Is this a bad sign for the little UMD-less PlayStation Portable? Not according to Sony who say sales are meeting their expectations and are pleased with the results so far.

Is this new price enticing enough for you? Is it justified when you can get the PSP-3000 for £80  in some stores now? Or maybe you’d rather spend the same and get an Xbox 360 elite with two games, or even get the new PS3 Slim with 2 games for just a little bit more.

Halo: ODST droppedstraight from 1st to 3rd, getting pipped by the resilient Professor Layton and Pandora’s Box. Down in tenth spot is Batman: Arkham Asylum, which is touted by many as the years best game. i just wonder if the general public thinks so.

1. FIFA 10 (EA)
2. PROFESSOR LAYTON AND PANDORA’S BOX (Nintendo)
3. HALO 3: ODST (Microsoft)
4. NEED FOR SPEED: SHIFT (EA)
5. WII SPORTS RESORT (Nintendo)
6. GUITAR HERO 5 (Activision Blizzard)
7. MYSIMS AGENTS (EA)
8. COLIN MCRAE: DIRT 2 (Codemasters)
9. MARIO KART WII (Nintendo)
10. BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM (Eidos)

The full list of changes can be seen below:

The official changes

• Games can now be grouped and displayed in folders based on their expire date under [Game].
• Under [Settings], [Network Update] has been changed to [System Update]. Under [System Update], you can now choose how to update the system software.
• The number of colors that can be selected under [Settings] > [Theme Settings] has been increased.
• Revisions to strengthen security have been added.

The only change that is of any significance in this list is the ability to sort games by their expire date. At first glance that might seem a bit pointless still, however, if you think about what it implies then that’s where things get interesting. The only reason games woyuld have an expiry date is if they were downloaded as trials or, more significantly, as a digital rental copy.

Is this a sign of PSP game rentals comign to the handheld platform soon?

The release date is international so most, if not all, countries should be able to get their mits on the next FIFA instalment at the same time (ignoring time zones of course).

In a related update, you’ll be happy to know the “invulnerable keeper” bug of FIFA 09 (he couldn’t be sent off) has been fixed in FIFA 10. That’s not all, here’s a list straight from Santiago Jaramillo, Gameplay Producer for FIFA 10:

- Ability to change kick taker on set pieces
- Ability to move the wall
- Preventing goals being scored from kick-off
- Making offsides less frequent and improving our advantage logic
- Quick Free Kicks
- Fewer ‘cut scenes’ replaced by on-the-field player reactions
- ‘Super Long Throws’ – Players like Rory Delap will be able to throw the ball into the heart of the box from afar
- New ‘Ball Avoidance’ logic so teammates and the referee will get out of the way of passes and shots
- And many more!

The Wii Fit still refuses to drop from the top five yet alone the top ten, basically wasting a space on the list (should it be the top eleven instead?)

Following on the sports theme, UFC 2009 and Virtua Tennis 2009 both fared reasonably well, managing to reach the 5th and 9th spots respectively.

Harry Potter comes in tenth, which isn’t bad considering ti was barely out a day before this chart was done, so expect number 1 spot to be filled by Mr. Potter in Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, or HPHBP (review coming to JVG soon).

Check out the full list for yourselves and let us know what you think:

1. Fight Night Round 4
2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
3. Transformer: Revenge Of The Fallen
4. Wii Fit
5. UFC 2009: Undisputed
6. Call Of Juarez: Bound In Blood
7. The Sims 3
8. [PROTOTYPE]
9. Virtua Tennis 2009
10. Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince

New evidence has come to light to support relatively wishful rumours of Uncharted 2 on the PSP. The “proof” comes in the form of a picture of the PSPgo in PlayStation: The Magazine. The leak was discovered by ScrewAttack a games news service.

The image could just be wrongly showing a PS3 screen shot of Uncharted 2, but until that is officially announced no-one will know for sure. For now, just don’t get your hopes up on this being true, as it is highly likely to just be a mock-up photo.

We can dream though right?

DOn’t get me wrong, it is a great service, the videos load quickly, there’s quite a big choice on there, but there’s always good songs missing. But Sony or whoever makes the updates is on the ball, they are bringing out weekly(?) updates and new playlists all the time.

Speaking of playlists, the next few playlists have been announced on the Official European PlayStation weblog, and they are as follows:

BBQ Music
Videos from The Beach Boys, Jazzy Jeff, Groove Armada, LL Cool J and a ton more.

90’s
Check out the Shell suits and videos from Ace of Base, Take That, Whitney, The Lighthouse Family and more.

Metal Anthems
System of a Down, Godsmack, Marilyn Manson and Bullet for my Valentine feature among others.

Dizzee Rascal
Dizzee has exclusively chosen a selection of his all time favourite music videos.

The above playlists will all be featured between July 2nd and July 9th, whereas the below playlist is a new ever-changing one:

Hot New Videos
This does exactly what it says in the title with videos from Chaka Khan, Freemasons, Grizzly Bear, Maximo Park and much much more!

