Attention America: there is more to racing than NASCAR. Cars are capable of turning left and right. I know it's tough to believe. Also, race tracks don't have to be just an oval. For example, take a look at F1 racing, it's got speed, it's got power, and it's got plenty of crashes as well. To get a close look at this style of racing you can try out Formula One 06 for the PlayStation 3.

Back at the Tokyo Game Show we played an earlier version of this game. There it was tentatively titled Formula One Championship Edition and a US release date wasn't confirmed. This week it was playable at Sony's Gamers Day event and a US release is scheduled for 2007. It hasn't been too long since TGS ended, so FO 06 didn't look any different from what we saw back in Japan. However, we did get a bit more time with it and fiddled around a little more with the various driving assists which are designed to help F1 newbies get into this challenging style of racing.

The suggested racing line is a life-saver for beginners, it tells you when to break and when to gas without taking over control of the car for you. It's tough for less-seasoned racers to stay on the racing line, but it does a good job of showing you what you're doing wrong. It's not a self-adjusting line like the one found in Microsoft's Forza, and that's the only ding that I'd give it. Other assists such as assisted braking and auto-spin recovering feel like they take too much control away from you, but still won't make you a perfect driver. If you drive terribly, all the assist functions in the world won't help you place first.

Once you turn off all the assists, you might as well strap yourself in to your couch because taming these high-powered cars will take all the skill you've got. None of us were man enough to place highly with the assists turned off, heck, just staying on the road is a challenge. Hardcore F1 fans will probably eat this up for just that reason. Even with assists on we had trouble staying on the track because the opponent AI can and will make you go from tearing up the blacktop to mowing the lawn. In one race we were nudge off the track three or four times in one lap by the AI equivalent of jerks.

Anyone looking for a gorgeous and realistic F1 racing experience on the PS3 will most likely be sated with Formula One 06, but newbies will have good reason to be intimidated. We've come a long way from Pole Position and this game does a good job of representing just how much we've advanced. Even though it tops out at 720p, Formula One 06 is a fantastic-looking racer and gamers who want something beyond Gran Turismo are encouraged to check out what it has to offer.