Spinout sliding onto PS2, PSP

Gamers thinking there has been a deficit of racers featuring spherically shaped crafts careening around vertigo-inducing racetracks while blasting each other with high-tech weapons have one less thing to complain about today. Icon Games, a game developer in Oxfordshire, UK, announced that it is hard at work on Spinout. The game is scheduled for release later this year on the PlayStation 2 and PSP.

Spinout is a futuristic racer that puts players in the cockpits of globular vehicles called xorbs. Each racetrack is a playground of peril, as the courses are situated atop towering structures. Acrophobes take note: If you miss a turn, be prepared to plummet to the ground below.

As if the fear of falling to an untimely fate weren't enough, the xorbs are outfitted with a variety of weapons. Each xorb is customizable by the user and features a real-time damage system. There are 54 courses in all, spanning nine different environments. Spinout supports four-person multiplayer games and Wi-Fi features on the PSP.

The game's physics shouldn't be a problem--Icon Games knows a thing or two about rolling balls. The company previously developed International Pool Championship and International Snooker Championship for the PS2 in 2003.