*slight exaggeration**

**huge exaggeration

Don’t forget to check out our Monster Hunter Freedom unite competition!

The prizes for the competition are as follows:

1 winner will win a free copy of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for the PSP
2 runner-ups will win a MHFU T-shirt each

Speculated T-shirt design (subject to change)

To enter the competition you simply need to correctly answer the following question.

This competition is only open to UK residents. Only one entry per person. Closing date is Monday 6th July 2009.

[competition_1]

Check out our Monster Hunter Freedom Unite Competition to win a free copy of the game.

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite has been discussed quite a lot for a PSP game on Just Video Game. First of all we were one of the first to bring you the MHFU trailer. Then we followed this by letting you know of the viral video that was taking hold on social networking sites everywhere.

This time it isn’t a video, instead it is a Monster Hunter Freedom Unite event, which has only just been announced. The event, known only as The Gathering Hall at this time (so named because of the venue it is at has that the name), is located in England, specifically at the following address:

121 Charing Cross Road
London
WC2H 0EW

The only requirement is that you have a legal copy of Monster Hunter Freedom unite (no custom firmware PSPs if you have the downloadable version). If you meet that requirement then entry is compeltely free, allowing you to mingle fight with and, if you feel inclined, ignore other people. The event will run from July 3rd to August 30th and the following opening times are given:

Opening hours
10am till 8pm every day except for Thursday, when it’ll be open till 10pm.

JVG got invited to the press event associated with the opening day but is unavailable to attend, if anyone does manage to go, feel free to send us your thoughts on the day.

If you attend the Gathering Hall event you will be given exclusive early access to downloadable quests, which will only be made publicly available sometime after the 30th of August. There will also be a chance to meet the games developers on certain dates.

For more info, check out the official forum thread.

The new game boasts an updated graphics engine and a number of new features. But if you are still sitting on the fence post umming and ahhing on whether to get this game then maybe you should check out the brand new video game launch trailer:

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is released on pretty much every electronic device imagineable* on Friday, 3rd July 2009.

* PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP, PC and mobile phones.

EA Bright Light seems to be pulling out all the stops for the new Harry Potter game, not only are they using a brand new advanced facial animation engine, which will allow us to “read the emotion in characters’ faces as they talk”, they also managed to get voices from many of the films actual actors/actresses.

Apparently, Harry Potter won’t be the only playable character, although no details have been divulged as to who else you control (Ron and Hermione is probably a good guess though). The press release also states:

“[The development team] had access to photos and body scans of all the characters, so every raised eyebrow and fluttering cloak is accurately portrayed in the game”

To show the dedications of the developing team, one person in particular, here is another snippet from the PR document:

“One of the developers also built a complete broomstick rig in his kitchen at home and brought it in so the animators could ‘fly’ a broom themselves and experiment with every possible move.”

Amazon have now started allowing people to pre-order their PSP Go at both the North American and European versions of the website. The prices are somewhat of a mismatch in terms of conversion rates, but that’s nothing new now is it. If you live in the US, you can ensure you get your PSP Go, when it launches, for $249.99. While in the UK, you are looking at a more premium price point of £229.99 (roughly $380). But us British peeps are used to being treated like we have more money than the rest of the world. We don’t, I assure you.

The UK Amazon website has the release date for the PSP Go as October 2, 2009.

Below are the deals from both regional Amazon websites:

Despite basking in some pretty good times, the publisher is getting serious with their future and are posing a serious scenario to Sony.

Bobby Kotick, one of two partners who are said to be responsible for Activisions revival in the nineties, has voiced his opinion towards Sony coming last place in the current generation hardware sales:

“I’m getting concerned about Sony; the PlayStation 3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation,”

Kotick then states how Activision may even go as far as ceasing to work with Sony:

“They have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony.”

The PlayStation 3 won’t be the only victim of Koticks slaughter, apparently the PlayStation portable is just as likely to be removed from their supported platforms list:

“When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP [portable] too.”

This all bodes negatively for Sony and increases the already intense pressure to find a way to lower the PlayStation 3′s price, and fast. In my opinion, Sony will hold steadfast, but how that will turn out for them in the long term, only time will tell.

[Source]

This is a huge number, yes, it’s spread over all platforms but even so, it’s definitely something for Treyarch and Activision to be proud of for the fifth instalment of a franchise that was getting old on their third attempt.

All eyes are looking forward now to the big day 11.10.09, when Call of Duty 6 Modern Warfare 2 hits shelves worldwide. I just wonder how they are going to beat nazi-zombies…

Demonoid claims to have sources, who say Sony are apparently actively encouraging developers to create smaller applications and games for the PSP, no larger than 100MB in size. These PSP applets will be made available in a special PlayStation Store area and will be somewhere within the 2-6 US dollar price range.

A new PlayStation Store to support the changes, along with details of this new “Apps” approach, are rumoured to be revealed at gamescom, a European interactive games trade fair, which is set in Cologne, Germany, and is due to take place 19-23 August.