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Okay, buckle up -- there's a whole lot to take in here. Sega's public relations FTP site recently got a titillating addition: The alleged minutes from an August 5 meeting between the Hedgehog-centric developer and Sony Computer Entertainment America. (The document is reproduced in its entirety after the break) The biggest, potential news from this document concerns SCEA's general plans for the future. One excerpt from the minutes lists a Spring 2010 launch window for the PlayStation Motion Controller -- specifically March for Japan. Another noteworthy section mentions a "PS2 emulator for PS3," which claims that "SCEA wants to sell all PS2 titles on PSN." Later in the document, the possibility of Dreamcast titles on PSN is also mentioned, in addition to a "Japanese Import" section. This leak has an air of credibility due to its appearance on Sega's public FTP resource center -- however, it's entirely possible that it could have been uploaded to said FTP site by a hack-savvy Dreamcast enthusiast. Maintain your skepticism as you browse the full document. [Via NeoGAF]

The battle of the console-exclusive peripheral-wielding weirdly-punctuated trivia games has come to an end ... with PlayStation the victor. WBIE is bringing Scene It?, the former 360-exclusive trivia game, to PS3 and Wii. While the 360 version was bundled with a set of special Scene It? controllers, the PS3 and Wii versions of the game will let you simply use your ol' fashioned DualShocks and Wii Remotes.But what if you want to use a wacky peripheral? Don't fret, as you'll be able to use your BUZZ! controllers with Scene It?. Considering many of the modes of Scene It? require buzzing in, the translation is incredibly faithful.

We're glad that Pelfast has decided to don a free update to Comet Crash. Any excuse to talk about one of PSN's greatest downloadable games is fine by us. This tower-offense game may not have the most inspired visuals, but its radically unique interpretation of the tower defense genre had us enthralled from the game's start to its very end. Comet Crash does a remarkable job of constantly introducing new game mechanics, and ends with a battle with the most number of enemy units we've ever seen in a game ever.Gamers in the US will be able to download a new patch in the coming weeks that adds "some new and remastered sound effects, graphics tweaks, language support and a newly optimized SDTV layout." Europeans will be able to get the enhanced game for the first time in October. Trust us on this: you'll really enjoy it.

The top two games on the Media Create charts for the week ending September 13 are Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver. Despite coming out just one day before the end of that week, the games managed to outsell everything else in Japan, almost by a factor of ten. The distribution of the 1,442,990 copies sold was pretty evenly split between the two versions, with Soul Silver's 722,904 copies edging out Heart Gold's 720,086.The number three spot belongs to Tomodachi Collection, also on the DS, followed by Dragon Quest IX, PS3's Gundam Senki, and Wii Sports Resort. The only other new game in the top ten is MAPLUS Portable Navi 3, a PSP map/navigation program.

Speaking to MCV, the NPD has announced plans to track sales of downloadable games. The group aims to track sales of console, PC and mobile phone games. According to NPD's director of corporate marketing David Riley, download charts are needed in order to "provide a no-nonsense view of what's happening on the publisher level, keeping away from the spin, and in some cases, misleading information that often appears on the internet." It's certainly a valid goal, but we at the 'Stiq have only one question: How? There are many, many online outlets in the business of selling downloadable titles, ranging from small, independent sites to Steam to the digital arms of giants like GameStop and Amazon. Still, if the NPD can wrangle data from enough distributors, and clearly identify those participating, it could easily prove to be a valuable metric for analysts .. and a terrifying one for brick-and-mortar retailers. [Original image: Arthur Chapman]

This is how the world ends -- if you're not Master Chief. Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:Last updated: Monday, 12:42 PM

We told you how Turbine was approaching the "PS3 vs. 360" question for its new MMO, and now MCV has presented further insight into the project, also gleaned from a talk during Austin GDC. For starters, MCV says that a 2011 release for the game is expected, though we're uncertain if that date was just hinted at or based on something project development VP Craig Alexander explicitly said. Also, Turbine has apparently spent $20 million on the game so far, which makes the fact that Alexander alluded to it as a free-to-play title even more surprising. Although, we imagine Turbine will find some way of extracting cash from the willing.

This morning, Joystiq received two images, from an alleged Norwegian GameStop employee, in which multiple PlayStation 3 250GB game bundle SKUs are visibly on display. In one image, claimed to be an internal email to all Norwegian GameStop employees, instructions on the difference between the rumored 250GB PS3 bundles and the current 120GB PS3 are found. The email "there is no difference" aside from storage space and posits four possible "PS3 250GB" bundles: One paired with "NFS" (presumably Need for Speed: Shift); another with "FIFA" (presumably FIFA 10); a third with Uncharted 2; and the final one with Assassin's Creed 2. In the second image, our anonymous tipster supposedly snapped what looks to be the familiar GameStop clerk inventory screen, albeit with commands in Norwegian. It suggests yet another 250GB PS3 bundle, this time with "Ratchet" (presumably Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time) attached. If we're to trust these images, the bundles will be priced at 3799 kr ($644.16), a 500 kr ($84.78) increase from the current price of a 120GB PS3 Slim at Norwegian GameStops. No release dates are given.We were told last week by Sony of America that an image of an Uncharted 2 PS3 250GB bundle was a "complete fabrication," and as such we've contacted Sony of America as well as Sony of Europe for comment on these images. We'll update this post as we hear more.

