While North America breathes a sigh of relief with the expected arrival of a new PSP accessory, even that good news was blighted by word of some new legislation in New York.
After what seemed like forever, Sony has finally decided to announce the U.S. release of the PSP's much-coveted GPS attachment.Europe's also been receiving its own influx of handheld-related paraphernalia, although of a rather questionable source. Keep that extinguisher handy, chaps.
Link: Sony PSP: North America gets GPS attachment by 2009, GPS-based games to follow
Link: Unsafe gadget chargers making their way into UK
The next possible evolutionary step for our handheld came into light recently, with Sony in tow to systematically deny its existence. While the PSP-3000 is still strictly speculation, admittedly, the name has a catchy, Dilbert-ish ring to it. The question remains: Will it have a cell phone?Link: Possible PSP-3000 spotted, Sony Europe: 'No Comment'
Link: That's no Slim: Rumored pictures of the PSP-3000 prototype
A recently passed New York law mandates, among other things, that all games sold in its region have to come with ratings. Redundant and needless you say?That may be true, but that hasn't stopped a U.S. Senator from taking a cue from Gov. Paterson to make some like-minded legislation of his own. Seriously - somebody please tell these guys about the ESRB.
Link: New York Governor David Paterson passes video game legislation
Link: U.S. Senator Roger Wicker introduces videogame rating legislation
Bigger. Longer. Harder. There's no better way to describe the sort of surprise that awaits the upcoming sequels of Valhalla Knights and Patapon. While XSeed's latest Japan-to-America game port will certainly be chewing up your time, Sony's one-eyed wonders are set to carry twice the fun as they once again rally up their tribal beat.Link: Patapon 2 to have twice as much one-eyed tribal fun, easier difficulty
Link: Valhalla Knights 2 will require 80 hours to finish
Think you've got what it takes to make a pop idol that'll eclipse even Aya Hirano? If you don't mind learning a bit of Japanese along the way, then a new trio of titles from Namco Bandai just might make a place on your future shopping lists. Link: The Idolm@ster SP announced for the PlayStation Portable
The PSP side of this week's PlayStation Store update aims to reintroduce some phat grooves that haven't been seen since the PlayStation One. For the guys not into that sort of thing, there's some new Helghast-loving for their console's aesthetics.Link: PlayStation Store updates (July 24): summer discounts and Parappa the Rapper
Missed out on last week's bargain offer for a new memory stick for your Sony PSP? Worry not, as a new deal's been spotted for this week. Not only is the offer cheaper, but it comes with twice the goodness.Link: PSP memstick deal: SanDisk 8GB Memory Stick Pro Duo US 25 cheaper
Take-Two and EA make the news once again as they continue their hard-to-get antics. On the more positive side of corpo news, Ubisoft's made quite a killing during the last quarter. Not that Fisher had anything to do with it, mind you.Link: No dice: Take-Two execs slam EA's fifth buyout offer
Link: Ubisoft scores good first quarter sales, Splinter Cell: Conviction delay confirmed
A new RoboCop flim is certainly awesome news, but not quite as awesome as finding out who they've picked to direct the upcoming God of War film. Here's a clue: It's not Uwe Boll.Link: MGM's RoboCop film announcement reveals God of War movie director
On the PSP-3000
The rumors regarding this matter brings with it more questions than answers. For one, are we even sure Sony is already planning to succeed the Slim this early? It's been out for a little less than a year, and launching a new SDK may end up sabotage the relatively strong sales the Slim has been enjoying.
Is the unit we've spotted going to resemble the final design? Our previous reports indicate that the handheld that's been spotted on the net is just a prototype, meaning we could be looking at dramatic changes to its form and functions as time goes by. Picture the way the SIXAXIS mutated from a sleek boomerang to the classic PlayStation controller, and you'll see what I mean.
Besides, the current positioning of the mic - to the right of the volume controls - doesn't seem to be an ideal place for conversations, at least if we're serious on assuming that the PSP-3000 will dual-role as a cell phone. Anyway, this sort of speculation is better left to an article all of its own. Expect one to drop by next week.
New York's gaming legislation brouhaha
Aside from the ESRB ratings I mentioned earlier, Paterson and Wicker have apparently never touched a console before. After all, a quick look at a PlayStation or Xbox 360's controls should tell them that the said "parental lockout" features are already in place. As to whether they're actually being used, well, that's left up to the parent's responsibility, and that's outside the bill's jurisdiction.
Then there's that bit on the "advisory panel." Not only redundant, but downright creepy. Can you imagine a room full of panelists - I'm guessing political appointees - coming up with yet another paper on the links between video games and violence in children? Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't be far more cost-effective to just pick up on whatever research that's already available, albeit done by more credible specialists in the field ( coughKutnercough )?
