In addition to a Mylo-esque physique and UMD-less guts, it seems that the PSP Go has a significantly improved CPU. What a pleasant surprise! Of course, this isn’t leading to some games having a “turbo mode” or any other crazy ideas you might have — it’s just making the whole PSP experience that much more responsive.

Look at that man. He seems to really be enjoying himself. Soon you’ll be enjoying yourself like him too if Sony ever figures out how to manufacturer this motion control system that I’m code-naming “WeebleDong.” It uses everyday objects - a fake sword, a spoon, your mum’s little friend - to control on-screen action.

In a show of forward thinking stifled by corporate lethargy, it seems that Sony had a PSP Go planned since 2004 but didn’t think the infrastructure was ready for it.

Well, Sony, you missed the boat on that one. As usual, you took the low-risk, low-reward path and as usual I’m going to mock you for it. Because you know what else wasn’t ready when it came out? The Wii. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Sony seems to be less happy with the PS3 sales numbers than one could think. Or why else would they cooperate with the Taiwanese government to make local developers create more games for their console?

Yesterday Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs has closed a cooperation deal with Sony that centers on the areas of human resources and financing. The aim of the project is to increase a bigger user and developer base in Taiwan that could then help create PS3 games suitable for the much bigger game market in mainland China.

Attempting to quell earlier reports that they’ve signed an agreement with Sony to build the rumored PS3 Slim, Foxconn issued an official “no comment” statement with the Taiwan Stock Exchange today.

The secrecy over the PS3 Slim continues to unravel with news that Foxconn have been contracted to manufacture and ship the updated model starting next month. The report from UDN does not explicitly say that the smaller version of the current platform will be sold anytime soon, but it falls in line with what Ars’s Mole leaked over the weekend. However, UDN states that an updated PS3 will be launched in the Spring. Me thinks they’re just referring to the motion control system and not a brand new console revision.

Gamers of a certain age will remember the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality. It was a little mark placed on official Nintendo products in the NES/SNES era (well, that’s when it mattered) that let buyers know that, yes, this product has been blessed by Nintendo. It will not harm you, your cat or your NES. Fast-forward several years and now Sony has gotten into the business of slapping their logo on officially licensed gear with the “Official Licensed Product” gimmick.

Think back to the autumn of 2006, right before the big PS3 launch. Expecting someone to pay five-hundred-and-ninety-nine-U.S.-dollars was (rightly) considered ludicrous, but the ability to play the entire PS2 library on the system somewhat lessened the blow. But then Sony removed the Emotion Engine chip from the PS3, thus rendering it unable to play PS2 games. (More recent models, like the one found in the Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle, used a just-sorta-okay software emulation method to grant partial PS2 backwards compatibility.) All that may well change if Sony goes ahead and executes the idea found in this recently unearthed patent.

Quite a polemic we’re dealing with, friends. It seems that, suddenly, the PS3 is no longer able to play Hulu content. I just tried to play the Power Rangers movie on my brother’s PS3, and up pops the message: “Unfortunately, this video is not available on your platform. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

I’m not sure I think this is such a good idea, Sony. A PSP crossed with one of Sony-Ericsson’s phones probably wouldn’t enjoy hybrid vigor, seeing as neither device is exactly best in breed. I mean, they’re both fine for what they are, but let’s be honest: they’re generally overpriced and only sport the most basic features.

I’m afraid I don’t trust you guys to make a successful crossover device, although you’re welcome to try. Er…continue to try. Just remember what the N-Gage did to Nokia.

Tired of your black DualShock3? Well then get thee to GameStop before the end of September, where $54.99 will nab you a “satin silver” one. That’s what it looks like, right there.

If you curled your lip and slowly shook your head when Sony announced that the PSPgo would cost $249, you weren’t alone. So it’s perhaps even more irksome when the head of Sony Europe just comes right out and says that you’re paying a premium price just because the PSPgo is new. What’s with all the honesty, Sony?

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will make its way to the PSP and PSP Go this fall. It’ll be available on UMD for PSP owners and in downloadable form on the PlayStation Network in both North America and Europe.

In an interview with The Times Online, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick made it very clear that if Sony does not lower the price of the PS3 then the games publisher will cease support for the console.

While the jury’s still out on the idea of portable Blu-ray, Sony’s not taking any chances. It’s announced the new NW series of notebooks, starting at $800 and equipped with a Blu-ray drive at $880.

Mice might not be the most stylish devices in the computer world. Most of the time ergonomics wins over style as your hand covers it anyway. But this Sony VAIO mouse forgoes the comfort for a drop dead gorgeous look.

Let’s talk hypothetically for a moment. Let’s say you’re the average American (or wherever you’re from), going to school or working for The Man. Let’s say that you occasionally download an MP3 or FLAC from wherever you get such things. Now, do you have $150,000 to give to the RIAA for every song you’ve downloaded? I sure as heck don’t! (I’d need a government bailout, lol!) More importantly, why is $150,000 an appropriate amount to ask for, as Sony seems to suggest? If I can buy a song off iTunes for $1.30, how is it that “finding” that same song could cost me $150,000?