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Sounds like a page out of the old Six Million Dollar Man series, but yes folks, the rumors are flying high again that the new & improved PSP isn’t vaporware but is actually just waiting to be announced.

In recent months, and as early as a year ago, news about a redesigned PSP has been brewing around the blogsphere. Today, Kotaku alleges to have found a strong lead within high ranks at Sony’s camp, who’s ready and willing to leak the newsbreak.

And as we’ve seen with its closest portable competitor, Nintendo, portable gaming isn’t far off from its console cousins in providing 2^nd servings of gaming systems. Just look at the Nintendo DS lite, Gameboy Micro, and even PS3 80 gig, and Xbox360 Elite, and its obvious that game companies are keen on updating their systems.

Could it look something like the image above? Or how about that one at the end? Or the first one? Truth is, no one on the net knows for sure, that is, until Sony leaks it out. (or someone close) For now, its still up to speculation, although, rumors earlier last year had it pinpointed for a new version of the PSP to be out in Japan back in March. Maybe they threw us off a few months to catch us off guard.

So since we’re talking about NEW rumors, I’m sure you’re probably wondering what kind of upgrades are we talking about?

Well according to Kotaku the new redesigned PSP will have the following:

· Slimmer Design

· New LED Screen = Less Space

· Improved D-Pad; similar to PS3

· Improved battery life

· Equipped with 8GBs flash memory

· Built in camera?

· $170

· August 2007?

Apparently, we’ll have to wait and see. Looks like for gamers who’ve waited on getting the PSP, this might be the sweetest deal yet, and might breathe a breath of fresh air into the 2 year old system.

Who knows, maybe it’ll look like this PS2P early DS-like concept.

Source: Kotaku.com / www.pspfanboy.com

Breaking news indeed… and while the actual location has yet to be announced, (they’re still looking for a building to lease) thanks to the dedicated desktop heads over at our good ol’ San Jose Mercury News, comes word that Nintendo is opening up an office here in Silicon Valley.

Said to be in the vicinity of “Redwood City, Menlo Park, San Carlos”, current Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has stated that 55 key jobs in sales and marketing will be moving from the headquarters in Redmond, WA.

While the news of moving these departments might cause a stir with key executives, Nintendo’s move looks to position itself to finally enter the valley’s esteemed community. With the success of the Wii & the DS, the move definitely comes at a time where Nintendo is financially stable.

For the valley itself, this means even more signs that the turbulent years after both the bubble of dot.com crash & 9-11 era might finally be put to past as the valley itself is recovering and still thriving as a technology & media leader.

If done right, this should be great news for an already thriving gaming community. Northern California is already home to Electronic Arts in Redwood City, Namco in San Jose, Capcom in Santa Clara, Red Octane in Sunnyvale, and Cryptics Studios in Los Alto.

Will Nintendo’s presence make an impact? Most definitely. How deep that impact influences the area and the gaming industry as a whole will depend on whether or not Nintendo can capitalize on the Valley’s sense of spontaneity and simple good natured windfall.

Source: mercurynews.com

As we’re reaching the middle of June, here’s a recap of what’s out, and what’s coming down the pipeline for June 2007. Looks like its going to be endless summer of new games, but guess we’ll have to wait and see if any of it is any good.

6/01 – 6/02 NO NEW RELEASES

6/3 – 6/09 NEW GAMES RELEASES

• Call of Juarez – Xbox360
• Dragon Ball Z: Harukanaru Densetsu- DS
• Planet Puzzle League – DS
• Tomb Raider: Anniversary – PS2
• History Channel: Great Battle of Rome – PC

6/10 – 6/16 NEW GAMES RELEASES

• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer – PS3, Xbox360, Wii, PS2, DS
• Scarface: The World Is Yours – Wii
• Tenchu Z – Xbox360
• Touchmaster – DS

