Although Formula One Racing isn’t huge in the U.S., where NASCAR reigns, Codemasters continues to find global success with the sport selling millions of copies of the F1 game franchise. With the new season of F1 racing underway, the game publisher and developer is bringing a new game to PC and consoles this September. Codemasters just released F1 2011 for Sony’s PlayStation Vita at launch, but F1 2012 will be driving across PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

Hot Shots Golf has been around for a number of years, getting its start on the PS One with the Mario Golf developers at Camelot bringing its cartoony world to life.  Since that time, a number of sequels have helped the series thrive, thanks to the development takeover at Clap Hanz.  They really know how a casual game of golf is supposed to play, with a simple swing meter, "cute" characters that players can easily identify with (Tiger who?) and breathtaking courses to play on, which will challenge your golfing skills to the max.  Next month, the series makes its return with Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational on the PS Vita, and fans should be thrilled by its arrival.

This is a list that most critics usually reserve for “artsy fartsy” flicks, and while there were a few exceptions to the rule that almost made the cut (like the very cool The Artist), we have to admit, there were some mainstream entertainments out there that truly made the cut in our top ten list for this year.

The gaming world has graduated its first US pro race car driver thanks to Gran Turismo 5. Sony’s GT Academy, which was created in partnership with Polyphony Digital and Nissan North America to give consumers a chance to pursue the dream to become a real race car driver through Gran Turismo 5, has proved that the simulation is just like the real world. The winner, Bryan Heitkotter, beat out over 53,000 competitors who registered for GT Academy and is now a Nissan-sponsored professional race car driver and part of a four-person team that will race the 24-hour race in Dubai in January 2012. Heitkotter's journey with GT Academy is currently being shown on the Speed Channel, PlayStation Network, and Hulu, via a reality show series that chronicles the competition and the winner's road to stardom. But you can see the driver in this exclusive video below from SEMA recount his incredible journey.

For the NASCAR Nationwide Series races, Danica Patrick will drive with her current stock car team, JR Motorsports, owned by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Danica will be with Stewart-Haas Racing, co-owned by two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation. Both series will be financially fueled by Go Daddy, her long-time sponsor who first signed the Go Daddy Girl in 2006. Patrick can be seen in Activision’s new NASCAR video game. And she also worked with the game publisher on the racing game, Blur.

Battlefield 3 is definitely a highly anticipated game.  The GamesCom crew recently voted it as the Best In Show, and fans lined up to get their hands on it and go to war with their fellow players.  However, not everyone is crazy about the game, as a modding site recently posted a story indicating that the game was frying PC's and not running up to full optimization.  Suuuuure...

It's only a few weeks until summer comes to an end and the gaming month of September comes settling in, but we're giving you a heads up right now -- you'll want to start saving money.  The reason for that is because of the onslaught of excellent games that are coming our way, from the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and other publishers vying for your gaming dollars.  Here's a quick and helpful guide regarding what to buy, and what you shouldn't be without...

One of the leading global publishers of digital and social games has a full line-up of portable interactive experiences coming out this year. Among the big games is a pair of Hollywood licensed games based on Immortals and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Gameloft also is bringing hit Ubisoft franchises back to mobile with Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Driver. Other key titles include LEGO Batman, Gangstar Rio: City of Saints, and Wild West Guns. Gameloft executive Samir El Agili talks about the new line-up of 3D games for new 3D phones like Sprint’s HTC EVO 3D and AT&T’s LG Thrill 4G in this exclusive video interview below.

LOS ANGELES -- Leading up to its October 11 launch in North America, Forza Motorsport 4 drove into E3 2011 week with an unforgettable automotive event that featured a stunning backdrop of the world’s most sought-after cars. For the first time, attendees had the chance to run laps on the “Top Gear” track while strapped into the Forza 4”hydraulic pod.

You can't miss the Ubisoft booth.  It's and open and usually has the loudest music and the most people dancing of any booth on the South Hall floor.  If they're not recruiting guests or employees to hit the stage for a demo of Just Dance 3, they're introducing a new musician, taught to play real guitar with the new Rocksmith game.