Third-party peripheral purveyor Mad Catz has announced a new licensing agreement with Sega of America, which should see all manner of multiplatform Sonic the Hedgehog-branded accessories make their way onto store shelves sometime in the future. Darren Richardson, CEO and president of Mad Catz, is positively thrilled, saying, "We look forward to offering unique and exciting accessories to fans of this truly iconic videogame and popular culture character." Since the words "unique and exciting" haven't been used to describe anything Sonic-related in years, it's hard to imagine just how Mad Catz will leverage this license -- short of becoming the next anthropomorphic sidekick. (Mad Catz: He doesn't care what you think and wears a beret!) Obviously, next year's release of a high-definition 2D Sonic game, Project Needlemouse, represents a great opportunity for tie-in peripherals. Perhaps a luxurious pillow covered in special tear-absorbing fabric.

Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg told GI.biz that he doesn't expect the recent price drops on Xbox 360 and PS3 hardware to change sales trends permanently. "I don't believe the price cuts that both companies have made will impact the market dynamics too dramatically in the long term," he said. "We typically see a month or two of lifts and share adjustments, but then things tend to settle back to roughly the established market ranking. We do, however, expect that these new lower prices will bring in more consumers that were potentially a bit resistant to the previous pricing in place."And, of course, these statements come before the rumored Wii price drop, which may reduce even the temporary lifts experienced by the other consoles. Luckily, we suppose, that period will run right into the holidays, when everything sees dramatic sales increases.

What if your favorite video game characters came to life? You'd think it would be a cause for celebration, but Cloverbrawl, the latest film from the geniuses behind LittleBigRevenge, suggests otherwise. The two-part 20-minute film touts some impressive special effects, splicing in characters from a myriad of games, from Smash Bros, to LocoRoco, to Left 4 Dead, and more. Thoroughly imaginative and brilliantly executed, this is a must-watch for all gamers.Check it out after the break.[Thanks, Lumberjack Satan!]

Well, this is getting tiresome. Here's yet another Bleach game by Sony that will seemingly never come to America. What's with the hold-up?Bleach: Soul Carnival 2 is, predictably, a follow-up to last year's Chibi-Ichigo brawler. This time around, the game will focus more on the story of the anime, and it will incorporate many scenes from the show as players progress. This teaser trailer ends with "Coming this Winter," which (if you haven't figured it out by now) doesn't apply to you, unless you import.

Craig Alexander, Turbine's vp of product development, spoke at Austin GDC today in a panel called "MMOs to Consoles", which is no surprise since Turbine is working on a console MMO. It's investing heavily in the MMO console arena, and their current title, which remains unannounced, is in "active development."However, he did spend a lot of time pointing out how difficult it is to develop games on the PS3 vs. the Xbox 360. Duck your head as the fanboys go to it.Here's the logic: The Blu-ray drive on the PS3 is actually slower in seek and access time than the DVD drive on the Xbox 360. Once the Blu-ray gets up to speed, it can handle large amount of data. Just not in seeking and accessing, which is a pain for streaming when you're playing something like an MMO. The memory architecture is different. When you're dealing with main memory, you work with "256ish MB" on the PS3 vs "512ish MB" on the 360. The tools aren't as friendly on the PS3. That includes the performance monitor tools, the debugger tools ... everything. Migrating a project from the Xbox 360 to the PS3 is much harder than moving from the PS3 to the 360. Alexander recommends starting on the PS3 to get all of the heavy lifting done first, but using his same logic it sounds like developers will have a frustrating time during that process. Don't happy tools make happy workers? Gamers already feel like some titles suffer because they have to be developed for both platforms. Is this going to affect MMOs coming to both platforms?There's more. Read on, Macduff.

Sony's been a tad bit impish lately with its rollout of new hardware. First it surprised us with a PS3 "Slim" on the very day it was announced -- today it hit us with a final retail PSP Go system just one night after we played a bunch of games on one at a preview event.So, we of course got the unboxing on video (and in pictures below) but there was one stipulation: We can't actually say anything about the final hardware until a week from Monday, so you'll just have to enjoy the schweet tunes we picked for your aural enjoyment as the unboxing (and our vocal silence) unfolds.

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Recommendations of the Week: O'Horten (DVD: $28.69 MSRP. Available at Amazon and on Netflix, available Tuesday) This is one of the quirkiest and most charming films since Amelie. It's a surreal look inside the life of a solitary Norwegian train engineer on the eve of his retirement. He has no idea what he's going to do with his life, and over the course of a couple of days he has some very strange adventures. Seriously, on paper I would have found this movie boring. However, it's extremely moving and fun. Yes, you're going to have to read some subtitles, but look past that and give it a chance. Beautifully shot, and lead actor Bård Owe says more by saying nothing than most actors ever say at all. Read for the full list on a system-by-system basis just after the break. As usual, we'll see you at the popcorn st -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.

