It’s easy to pirate PSP games, that much we know. But what’s debatable is to the extent that it’s killing, or has already killed, the system. Fifty million PSPs have been sold thus far, yet Sony insists that the “sickening” rate of software piracy has “has taken out a big chunk of [its] software sales.”

It’s not available yet, but Sony’s Eric Lempel, the Director of PSN Operations, detailed the key new features coming up in v5.50 for the PSP. The Information Board that scrolls up top on the PS3 XMB will now be ported to the PSP where I, for one, will continue to ignore it.

Shock! Outrage! Whatever! All words that are totally appropriate forthis here story. Get this: a six-year-old boy gets a brand new Sony PSP from Wal-Mart. He turns it on for the first time, and bam! A naked lady is set as the PSP’s screensaver. Now, in our book that sounds like a win, but the boy’s mother wants a pound of flesh.

Yeah, that’s a remote-controlled car you see. And yeah, that’s a PSP being used as to control it. Madness, surely?

Harmonix just announced that RBU for the PSP is launching on June 9 in both North America and Europe. I’m not entirely sure what they mean by my hands being the peripherals, but my tendinitis is already acting up. Like the console versions, Rock Band Unplugged will have World Tour, Band Survival and Warm Up modes along with character creator. It’s also going to feature over 40 masters that includes nine exclusive tracks for the PSP. But how’s all that going to work, you ask?

Put on your Rumor Hats, boys and girls. An “insider source,” possibly W. Mark Felt, has revealed that, yes, the Sony PSP2 does exist, and that it will be a proper sequel and not merely an incremental update.

Here’s the latest proof that the entertainment industry is creatively bankrupt. Konami has confirmed that it will remake—or, rather, “re-imagine”—the original Silent Hill. The guys who developed Silent Hill: Origins will be responsible for the game. It’ll come out for the Wii, PS2 (?!) and PSP this fall. Oh, boy.

Sony has fired a peremptory strike against the Nintendo DSi, launching tomorrow. In a harshly worded letter they wrote:

If Nintendo is really committed to reaching a broader, more diverse audience of gamers beyond the “kids” market that they’ve always engaged, there isn’t much new with the DSi to support that. Significant gamer demographic groups are being ignored, and there continues to be limited opportunities for games from external publishers to do well on the DSi. Compare that with the PSP platform, where we have many blockbuster franchises from our publishing partners launching this year, representing a wide variety of genres and targeting diverse demographics. Games such as Rock Band Unplugged from MTV Games, Assassin’s Creed from Ubisoft, Dissidia Final Fantasy from Square Enix, and Hannah Montana from Disney demonstrate the commitment that publishers have to the PSP. From our own first-party studios, we’re launching unique versions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm, and we’re also planning a steady stream of downloadable games — both new titles and PSone classics — to add to the content that PSP owners can already purchase wirelessly through PlayStation Store.

WHOMP!

I may not know much about wrestling, but I do know that Photoshopping three stock photos on a muddy background and calling it Rubber Colorful Skin does not make for a salable product. I did, after all, try that technique in my new line of Rubber Colorful Skin Sex Wear and sorely overestimated the international need for such a product.

Your friends, family, and coworkers may have laughed at you in the past but nobody, and I mean NOBODY, will be laughing when you walk into the room with your PSP mounted around your waist, ready for some serious portable gaming.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has been asking PSP users what it thinks about, you know, a possible comic book store. The store would be accessible from the PSP, and users would be able to download ‘em to their portable device. This here video, highlighted by some of Joystiq’s spies, shows what the store could look like.

Can you imagine a world where the Sony PSP is actually relevant? Should Sony follow through with any of the actions that have been rumored in the past few days, it may be able to rescue its little system from obscurity. Today’s evidence: SCEA is working extra hard to bring over as many PS1 games to the PlayStation Network, so that you can play them on your PSP. (Japan has tons of PS1 games available for download; the U.S. has nothing.) That, and Sony is talking to publishers to see if they’d be interested in bringing their classic, non-PlayStation games to the PlayStation Network. Nothing wrong with a little Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on your PSP, purchased for $5, while riding the [subway/bus/whatever] to class or work in the morning, right?

Earthworm Jim and MDK creator Dave Perry claimed the other day that the PSP2—yes, it’s in development—will not have a UMD drive. That’s good news, seeing as though UMD is terribly slow; eliminating it from any future PSP design would both 1) cut costs and 2) shrink the device’s footprint by a not-insignificant amount. And while Sony may deny that any such redesign is in the works, Perry insists that’s he’s right.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve posted about Sony this many times so early in the week. The latest rumor comes from Dave Perry surrounding the PSP 2.

I hear Sony FINALLY has the PSP 2. And thank goodness, they’ve removed the stupid battery-sucking UMD disc drive. I’m excited!

Update: Some extra news from Perry via Kotaku.

Another day, another lawsuit. This time, a Texas company called Wall Wireless has accused several companies, including Nintendo, Sony and Nokia, of infringing on one of its patents pertaining to wireless communication. None of the accused companies have responded to the complaint just yet.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has confirmed that it plans to shut down Go!Messanger, a VoIP application that was technically only available in Europe. (Hence, the SCEE confirmation.) There’s a silver lining, though: no jobs will be lost as a result of the shutdown.

The fate of Sony’s portable handheld is wavering at the moment with poor sales and lackluster titles, but there’s still hope for a revamped design this year that might pull it out of the dark. Here we have two fresh rumors with one having a seed of truth while the other is ‘out there’.

There’s a new PSP firmware update lurking around and it remains to be seen if it will be pushed out to everyone.

There’s not a damn thing I can add vis-à-vis the PSP’s performance to what Mr. Joel Johnson, OBE, wrote the other day, so good on him. I will, however, note that Sony is blaring its victory trumpets today. Why is that? It seems Sony has sold a whopping 50 million PSPs, worldwide, since its December, 2004 launch in Japan. That’s as of January, 2009, too, so the actual number may be marginally higher. Hey, any good news is great news for Sony, which, as we all know, hasn’t had a great year (but who has?).