Namco Bandai today announced that its PSP version of the long-running motorcycle racing series MotoGP has finally gone gold and will be hitting stores on September 26. This marks the first (and hopefully not the last) time the popular motor sports game hits a handheld console. Aside from customized controls and graphics, this new installment brings with it a host of new features exclusively for the PSP. There's a new 2005 roster, unlockable rewards, and a wireless multiplayer mode that allows up to eight players to race against each other.

Drivers in MotoGP for the PSP include Valentino Rossi, Marco Melandri, Nicky Hayden, Troy Bayliss, Carlos Checa, Alex Barros, Shinya Nakano and others. Also, various additional game modes, riders, movies and more can be unlocked by completing certain challenges. This way, the game should provide hundreds of fun gaming hours and make itself a position on the already impressively big shelf of good PSP racing games.

MotoGP is released next Tuesday, so if you'll be buying it, feel free to leave your thoughts either in the comments section or in the forums.

Time for a really short MotoGP 06 update. We've got 2 new screens today. Count 'em. TWO! WHOO! Eherm. Yeah, well, that's it. Oh, wait! Here's some info for those who still haven't got an idea what this game's all about.

This is the first MotoGP game for the PSP, allowing fans to race against their biking heroes, including Italian legend Valentino Rossi and an international cast of riders from the 2005 MotoGP season. Racing locations include Catalunya, Sachsenring, and Brno among others. The game has multiplayer support, allowing for up to eight players via Ad Hoc Mode.

MotoGP 06 is scheduled to hit shelves on September 5, 2006.

Enjoy the screens, guys.