Codemasters has released a few more images of two of the tracks in F1 2009 – Valencia and Spa-Francorchamps. The images don’t reveal much about gameplay, but do give a taster of how the game will look when we finally get to see it in motion.

A couple of weeks ago we were treated to a plethora of images from Le Mans, which is one of the new circuits to appear in Forza Motorsport 3. This week Turn 10 has decided to move the focus East to Japan and has revealed the three Japanese tracks from the game as well as a bunch of new cars from the country.

There’s the usual low-slung Japanese race cars but more interestingly there are also images of cars with quite a bit less power, such as the Honda Jazz/Fit, Toyota Yaris and Nissan Versa. It’s refreshing to see extremely detailed cars which the normal man on the street can afford and it’s the ability to drive cars you see every day that makes me so excited about games like this.

The three tracks from Japan which are to be included in Forza Motorsport 3 are Suzuka, Twin-Ring Motegi and Tsukuba, all of which were present in its predecessor.

There has been a bit of criticism on some message boards that Superstars V8 Racing’s content does not match the series on which it is based. Now that the game is released, it’s possible to look in detail at what is included and just as importantly, what is not. Most notably, several manufacturer licences are missing, as well as a significant new addition to this year’s calendar of circuits.

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Electronic Arts’ latest reveal of Need for Speed Shift focuses on a much less expensive car than the McLaren-Mercedes SLR seen last week. It’s time for Volkswagen’s Scirocco to enter the spotlight. In the images released today, there’s a good look at the body and headlamps which set it apart from other VW models, as well as a chance to see the distinctive glowing blue dials on the dash.

I’m always a little hesitant to feature mobile phone games here, primarily because there are very few which are effective at making driving on a tiny handset fun. DrawRace is different – it’s a driving game which is perfectly suited to the device on which it appears, iPhone.

If you’ve had the chance to play Firemint’s Flight Control, you’ll know how much fun it is to guide planes around by simply drawing their route. The concept is the same in DrawRace, with the exception that it’s a driving game and it looks very much the part. All you have to do is draw the line which you want your car to follow using your finger and the game does the rest.

With more than 20 tracks, it’s incredible that they’re selling it for just 99¢/59p. I’m hoping that it becomes popular, because it has the potential to teach people a thing or two about racing lines. Local multiplayer is supported and there are online leaderboards as well. The game is available on iTunes now.

EA has released five new screenshots of Need for Speed Shift, showing the game’s action from a variety of angles. There’s a first chance to see the McLaren-Mercedes SLR, as well as some on track activity from the Ford GT and Lotus Exige.

Codemasters have released a trailer showing some in-game footage of DiRT 2 on Wii. The game is nearing completion and should be available in September, and the video shows that the new game is much more focused on races rather than timed runs.

Codemasters and Sumo Digital are clearly hoping that a selection of mini-games will extend the life of F1 2009 when it releases later in the year. IGN’s latest preview of the game includes details about six of them:

• Checkpoint – race through time extend gates just like in Lotus Turbo Challenge.
• Gate – some sort of variation on the above.
• Touge – a head-to-head race, possibly similar to GRID’s mode of the same name.
• Slipstream – presumably awards points for drafting for as long as possible.
• Eliminator – last car on each lap is knocked out.

Those thinking that the series has been dumbed down from its last outing on PS3 may take some solace in the description of the on track action. Writer Martin Robinson describes it as “accomplished” and offering “surprising depth and feedback”.

Just like Codemasters, System 3 appears to be celebrating this weekend’s British Grand Prix and has released some new videos of SuperCar Challenge in action. One of the videos is part of a series involving community members demonstrating the game, while the other features the voice of Tiff Needell, who has become synonymous with the series.

Turn 10 has released two new images of Forza Motorsport 3, which again make the game look incredible. The focus is on two exotics – the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano and the Aston Martin DBS. Both appear to be on the same track as was shown in the demonstration at E3.