6/17 – 6/23 NEW GAMES RELEASES

• Adventures of Darwin – PS2
• Brothers in Arms: War Stories – DS
• Hour of Victory – XB0×360
• Transformers – PS3, XBox360, Wii, PS2
• Transformers: Autobots – DS
• Transformers: Deceptions – DS

6/24 - 6/30 NEW GAMES RELEASES

• DIRT – PS3
• Driver Parallel Lines – Wii
• LifeSigns; Surgical Unit – DS
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma – PS3
• Pokemon Battle Revolution – Wii
• Ratatoullie – Xbox360, Wii, PS2, DS
• Super Collapse 3 – DS 6/26/07
• Two Worlds – Xbox360, PC

So we’ve all seen it before. A killer game comes out, and even while the game reaches a fever pitch with its fans, it always seems like there is a segment of the population that are hard-to-please; always nitpicking about each and every detail.

And while you may not be that same gamer, maybe you’re the type of person that loves the way developers create their ‘vision’ for the game, but would love to just see a few ideas the’ve left out, put in the game.

Well if you’ve felt that way about Guitar Hero I & II, the developers at Harmonix are listening, and in fact, what their GH audience to help them have a voice for their next music game, Rock Band.

As 2G4G mentioned, Rock Band is the new game being developed by Harmonix in the wake of their closed relationship with previous GH producers, Red Octane. Now with EA & MTV, Harmonix is positioning themselves to build off the GH games and build a whole band – each gamer being able to be a member of the band through drums, guitars, and vocals.

So question is, what music do you want to play? As we speak, the developers are asking for your input, as they’ve setup a website, simply enough christened, rockband.com.

So whether you’re in the mood to play a little 80s new wave, 90s alternative, or some punk or Emo, make sure to cast you’re vote for Rock Band’s song list.

This foresight should help the developers keep the momentum going. As gamers eagerly wait for new content. What’s cool is that from the developers own mouth in their FAQs section of rockband.com, they themselves are trying to answer gamers concerns.

From how much the peripherals may cost (rumored to reach $300 for the whole set; yet to be confirmed) to whether the Xbox360 GH controller will work (in a nutshell; yes!) or when the release date is (none set; tentative Fall 2007 on Xbox360 & PS3) make sure to visit Rockband.com and harmonixmusic.com to get your 411. (well, that or you can always stick to 2G4G!; we got you’re back)

Source: rockband.com / harmonixmusic.com

Just when you thought you saw your fair share of game movie translations, here’s one you probably didn’t think of, but know instantly that it could shine. City of Heroes is going Hollywood!

Mentioned yesterday on Variety.com, it is true my friends. Our local videogame south bay company, developers Cryptic Studios (out of good ‘ol Los Gatos) has gotten the hollywood bug, and getting the same producer, thats doing the upcoming Transformers movie, Tom DeSanto.

In fact, DeSanto has more movie creds under his belt; producing the first two “Xmen” with reported friend, Bryan Singer. (Xmen 1 & 2, Superman Returns)

While I’m still getting used to the ideas that recent games can become movies, (after all didn’t it take comics years to get their movie renditions? And didn’t COH come out in 2004?) its pretty cool to know that the COH series is going to see its big screen debut sooner than later.

Source: cityofheroes.com / variety.com

Out from the corners of Capcom’s community site, aka capcom-unity.com, comes Product Marketing Specialist Brian Dunn’s coporate blog info on their new digital download, a remake of the classic SFII Turbo, dubbed Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix on the Xbox360 or PS3.

Udon Comics, (the official comic for SF in the US) are redoing all the graphics for the lengendary fighter, applying a new coat of paint for each & every frame.

Add this to your new 1080p HD resolution TV, and looks like Capcom has a great remake on its hands.

Now while this makes an excellent ‘pause’ screen, what I really think gamers are looking for is how well the developers will apply the animations to these images. Hopefully if done right, everything will look uber smooth & run like an HD dream.

Cross your fingers…. it looks almost too good to be true.

