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Today's PSN update, the first of 2010, isn't exactly packed, but there's some good stuff in there. Check out the Dark Void and Matt Hazard demos. There's also the latest Borderlands expansion pack, which takes players to the Underdome. On PSP, there's a whole lotta comics to download. Check out the full PSN update after the break. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

Put on your glasses, folks. This podcast is in 3D.

Console price cuts, shortages are to blame.

Super Stardust and Gran Turismo are Sony's 3D game stars at CES.

How gaming was built on deception, and why that trend must continue.

PSN will soon show up on other Sony products.

Almost 40 million PSN registered users.

While we're camped out right next to them, we won't be liveblogging the entirety of Sony's mostly-not-game-related 2010 CES press conference - we'll leave that duty in the capable hands of our friends at Engadget. Head over there to follow along minute by minute or stick around at the 'stiq while we break off just the tastiest bits of gaming news for you here. Either way, you're the big winner. Engadget - Live from Sony's CES 2010 press event

Sony's European team has sent out a survey to some of its UK PSN members asking them yet again about possible subscription models for the service. The survey is run by a market research company called Ipsos, and appears to offer up a list of possible member benefits for a few different plan tiers, along with pricing for each. The benefits range from more tame ideas like exclusive and early access to content to more interesting options like "free title trials" (first hour of a game for free), user-to-user challenges, "token wagering" and a service called "catch-up TV." Oh, and since it's Sony we're talking about, there's even a listed option for "cloud storage space for games." You can find the full list of possible features after the jump. The price options differ from plan to plan, but they go as cheap as £2.99 (about $5 U.S.) up to £14.99 (about $25) for monthly fees, with annual fees also listed for 55% less than you'd pay month to month (so around £19.99 up to £99.99, or $32 to $160). Note that just because all of these things are on a survey doesn't mean that Sony has them up and running -- it only means that they're testing the water in terms of what UK members are willing to pay for certain features. But you can just add this to the growing mountain of evidence that Sony is planning some sort of premium subscription service. [Thanks Marc and everyone who sent this in!]

One of our favorite PSN games of 2009 has to be Magic Ball, the simple (yet charming) brick-breaking game from Creat Studios. Starting tomorrow, the game will be renamed Magic Orbz, in preparation of a second DLC pack. For $2.99, the "Winter Theme" pack will add 24 new levels and four new Trophies to the title. It will appear on the PlayStation Store tomorrow in Europe, and on January 14th in North America.

PSP mini's Alien Zombie Death will beam and shamble its way to doom onto PSN sometime this month. The original plan seemed to have been for the £2.50 (no US price) title to release this Thursday, but as is often the case with aliens, zombies and death: plans change quickly and violently. Speaking of quick and violent, the 2D shooter has players blasting everything in sight in a game that appears to be Geometry Wars plus mild platforming. Check out the video above, which features the game's variety of enemies and general level layout.

Because you're worth it, Sony is introducing the "Spring Blossom Pink" PSP to Japan this March. This ¥16,800 ($183) model elegantly calls out, "easy, breezy and beautiful." Due to its soft effortless features, it's the type of PSP that will have commuters asking, "Maybe she's born with it?" If this latest PSP-3000 color does jet set across the pacific, we'd be shocked if it wasn't bundled with the tween girl du jour. [Via Engadget]

Corporate synergy keeps the late "King of Pop" alive, as various divisions of Sony conspire for a special This Is It PS3 bundle. The ¥33,500 ($365) Japan-only set releases January 27 and comes with a Blu-ray movie of Michael Jackson's behind-the-scenes concert film, along with a 120GB black PS3 Slim. No word if this bundle will come with a white PS3 later. So, let's get this straight: Japan gets a Michael Jackson PS3 bundle, while the US is "blessed" with a Hannah Montana PSP pack? That's bad, come on, you know that's bad. And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell us once again: that's bad! [Via Engadget]

Sony and Panasonic upping capacity by over a third.

Limited edition bundle combines system with Blu-ray.

With the exception of Metal Gear Solid 4 and Final Fantasy XIII, games have rarely needed more than the 25 GB offered by a standard single-layer Blu-ray disc. The lack of demand hasn't stopped Sony and Panasonic, though. The two companies have developed a new technology called "i-MLSE" that can increase the capacity of a single-layer disc by about a third, to 33.4 GB. According to Nikkei Electronics, i-MLSE is a processor-intensive method that will allow players to properly calculate the read-error rate, a stumbling block that prevented larger capacity discs. Presumably, it will only take a firmware update to ensure Blu-ray players (like the PS3) can utilize the new disc format. Sony plans on encouraging widespread adoption through the Blu-ray Disc Association, which shouldn't be a problem considering Sony plays a pretty large role in that organization. [Via Engadget]

Enterbrain provides hardware and software stats for the previous year.

Namco Bandai wastes no time in announcing a new Gundam title.

Multiplayer to be shutdown for older titles.

New game on the way from Bayonetta developer?

