MotoGP3 makes tracks

What a difference a space makes. After all, if you didn't notice the lack of a gap between the two words in MotoGP you might become confused and think we're talking about series and not the Climax-developed, THQ-published series.

And this bewilderment might also explain why the PC and Xbox game has now gained the less than aerodynamic suffix of MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 3.

Despite the potential for confusing the names of the games, there is little chance of mixing up MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 3 with any other two-wheeler because Climax's previously sensible and sim-heavy series is crossing its arms in the approved hipperty-hop style and going... 'extreme'.

With 16 city courses and suburban tracks, this new mode will feature real locations - from downtown Tokyo to the winding lanes of Donington - along with a whole garage full of imaginary bikes ranging from 600cc racers to 1200cc monsters.

But all that is nothing compared to the three online options of Embedded, Spectator and Commentator modes. Promising to "blur the lines between the single-player and multiplayer modes" the first of these options will allow gamers to meet and beat real racers of a similar skill level.

And while the Spectator level promises to please anyone who, like Prince in Alphabet Street, "just likes to watch", it is the Commentator mode that sounds as if it offers the most throat-grating fun. For, as you might have guessed, it demands that you recreate the super-enthusiastic shrieking of Murray Walker for the puzzlement of any Americans who happen to be listening.

MotoGP Ultimate Racing Technology 3 will be released for PC and Xbox in the autumn