This pic of Akuma reminds me of the difference my contacts made the first time!

Source: capcom-unity.com

Rarely is there an individual writer that has built such a creative career and branded name in comics as Stan Lee. Creator of such fan favorites as Spiderman, Xmen, Fantastic Four & The Incredible Hulk, Lee is a force to be recognized.

Now today, Disney has begun to tap into the creative mind of Lee by signing a multiyear production deal with the comic legend.

Stan Lee & Spiderman: Like Father, Like Son (Co-created with Steve Ditko; not pictured)

Newcomers to the Lee stable will be characters such as El Lobo, Whirlwind, Doubleman and Nighbird. Details are scarce at the moment, but the BBC reports that these are just a few of the roughly 20 new characters readily available to be developed and implemented into different areas of the Disney empire (such as Disney Studios, theme parks, interactive games, etc.) with 60 characters set to be produced.

Now some might say that Lee’s creative genius has begun to dwindle in recent years, with controversial Stripperella series for Spike TV but we believe Lee has was it takes to help his company, POW Entertainmen & Disney, build a new generation of characters for both platforms.

As Stan puts it mildly, “I’ve got millions of them” going on to state, “”I’ve been waiting to be associated with someone like Disney so I can start tearing into these things.”

It will be interesting how this all transpires into the world of video games. As we all know, games are often fueled by comics. At best, comics offer game producers a chance to gain fleshed-out characters that are written in episodic content, ready and willing to be applied in other medias like games & movies.

If game producers can use this advantage as an edge rather than a cash cow, than Lee and Disney may be beginning the start of another beautiful hollywood business romance.

Source: bbc.co.uk

Always knew that finger in the chili bowl controversy wasn’t on the up in up. Glad to see Wendy’s is still around and this time, they’re providing you more value in your value menu.

Well maybe the Wii won’t come out of the drive through like a side order of .99 cent nuggets, but if you go to Wendy’s website, frostyfloat.com, they’re offering a chance to win you’re very own Wii!

What’s cool is the promotion, (which started on 5/29) ends on July 31st, (just in time for August’s release date for Metroid/Smash Bros. Brawl)

[coolplayer]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4r4HpMoGgE[/coolplayer]

The Wendy Frosty Float Wii Commercial

Here are some simple step by step instructions:

1. Customers purchase a Frosty Float and receive cup with a unique 12 digit alpha-numeric code.

2. They then visit www.FrostyFloat.com to register and enter their code.

3. If they have a winning code, they will be notified immediately – while still online. They do not have to wait until end of the promotion to find out if they won a prize.

They will be giving out 800 Wii’s during this promotion.

** NOTE ** Make sure you don’t forget to buy a Frosty, otherwise you’ll won’t be able to submit your info without the code!

source: www.wendys.com

Looking for Deals Deals Deals??

Like how about a mere $19.99 (mentioned on Cheapassgamer.com)at Best Buy today for the new rendition of the original Tomb Raider, TR: Anniversary showcases Lara Croft’s first adventure redone to celebrate the 10 year anniversary.

What a great way to the past by revisiting it. And… not only that, here Crystal Dynamics is remaking the original in ways to incoporate today’s game mechanics and puzzles so that gamers new and old to the series will feel eager to get back in the adventure.

[coolplayer]http://www.gametrailers.com/player.php?id=20091&type=mov&pl=game[/coolplayer]

Not convinced that the games improvements mean much? Well check out this video comparision showing the differences between the original and Anniversary. (It mind change your mind)

If you want it, make sure to pick it up, as this red hot sales is sure to not last.

$19.99 Available Today at 2pm at Best Buy – 6/06/07 (Make sure to call your local Best Buy to see if its in stock yet…called our local Best Buy of of Steven’s Creek in San Jose, CA and they said it was in transit)

Source: cheapassgamer.com /gametrailers.com / bestbuy.com / wikipedia.com