Get ready for a bit of the ol’ school ultra-violence all over again. Rumor has it that the Playstation Network may soon be graced with the two games the predated the franchise that would draw all sorts of controversy: Grand Theft Auto I and II; plus Street Fighter Alpha. The two GTAs have the familiar road carnage, but from a top-down, 2D perspective; while Street Fighter Alpha expanded on the fighting franchise with several new moves and characters. Those are definitely a handful of titles that should be worth the money.

Via Playstation Community

The PEGI (essentially the French version of the ESRB) recently updated their site with three new listings, which could indicate the next PSOne titles to hit the Playstation Network. Specifically, the three titles listed were Omega Boost, Rollcage, and Devil Dice; all of which have a 3+ rating from PEGI. Personally, the only one out of those I ever played was Omega Boost, which was awesome. Of course that was before Rez, which had some pretty similar gameplay, but with some crazy triptastic visuals.

Via Strategy Informer

When I first saw the Wii-mote and sensor bar used to track head movements for a desktop virtual reality program, I thought it was a great idea but unwieldy. Surely it could be done better… and it has.

Through use of a mod, you can run a head tracking program through the Sony PS3 using the Eye. Check it out.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxT_f_F32EU[/youtube]

Very cool stuff, and something we’ll probably see used in gaming in the near future.

via Product-Reviews

An internal memo circulating through Best Buy stores has surfaced indicating that the 80GB model of the PS3 may soon be discontinued. The full text of the memo reads:

“The 80GB version of the PS3 is going closeout and won’t be replaced at this time. It will come off the planogram on Jan. 28. The 60GB version should already be gone from stores. Only the 40GB version of PS3 will be sold in Best Buy stores at this time. This means that there currently isn’t a version that is PS2 compatible.

At this time, Sony hasn’t made any announcements about new products.”

Combine this memo with other rumors about a lower priced PS3 model and a recent FCC filing for a white PS3, and I think it’s safe to assume a new model will be announced soon by Sony. So in a few days there will only be one version of Sony’s system readily available. On the plus side, we may see some 80GB PS3s go on sale pretty soon.

Via PS3 Fanboy

As you may recall, David Jaffe joined the folks who’ve been calling for a single, unified console platform, making the hue and cry sufficient to get Adam Sessler talking about the idea on his weekly Soapbox piece.

I tend to agree with a lot of the points that Adam makes in this piece, especially where he says that competition between the console manufacturers is a good thing. If we reduce the field of consoles down to one, whether it’s a a conglomerate production or not, that competition is completely removed. What possible motive for innovation could a company have if there’s no competition to drive them towards it?

I do believe that the quality of games overall would increase, simply because developers could become intimately familiar with one piece of hardware, and then wring the very best they could out of it.

However, in the long run, a unified console would be, at least in my mind, a profound loss for gamers everywhere.

Apparently, the latest issue of the Japanese gaming mag, Famitsu, is reporting that a full 3D remake of the original Bionic Commando is making its way to the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade early this year. The game, titled “Bionic Commando: Master D Revival Plan,” will feature the classic side-scrolling, grappling arm-oriented gameplay as before, just in full 3D (much like the 3D version of Prince of Persia that was released awhile ago). There will also be a new co-op mode and some extra secret areas added. At this time, the game is set to release in Japan in the spring. Hopefully, we’ll hear about it coming to the U.S. as well sometime soon.

It’s nice that developers seem to be figuring out just what we want out of these two downloading services. We don’t want new games (well maybe a couple); we want some old ones resold to us, but with new features tacked on. Now get to porting the other Metal Slug games.

Via Evil Avatar

The ESRB has apparently given a rating of “T” for Street Fighter Alpha on the PS3. I was unaware that SFA was headed to the PS3, but considering it has already been rated, expect to see it soon. I imagine that this will be something headed to the PlayStation store in the near future. Street Fighter Alpha was an interesting PS1 game that was a little different than previous games from the series. The characters were created in more of an “anime appearance” than in previous installments of the series.

Although SFA isn’t my favorite game of the long running series, it would certainly be worth playing again.

The game was originally released on the following systems:

Arcade
Game Boy Color
PlayStation
PlayStation 2
Sega Saturn
Windows
Capcom CPS Changer

The above screen capture was taken from the ESRB website.

You can chalk this up as some of the most unsurprising news of the day. Speaking with Jeux France, Naughty Dog has apparently confirmed that a sequel to the PS3-exclusive, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, is already in the works. In fact, the developers are already saying it’ll be better than the first game, but that’s what developers always say. This makes perfect sense since it was one of the PS3’s biggest hits of 2007. Besides, they’ve got that shiny new game engine sitting around, so they might as well put it to good use.

Via Jeux France

Good news, fans of PSPs and free phone calls. Looks like the popular Skype service may soon get a client for Sony’s handheld. Apparently some of the PR material for the company’s upcoming CES 2008 show makes mention of a Skype client for the PSP. Granted, this is all relegated to “rumor status” until someone actually says it’s coming officially, but this sounds like a pretty good sign that it will be happening. Besides which, it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Sony to take this sort of direction. The PSP could use all the outside programs it can get.

Via Engadget

December 26th is really the time for memories of the day before (well, that and crazy crowds at the malls). Most of them are good, but sometimes there are memories just so strange and ridiculous that even the mainstream news covers them. In Camarillo, California, a 13-year old boy tore open a gift on Christmas morning to discover a brand new PS3. But instead of happily hooking up the machine and settling into a nice game of Skate, he opened the box to discover a phone book along with the usual cords and controller found inside. The boy was mostly amused, but the parents weren’t, since they’d paid about $400 for a box with a phone book. They apparently purchased it from an EB Games in a nearby mall, so they’ll be heading back there to return it as soon as they get the chance. Their best guess is an employee decided they wanted to swipe a PS3, though they’re going to have some trouble playing it without all the cords and such. You can watch the video report of the whole ordeal here.

The little deviant inside me is now recalling how many empty PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii boxes I see the dumpster by my apartment all the time. And I do get a lot of phone books left on my door step. Hmmm. *cue the theme song from How The Grinch Stole Christmas*