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Long read: The beauty and drama of video games and their clouds

"It's a little bit hard to work out without knowing the altitude of that dragon..."

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MotoGP4dueinspring

Fortunatelyourspacebar'sbrokenjustoncue.

We can only assume they haven't tried putting them lengthways. Really, if they're not just doing it to fit the words across the front of a bike, we do have to ask why on earth Namco and Sony - presumably at the behest of license-holder Dorna Sports - squash the letters and numbers together as if we're in the grips of a space bar ban. "MotoGP4". Just look at it. It looks like it's crashed already.

But nothing could be farther from the truth (except, perhaps, the theory that the lack of spaces is a vast right-wing conspiracy to haul those liberal-thinkin' gappy red bastards kicking and communal-farming their way out of our liberty-lovin' mouths). Whatever MotoGP4's lexical politics, the series can hardly be said to have gone off-road. Despite having nothing to do with Climax and THQ's arguably superior "MotoGP" series on the Xbox (or perhaps boosted by accidental association), MotoGPwithoutaspace has sold more than enough for even its most recent incarnation to ascend to Platinum status.

As for numberfour, it's due out from SCEE and Namco in spring 2005 and another PS2 exclusive, with circuits, teams and riders upgraded for the 2004 season, and the promise of eight-player online racing in addition to its single-player and head-to-head modes. Which, given the popularity of MotoGP on Xbox Live, ought to be quite a draw for as many as both PS2 Online users.

Namco's also added 125cc and 250cc classes to the racing roster, and a new training system that finds an even more efficient and bulletpoint-worthy way of teaching you the difference betweens wheels and handlebars. Ready to bike? Have a gander at these screenshots and suit up for spring.

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