Amazon has put up listings for a new Midnight Club title called Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition. The Amazon listings fix a $30 price tag on the game, yet don't explain what the contents are. Likely, one can safely assume it'll include all of the downloadable vehicles and the South Central pack, but you know what your mother told you about assuming. She also told us to tell you that you have a new daddy now.We've contacted Rockstar for details on what's in the package and will let you know when they get back to us.Source - Amazon listing for Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition (Xbox 360)Source - Amazon listing for Midnight Club: Los Angeles Complete Edition (PS3)[Thanks, Nathan K.!]

The latest, download-only installment in PSP's iconic LocoRoco franchise features many familiar structural and gameplay elements from the first two titles, yet still manages to remain exciting and fresh. LocoRoco Midnight Carnival distinguishes itself from the previous games in that it has a very strong focus on level mastery and overall degree of challenge - Sony told us it's very much geared toward the "hardcore" LocoRoco player.

Meeting with Rockstar yesterday for our first hands-on with the PSP "remastering" of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, we kicked things off with a question that's on everyone's minds: What's happening to the DS version's touch-based minigames? The answer: They're all still in the game, just adapted to a button-based format.We hotwired a car to try it out and were presented with a comic book panel-like inset that had us rotate the analog stick, time L and R button presses and rotate the stick again. According to Rockstar, similar mods have been made to all the minigames, but no minigames have been added exclusively for the PSP release. (Developer Rockstar Leeds did, however, deem the need to pay bridge tolls unnecessary.)We were quickly pointed toward some added elements, specifically a new aiming "arc" for lobbing grenades and Molotovs while driving, copious bloom lighting (it was a rainy night) and punched-up explosions. The in-game "PDA" has also been redesigned slightly to mimic the PSP XMB interface.Check out freshly captured new screens in the gallery below:

We've had a chance to test out the "Pause Game" function of the PSP Go, which was discovered yesterday by GameSpot UK. In the course of using a Go production unit last night, we tried the feature using two different games -- LocoRoco Midnight Carnival and Motorstorm: Arctic Edge -- and timed the process.Pressing the PlayStation button on the Go brings up two options: Pause Game and Quit Game. We made our LocoRoco jump into the air and pressed it, selected Pause Game, and within 10 seconds reached the XMB (after a progress bar appeared to indicate the saving of the game's current state).After selecting Pause Game, an icon appears under the Game section of the XMB -- it looks a bit like an egg and is labeled "Resume Game." We selected it and, 10 seconds later, were right back where we'd been, LocoRoco still mid-air. We had similar results with Arctic Edge, only we decided to use some of the system's functions, including the web browser, while the game was on hold. Again, a 10 second load and we were back, this time with a prompt to "press X to resume" the race.We asked Sony if this feature will eventually make its way to the standard PSP and were told by PlayStation Network's Eric Lempel that it's PSP Go-only. It's a really convenient feature from our testing and has a nice added benefit: The Go can be completely powered off and still retain the game state, unlike with the standard PSP's sleep function. We'll have a full review of the PSP Go soon.

Can shoulder buttons still be called "shoulder buttons" when they no longer sit perched upon the Dualshock 3's shoulders? Could they be more aptly described as "hip buttons?" Regardless, the onus for renaming these toggles now rests upon modder extraordinaire Ben Heck, who made the controller's L1, L2, R1 and R2 buttons "easier to get at" by placing them on the front of the controller (at the cost of the peripheral's rumble motors). We're perfectly contented with the shoulder buttons' current location, but we suppose folks who lost their index digits in a terrible Chinese Finger Trap incident may find this mod useful. [Via Engadget]

When we saw that Sony had announced Yuusha no Kuse ni Namaikida 3D, the second sequel to Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!, we got really excited! As you may know, the third dimension makes everything better, from WipEout HD to the JoBros. Unfortunately, as this trailer reveals, the "3D" in the game's title simply refers to having three dungeons. Lame!While at first glance, this latest addition to the surprisingly-successful Yuusha franchise may look remarkably similar to previous iterations, 3D promises new monsters and a new water mechanic. Perhaps you'll be able to drown any potential heroes that come your way?This totally-misleading sequel is planned for release in the equally-misleading 201X time frame. We're pretty certain there's no year called 201X ... unless Sony knows something about the future that we don't.

The PSP Go may not be able to play UMD games, but it will be able to ... um, tell you more about ESRB ratings? SCEA is doing its part to educate consumers about the video games ratings board by including an ESRB app on each and every PSP Go system. Considering most of us are already familiar with the ratings system, this move is simply to target ignorant parents. "If you don't need it, you can delete it," SCEA's Jeff Rubenstein reminded readers of the PlayStation.blog.While this small gesture won't sell any systems, it is a good step in the right direction. If all future consoles come with more information about the ESRB, it further cements the organization's credibility, and avoids potentially messy government regulation (as evidenced by Australia's latest debacle). However, we're sure that many of you will join us in deleting the app from the system on day 1.