Tim, 23, and Orion Araya, 20, are the two brothers behind TwO Bros. Games, recent winners of the 2BeeGames Indie Game Competition for their submission Climb to the Top of the Castle. Like Auditorium and Storm before it, the siblings' game has earned a digital distribution publishing deal through Zoo Games. Joystiq recently exchanged emails with the Arayas about their game and what to expect from the upcoming console version: This might seem like a silly question, considering the game's title, but, what exactly is the goal in Climb to the Top of the Castle? The goal in the game is obviously to climb to the top of the castle and die a lot! The game is simplistic by design, so what's its defining attribute? As far as what makes the game stand out, besides the visuals, there just aren't many classic 2D-style games out there, it's kind of like with Shadow Complex: the game innovates with old ideas. Name some inspirations for the game's design. There where a lot of inspirations for Climb to the Top of the Castle. I guess the main reason was the desire to make an old-school-style platformer with a persistent goal to reach. A few games that influenced the idea were Super Mario Bros, Zelda, Braid, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time. As far as people we admire in the industry, you have to start with Shigeru Miramoto, also Peter Molyneux, Hideo Kojima, among others. And in indie games, Jonathan Blow is inspiring. As a whole, we think the indie game industry is pretty exciting right now.

If you're an extremely nomadic gamer with a couple of grands in the bank to spare, you might be interested to learn that Ben Heck's ultra slick PS3 Slim laptop is now up for grabs on eBay. As you might remember, the portable-ized device was originally purchased by gaming retailer The Score, then raffled off to one of the shop's customers. Now that customer is selling it on eBay. We certainly hope that, at some point, somebody will play the damn thing. Please, if you've got the extra $2,000, won't you give this poor creature a permanent, loving home? [Via Engadget]

Prinny 2: Dawn of the Great Pantsu War will reportedly launch for the PSP on March 25, 2010 in Japan, according to Dengeki Online (via Siliconera). Sure, Nippon Ichi Software might not exactly want us to know that it's making a sequel to this year's Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?, but that doesn't stop the company from releasing a mess of screenshots and a release date to gamers across the Pacific, along with with the game's full title. As if the first game's premise of securing cakes for Etna wasn't ridiculous enough, the second game tasks you with recovering underpants for her (thus the title). To combat the various adorable enemies along the way (just look at that penguin!), the developer has added new moves as well as a "baby mode" for novices. We've added a handful of screenshots to our gallery below, but you can peep a metric ton more right here.

We stand on the precipice of greatness.

Truth be told, there's so much info contained in G4's massive interview with Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells that we couldn't possibly encapsulate it all in one headline. Naturally, it all focuses on Uncharted 2, which has been raking in awards left and right as 2009 comes to a close. Among other things, Wells discusses the script, which the team actually wrote as the game was being developed. While there was a rough outline at the beginning of production, Wells notes that having a fully fleshed out script can cause trouble if changes have to be made in the middle of development. Wells also discusses the pacing of the game, which he likens to pulp novels and movies like Indiana Jones. He admits that Uncharted 2's treasure hunting mechanic can actually slow the pacing. Should Naughty Dog work on another Uncharted -- and we get the feeling they just might -- Wells says the treasure hunting could be improved, perhaps by making more hidden treasures available only after the first playthrough. Other topics covered include the complexity of the train level, sales numbers and how far Naughty Dog thinks it can push the PS3 hardware. Uncharted fans should definitely give it a read.

You already know that Tetsuya Nomura is working on Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Final Fantasy Versus XIII, but Siliconera has a look at a patent application that may hint at yet another one of his projects -- possibly one of two that he recently mentioned. The application, filed by Square Enix, details a battle system (credited to Nomura) wherein characters inherit abilities from the last character used. A platform for the game isn't specifically mentioned in the application, but a diagram contained within seems to point to a portable system like the PSP. It's all speculation and flowcharts at the moment, but take those home, throw them in a pot, add some broth and some spiky hair. Baby, you've got an RPG stew going.

We count down the best games in the history of the Japanese RPG tradition.

PC Watch's Hiroshige Goto, citing a number of unnamed sources familiar with Intel's long-awaited Larrabee project, claims that Sony once considered using Intel's proposed architecture in the eventual successor to the PS3, presumably named the PlayStation 4. It was rumored that Intel was pursuing a relationship with Microsoft and Nintendo for their next-generation Xbox and Wii consoles, but considering the recent downsizing of the Larrabee project, it appears Intel was unsuccessful at wooing a major partnership. According to Goto's sources, Larrabee simply didn't offer the sheer power Sony was looking for. Instead, Sony is likely to pursue one of two options for the PS4: use a modified and improved version of the Cell architecture (as previously rumored), or develop a "normal" multi-core CPU akin to the chips found in personal computers and the Xbox 360. The latter option, of course, would help woo back developers turned off by Cell's unconventional design. However, an unnamed SCE executive isn't counting Intel out of the game yet, noting "Larrabee can help us to plan PS5 and PS6, but it cannot make it into PS4." Considering Sony has yet to decide on an architecture for PS4, it's clear that Sony's next-generation console is still years away. Good thing too, because by Sony's calculations, PS3 still has seven years of life left in it. Translation provided by Ittousai

If you were lucky enough to score a new PS3 during the holidays, you might have hankering to start filling the ranks of your Blu-ray collection. Might we suggest, as a starting point, this Blu-ray bundle sale on Amazon, where you could net some real classics for as much as 45 percent off their sticker prices? Although most of the bundles are tied to genres, two men receive their own packs: Michael Douglas and Jason Statham ... so, more accurately, one man and one demigod. [Via Punch Jump]

Sony considering new options, report says.