit: Benimoto]

The set comes with a pair of wired remote controls, and wheeled versions of Sonic and Tails to race around the 4-foot oval loop track. The guys over at Sonic fanblog Emerald Coast got their hands on a set, and weren’t that thrilled with how frequently Sonic goes flying off the rails though. Somehow Tails manages to stay on the track better. Go figure. I blame Dr. Robotnik.

The Super Sonic Racing System is available from UK retailer Play.com for £8.99 (appx. $15 USD). Frankly, I think this would have been way cooler if it had some crazy loops and corkscrews on the track. Oh well, what do you want for $15 bucks?

[via Nerd Approved]

While it’s not quite as exciting as watching hillbillies turning left a NASCAR race (sarcasm), at least you get a front-row seat to this tiny little race whenever you want.

Just load the Gakken MM Circuit race car into its special wheel-revving charger for 5 seconds, then drop it into the bowl-shaped racetrack and it spins round-and-round (like a record baby, right round, round, round) at a breakneck pace of 0.6 seconds per lap. It’s also adept at tooling around a deep serving dish or a goldfish bowl if you happen to have one lying around.

The teensy little car measures in at just 2.5cm long (less than an inch) and weighs less than 3 grams, so be careful not to lose it. And definitely don’t let the cat eat it.

Here’s a brief video of the racer in action in case you don’t have enough of an imagination to visualize what a tiny car spinning around in circles might look like:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can grab the MM Circuit racer, including charger and race track for $53 (USD) over at the Japan Trend Shop. If you happen to live in Japan, you can score one for less than half the price (¥2280 / $23 USD) direct from Gakken.

The grannies can be individually controlled and are powered by AA batteries. The elliptical racetrack ensures that the race will go on even if the grannies forget where they’re going. Or what they’re supposed to be doing in the first place.  Stop it. Respect and revere. Of course if you have racing grannies, then speeding granddads can’t be far behind. Actually they might even overtake the grannies because they’re on mini scooters. Bitchin’.

Whereas other cars are equipped with nitrous oxide for speed boosts, the mini scooters are fitted with oxygen tanks. For life boosts.

Regardless of any controversy surrounding the PS3’s ability to crank out fast frame rates, Insomniac seems to be on top of it, saying that all their upcoming PS3 titles will run at a full 60 fps. Clearly, the fact that they got to cut their teeth on the platform’s outstanding first-gen Resistance: Fall of Man gave them a leg up over other developers.

One other interesting tidbit about Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction is just how enormous the game is. Apparently, the game will use up a 22GB of the total 25GB capacity of its Blu-ray disc. I’m sure that part of that space is taken up with high-def FMV cutscenes, but from what I’ve seen, the massive environments and detailed textures will chew up a substantial portion. For those of you keeping score, you’d need three nearly full dual-layer DVD discs to fit this entire game on any other console. Maybe Blu-ray wasn’t a bad move after all?

You won’t have to wait long to check it out for yourself. A demo of the game should hit the online PlayStation Store on October 4th, with the full game in stores just about a month from now, on October 23rd.

[PSU via Loot-Ninja]

In addition to announcing this major milestone, Bizarre also released the (massive) final list of vehicles in the game, and it doesn’t disappoint.

I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these vehicles and put them through their paces (especially in the rain and snow). Expect the game to hit stores (and millions of Xbox 360s) on October 2th in the U.S., and on October 12th in Europe.

[Bizarre Creations via Exophase]

On October 4, 2007, expect a demo to hit the PlayStation Network for download. Word has it that the demo will give players a sneak-peak of the game’s opening level, starting with the obliteration of Metropolis, a location very familiar to PS2 players.

I can’t tell you how excited I am for this title, given how many hours of fun I had with the PlayStation 2 titles.

[IGN via Kotaku]

After looking at the gorgeous in-game screenshots that Microsoft released the other day, I was starting to get excited about this upcoming racer. Now that I’ve seen the video, I think Gran Turismo 5 should be watching its back.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

While I’m sure that racing sim fanatics will espouse the wonders of GT5’s realistic driving models, I’ve always been a fan of the slightly more arcade-y feel of the PGR series. Besides, I’m a sucker for great graphics, and this title sure looks like it’s got plenty of those. Sure, it’s possible that this intro wasn’t done in-game, but if I know Bizarre Creations, you can expect the game to look nearly this good anyway.

You can download or stream the high-resolution video here.

Now we already know the game is going to feature some amazing weather effects that actually affect your driving, but the addition of some two-wheeled vehicles could really shake things up. I’d imagine that if motorcycles do make their way into the game, die-hard fans of this acclaimed auto racing franchise might freak out about how it’ll change the game.

Given developer Bizarre Creations track record, I don’t think we need to be concerned. It’s been a really long time they made a bad game (anyone remember Fur Fighters?)

[via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

He’s got the living room all decked out with a real racing chair, a force feedback wheel, and an amazing 3-screen panoramic display. I can’t really figure out how he managed to get the image from the console across all three screens, but it almost looks like he has multiple consoles hooked together to make it all happen.

…and I thought hooking up my Xbox 360 to my big screen was overkill.

[via Gizmodo]

The Zero Tech 3 controller features a trigger-grip design with a sideways mounted analog steering control. The unique design allows players to use their left hand to control the accelerator and brake triggers, while the right hand controls steering. There’s even a little thumb shifter for changing gears on the fly.

The only downside for racing fans is that the controller isn’t wireless. Hori plans on releasing the Zero Tech 3 this July for ¥4,980 (appx. $42 USD.)

According to ATHF series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, “This golden chalice represents a new age in gaming, the likes of which has never before been seen on this planet. The weak will tremble at the awesomeness of our full color, hand-made graphics!” With an endorsement like that, I can only imagine that the game will be better than God of War, Halo, Super Mario Brothers and Grand Theft Auto 3 all rolled into one.

The game is expected to hit stores this Fall for the PlayStation 2, following the release of the upcoming ATHF movie, coming out this April.

The demo lets you try out three cars, the Mitsubishi Lancer EVOLUTION IX, Lamborghini Gallardo or the Camaro Concept. There are three race modes in the demo as well: Circuit Race, Canyon Duel and Drift Race.

The demo weighs in at about 1GB, and is available now in all regions except Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Sinagpore and Taiwan. Early reports are that the demo suffers from poor controls and laggy framerates, so caveat emptor.

[via EA Games]

The new game will offer an expansive universe with tons of traffic to destroy. The entire game is expected to be a wide open, truly next-gen experience without the requirement to scroll through menus to find tracks and junctions to play.

Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360,” said Alex Ward, director of game design at Criterion Games. “To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom.

You’ll be able to freely roam between crash junctions and race games. You’ll also have a “driver’s license” which is a persistant record of your most insane driving exploits. In addition, the new crash engine will allow you to literally rip your car in half, providing for even more destruction than prior games in the franchise.

The Burnout series has always been one of my favorites out there, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with this time.