We imagine that this year holds a special place for car fans, as it marks the 60th anniversary of the Italian-based car manufacturer, Ferrari. As part of this occasion, the car-manufacturer is currently holding a special "Ferrari 60 Relay" world tour, with vehicles spanning Ferrari's history being paraded around a few days ago at London.

On the gaming side of the news, we're also announcing that this event was sponsored by System 3 - the group that's currently publishing the Ferrari Challenge racing game headed for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo DS. In line with the tour and future game release, Ferrari GB Managing Director Massimo Fedeli had this to say:

Since the launch of the next-generation consoles, the video game industry finally has, at its disposal, a machine with enough power to truly and loyally represent the Ferrari driving experience. The British public's incredible reaction to the "Ferrari 60-Relay" coming to these shores has demonstrated the strength of the Ferrari brand here and we're very excited to be working with System 3 to produce a cutting-edge racing experience for those fans.

The "Ferrari 60 Relay" celebration tour began this January at Abu Dhabi, and is expected to travel through 50 countries before before concluding on June 23 at the home of Ferrari in Maranello, Italy. The tour will also feature a special commemorative baton, 60 badges symbolising the memorable events in the Company's 60-year history, from the Rome Grand Prix in 1947 - the Ferrari FXX Programme of 2006. System 3 hints that Ferrari Challenge will be launching this Christmas - just stay posted for more details as the tour goes through its paces.

 

Milestone Studios has quite a bit of history when it comes to bike racing games. The Milan, Italy-based developer produced titles for Electronic Arts a few years ago, and now it's working on SBK'07: Superbike World Championship, a new game based on its newly acquired Superbike license.

In a recent interview with Gamespot, product manager Simone Bechini revealed that those looking for both realism and action will find them in SBK'07. "The game physics is very realistic, and you've also got the opportunity to tune your bike," said Bechini. "For action, there's plenty of it... We worked hard on the artificial intelligence of riders to provide races as interesting, challenging, and fun as real ones."

That's not to say that SBK'07 is only for hardcore petrol heads. "There are as much as 16 riding aids to allow you to pick up the pad and simply go for it, being competitive in just a few seconds," Bechini added.

Players can also choose from a variety of gameplay modes to suit their tastes. These modes range from a quick race to a race weekend that features all the sessions of an SBK event, including two different races. There's also a time attack mode, championship mode, and multiplayer mode. SBK'07 also features a number of different challenges that focus on skills like riding technique, race scenarios, and stunts.

Speaking of multiplayer, Bechini said that the PSP version of SBK'07 includes the "usual PlayStation 2 split-screen two-player mode." SBK'07 also supports up to four players across a wireless local connection with two game modes on the PSP.

SBK'07: Superbike World Championship for the Sony PSP handheld system is slated for a May release in Europe. An Xbox 360 version is also planned for release later this year along with a PC version. According to Bechini, Milestone also plans to come out with a PS3 version of SBK'07 in 2008.

The PS3 has been in Europe for less than a month and its titles are sitting on top of the charts. Resistance: Fall of Man took the top spot in Italy and Spain. Germany on the other hand was taken by storm by S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (both the normal and limited editions).

The three countries definitely have different gaming tastes with the exception of Insomniac's Resistance, Evolution's MotorStorm, Formula One Championship Edition, Virtua Tennis 3, and the PS2's Final Fantasy XII. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars are surprisingly absent from the Spain and Germany charts even though it's a definite hit in the UK. Oh well, to each their own. Here's the complete list for Italy, Spain and Germany:

Italy (for week ending on April 1)

• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
• MotorStorm
• Formula One Championship Edition
• Final Fantasy XII
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Virtua Tennis 3
• Ridge Racer 7
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Check out the charts for Spain and Germany after the jump!

IGN reports that Ferrari and System 3 have announced System 3's acquisition of the rights to publish Ferrari licensed games on the PS3, PSP, Wii, and DS videogame platforms. Both companies haven't yet released any concrete details regarding the upcoming titles other than that they'll be based on the Ferrari Challenge series.

The PS3 game is apparently being "developed to maximise the technology in the new console format" and will include features such as "a 16-player feature-rich simultaneous online mode with elements not yet seen in any race game to-date." The Wii game will, of course, support the Wii's innovative control system, including "control by a Wii steering-wheel."

Over at the handheld front, both the PSP and DS versions will feature wireless playability for up to four players including ad hoc play and game sharing. More information is expected to surface in the next three months. System 3 has already announced a preview session that will take place in Maranello, Italy in late June, coinciding with Ferrari's 60-year celebration.

