Geek In Me

by Donald Melanson via engadget.com

There may not have been any word of a new PSP out of E3 as some had suspected, but it looks Sony may have a bit of a late surprise for us, at least if these tantalizing pics from PSPChina are to be believed. Apparently, this new PSP-3000 model remains mostly unchanged from the current PSP-2000, with the notable addition of a built-in microphone and a somewhat less notable PlayStation button in place of the usual Home button. As you can see in the picture after the break, the signature steel ring on the back of the PSP also appears to have been trimmed a bit (there’s a pic of the inside of the case as well, for the curious). Not exactly the DS Lite sort of upgrade that’d make everyone ditch their old PSPs to be sure but, as we’ve seen with the PSP-2000, it would be about par for the course for Sony.

via ps3fanboy.com

The new look PSN Store is definitely something to behold, even if we’ve mostly gotten used to what it looks like by now. Unfortunately, it suffered from not caching images properly and, as a result, slow loading of items on the store. If you’re someone who’s particularly annoyed by this, then you’ll be happy to hear that firmware 2.40 seems to have brought with it a little surprise which makes the store run a lot smoother. This is true of both the US and the EU stores.

Not only that, but a new “view mode” has been added to both, so now you can have the store items laid out in more of a list form, rather than just an image. Not only does this make it easier to see what each item is at a glance, but it also shows the price, even if the item is not highlighted. This is definitely our preferred method of viewing the store. If we find any more 2.40 surprises, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Australians say PS3 is supposed to be the biggest power consumer in the household. When you think you are doing something good with Folding@Home, think again… Your PS3 will cost you approx. 250 australian dollars yearly. Three times more than an iMac or twice as much as an 2.16 CoreDuo PC. Check the scary calculations here.

by Joshua Topolsky via engadget.com

Proving once again that old gadgets die hard (some, at least) Sony Japan is introducing fancy new paint jobs for two of its oldest — and most successful — products. Come July 3rd, the venerable PS2 will be hitting shelves with a new job, a new outlook on life, and a “red cinnabar” paint job. The refreshed system will run you about ¥16,000 (or around $153). Meanwhile, that metallic blue PSP we’ve seen is making its way to Japanese gamers on July 17th, sans Madden ‘09, for ¥23,800 (or $227) for the Value Pack, or ¥29,800 (or $284) for the a decked out bundle including a 1seg tuner, 1GB Memory Stick, and handsome matching carrying case.

by Nilay Patel via engadget.com

Considering how little attention the PS3’s motion-sensing functionality currently receives, we’re not inclined to think that Sony’s making an even deeper push into the Wii’s territory, but a site called Playstation Lifestyle says that Sony conducted focus-group testing on a controller similar to the Wiimote earlier this year. Apparently the device was mounted on a foot-tall mini-tripod, and was demoed with tennis, fencing, and paintball mini-games, as well as used to play Quake on a laptop. That’s not to say that Sony’s ever going to bring this stuff to market, but it would certainly be interesting if it did — and coupled with those persistent Xbox 360 remote rumors, the gaming landscape could suddenly be overrun with people miming tennis.