If you were thinking of buying a PSP at its new low price of $169, you may want to wait a little. At Sony's San Diego gamer's day, the company let fly some announcements about the handheld that says they're going to do a "hardware refresh" later this year.
Whether it's just a bigger hard drive, brighter screen, or something else entirely is still unknown. But if you're not in a huge hurry to go PSP, you might as well wait. Solid Snake has the patience of a fox. Or a snake. Or a foxy snake. – Jason Chen
Sony Reveals PS3 Slate, PSN Stats, PSP Refresh [Gamasutra]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

We get a wee bit excited round here when brands collide to create interesting new spinoffs, but this handset is full-on ridiculous. Our creative Asian friends weren't happy with a simple gaming handset, they had to bust out a Windows Mobile-esque OS, with a dash of faux PSP, a splash of Nintendo all wrapped in almost Anycall. Notice that great big PSP logo on the back? Well that's all there is for Sony content here, the handset is actually loaded with NES games and Pac-Man? Of course, we have to congratulate on the Samsung F520 double slider thing going on here, we feel that this is definitely a winning idea, but of course this handset only copies and is definitely not the brainchild of Samsung. Packing dual-band GSM a-la 900 / 1800, a 1.3 megapixel shooter, a touchscreen, and support for up to 2GB of memory, the mystery manufacturer handset definitely has the goods. This is without a doubt the pinnacle of Keepin' It Real Fake fare, and we thi...

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

So it looks like those endless rumors of a newly-spec'ed PlayStation Portable are finally about to come true, with an analyst from Lazard Capital Markets reporting that Sony has in fact copped to just such a device (most definitively NOT pictured above) at its Gamer's Day gathering in San Diego. According to Lazard's Colin Sebastian in a briefing prepared for NPD, "the company also indicated that [in addition to new software titles best left to another fine publication], a video download service and [PSP] hardware refresh are expected later this year." While both tidbits sound like potentially big news, Sony was reluctant to give up any more info on either of these asides -- meaning that you can still let your imagination run wild with magical features before the inevitable letdown. Still, if you've got your credit card in hand and sonystyle.com open in another tab as we speak, it might pay to hold off for a bit and see how this plays out.
...

newVideoPlayer("razr_drop_gawker.flv", 475, 376);That's Ed Zander, Motorola CEO drop testing a new Moto made with stronger materials. What else is he dropping?
Two things: First, I'm very glad to see Motorola reemphasizing their UI and OS development.
Second, it's nice to see their ultra hyped "Media Monster" device, the z8, get interesting updates like the cable box programming, youtube uploads, and feature movies on chips (BTW, doomed to fail, like PSP movies on Memory Sticks).
But remember, we've already seen this device at 3GSM in Barcelona. This isn't news; this is spin. As far as new phones go, the new ROKRz6 is a subvariant of the z8. If anything, the RAZR2, previously unheard of before today, deserved the hype gathered around the event, too perfectly held a month after Moto's first quarter loss since 2004 was revealed a month ago.
But even then, let's face it. Even with updated hardware and software, the RAZR2 is going to be perceived as mere...

We saw the Motorola Z8 before, with its banana-ish sliding body, but Motorola seems to have added some new software features since 3GSM.
For the specs, it runs Symbian OS, HSDPA, 2.2-inch screen, 30fps video, 4GB microSD card, and movies thanks to Universal, Sony and Warner. There's also streaming video from Sky or CNN over its 3G, complete with a mini DVR-like system that you can watch shows anytime. It's Moto's multimedia-centric phone, which changes its form depending on what function is in use.
It does more than that.

newVideoPlayer("motoz8_gawker.flv", 475, 376);

newVideoPlayer("motov8_ui_gawker.flv", 475, 376);
However, instead of downloading movies on your PC to put it onto the Z8, they're going to sell cards with movies pre-installed so you can plug those into your phone. We saw how well that worked out with the PSP, but maybe placing it onto an SD card will make a difference.
newVideoPlayer("motoz8_movies...

We saw the Motorola Z8 before, with its banana-ish sliding body, but Motorola seems to have added some new software features since 3GSM.
For the specs, it runs Symbian OS, HSDPA, 2.2-inch screen, 30fps video, 4GB microSD card, and movies thanks to Universal, Sony and Warner. There's also streaming video from Sky or CNN over its 3G, complete with a mini DVR-like system that you can watch shows anytime. It's Moto's multimedia-centric phone, which changes its form depending on what function is in use. Better yet, there's YouTube, MySpace and Flickr uploading.
It does more than that.

newVideoPlayer("motoz8_gawker.flv", 475, 376);

newVideoPlayer("motov8_ui_gawker.flv", 475, 376);
However, instead of downloading movies on your PC to put it onto the Z8, they're going to sell cards with movies pre-installed so you can plug those into your phone. We saw how well that worked out with the PSP, but maybe placing it onto an SD card will ...

Usually, when you're making an ad for a new product you have on the market, you make a bullet-pointed list of ways that it improves on the previous generation. In this case, all Microsoft could come up with was HDMI, a 120GB drive, and that it's black. They even said pointed out that it was black twice, since they really don't have many other features to tout. And if you're looking for our own coverage of the Elite, there's where it is. – Jason Chen
Watch first Xbox 360 Elite commercial [DigitapSpy via Kotaku]

Filed under: Gaming

Playing a portable console on a static PC may seem little backward, but the PSP homebrew community seems to have no qualms about creating two separate ways of getting their PSP games to play on their 'puter. The first is a little more conventional in that it's apparently the first working PSP emulator for the PC. So far the only proof is some screenshots of various commercial and non-commercial 2D PSP games, so if you want to be a doubting Thomas it's your prerogative. The second option for PSP on PC action uses a piece of homebrew software called RemoteJoy and a simple USB cable, which apparently lets you see and remotely control your PSP through your computer. The evidence here is a lot more convincing, with a shaky YouTube video after the break showing keyboard control, completely synced screens, and daunting command lines. These latest examples just make us wonder what the PSP could be capable of if Sony stopped holding back, or -- dare we say it? --...

Filed under: Gaming

So the story goes that Microsoft's bald J Allard and Newsweek's bedredlocked N'Gai Croal are at dinner together, and they make a bet: if the PSP sold 10m units faster than did the PS2, Allard has to dress up like N'Gai (during his next E3 keynote, which never came); if not, J gets to shave N'Gai's head. Guess who won. Not that we think of ourselves as particularly cruel, but surely we can't be expected to let this one go without a caption contest, can we?

Evan: "After that unfortunate night with the Rastafarian gamers, Allard swore off marijuana forever."
Ryan: "Headline: J Allard hired to manage Weird Al's White & Nerdy tour."
Don: "You mean it doesn't cost an extra $100 to add WiFi to this thing?" [Snap! -Ed.]
Paul: "Yeah, but does this come in Simpsons yellow?" 
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
...

Remember that PSP and PS3 update we told you about earlier last month? The one that enabled you to share PlayStation One game saves between your PS3 and your PSP? Well, Sony's finally gone and enabled it, you know, officially.
The handful of compatible titles are: "2Xtreme, Crash Bandicoot, Destruction Derby, Jet Moto, Jumping Flash, MediEvil, Rally Cross, Syphon Filter, Tekken 2 and WipeOut." If you've already purchased this for the PSP, you can re-download them for the PS3 for free. Now for your scheduled PSP licking. – Jason Chen
PS Store Update [Kotaku]