While it has been months since something was heard from the exploding car people, the crash dummies can not be forgotten easily as they always carry with them sweet, tender memories of childhood days now long gone. Sniff.

Not to despair though, Twelve Interactive and Schanz International Consultants (SIC) have some good news today regarding the newest reincarnation of the game, Crash Dummy V.S. The Evil D-Troit.

The Italy-based game developer is pleased to announce that the game has finally found publishing homes in the U.K. Yep, you read it right - homes. Plural. This is so since Crash Dummy is crashing (pun intended) not only on the PSP, but on the Wii, DS and the PC as well. SIC's Gerhard Schanz also mentions that negotiations between them and Microsoft are currently taking place. "We are also in discussions to put up the title on 360 live arcade," shares Schanz.

Accordingly, the PC version is licensed to Lexicon Entertainment while the other versions were welcomed by Oxygen Interactive Software LTD. Just a few information are known about Crash Dummy Vs The Evil D-Troit as of now and one of which is that it would be using Vicious Engine with it's built-in physics module.

We've all been swept with the Football Fever some months back at Germany. We all witness soccer sensation Ronaldinho and Brazil fall under the hands (or should I say feet?) of smooth-player Zinedine Zidane and France, and wonderkid Wayne Rooney and England (along with the WAGS) trampled by Portugal. Italy later on bagged the coveted cup (with small thanks from the infamous headbutt of Zidane to trash-talking Marco Materazzi). Italians rejoiced and the rest of the world wept. The cup changed hands and everybody was sold to the idea that it'll be another four more years before such fever grips the whole planet - or not.

Come September 29, fans of the game can relive the glory of football via EA's release of FIFA 07; a game that promises to give gamers "the rollercoaster ride of the football season". This latest installment is packed with new intelligent AI ensuring that your 11 men on the pitch make realistic decisions finding space and passing like professionals. A complete overhaul of the game engine now means that you have to employ real world tactics, make split-second decisions and think like a player in order to win matches.

New features such as Manager Mode allows the player to manage a team based on realistic player values and wages. Some of your decisions have the power to affect performance of your virtual players, so it's always a must to see that all footballers under your team are taken care of and well-compensated. Aiming for more realism, the big-named players will have their signature moves fused to their virtual counterparts; so don't be surprised to see Ronaldinho dazzling everyone with his ball-handling skill, or maybe even Rooney kicking some crotch ad Zidane headbutting chests (oppss, wrong signature moves).

Tired of reading? Feast your eyes on these screens and logo, hot from EA.

Italian site Divineo has dropped a bomb of a news for us. They are selling a PSP Gaming Kit with firmware version 1.5. It couldn't have been any more timely, what with downgraders/downdaters popping everywhere that has produced a few PSP casualties from less-careful/less-fortunate owners; wouldn't you want to just have your very own untainted one?

As far as babelfish's translation goes, here's what you're getting inside the kit:

• The PSP Regular Pack ITA Version 1,50
• Caps Stereo with retraibile cable
• One memory stick FOR PAIR Sandisk "Gaming" from 2Gb!
• a semi-rigid Sheath in order to transport the Consul (Console I guess?).
• One transparent protecting film for the screen of the PSP.

The black one sells for 299.99 € (384.62 USD) while the white one is a little bit more pricey at 349.99 € (448.72 USD). They are also offering an "LCD Verification Program" to check whether the screen is in good condition or not for 9.99 € (12.81 USD). Just take note that since it's an Italian version, the warranty is applicable only for Sony centers in Italy. So, if you want to save yourself the trip, handle your new purchase with the utmost care.

PSP-Italia provides all Italians and Italian-understanding people downloads for PSP. If you are familiar with this site, and you have frequented it often, you most probably know about Sonmanu's Live Update Homebrew Installer, PSP Italy community's free service that makes installation of homebrew from PC to the PSP Italy easier. With this service, a simple click will install reviewed homebrews directly to the PSP.

The Live Update Homebrew Installer has now been updated to v0.4.0. Here is the changelog for the latest release:

- Improved routine of installation homebrew expanding its search for the eboots to all the subfolders of the root file.
- Support for firmware 2.7x (homebrew in flash and web portals).
- Possibility of being able to deposit the file (rar, zip) on PC in a folder you choose, for easy retrieval.
- You can now install homebrew files on hard disk without the need for downloading.
- The regulation of the homebrew now happens almost instantaneously.
- Creation of lua standalone for lua homebrew games is now automatic (note though that this does not work for all the homebrew).
- Correction in problems of installation of some homebrew and of smaller bug.

Download: [Live Update Homebrew Installer]