Since the launch of the PSP Minis digital platform alongside the PSP Go back in October, Sony has showed little more than a passing interest in promoting its bite-sized game service. After playing a decent chunk of games at launch and then barely hearing a whisper since, we've been wondering when the company would show more support for Minis. If what we're hearing from a handful of reliable sources is true, however, the PSP Minis will finally get some attention in the near future as they become playable on the PlayStation 3.

It'll happen "before Christmas," says one source (confirmed as "this month" by others independently), allegedly with the entire selection of Minis (and presumably upcoming releases) to be playable on PlayStation 3 consoles -- with a resolution bump to boot. As for Sony: "We don't comment on rumor or speculation.", so we'll have to leave it in the rumor department for now.

You may be nearing the end of your assassinating adventures with Ezio in Assassin's Creed II. But, what are you supposed to do as you agonizingly wait for the upcoming DLC? Make your own AC2 adventures in PlayStation Home and LittleBigPlanet, of course!

The LBP Ezio costume will be available today on the PlayStation Store worldwide for £1.59 / €1.99 / US $1.99 / AUS $ 3.45 / NZD $3.90. Unfortunately, this costume set doesn't include any hidden wrist blades, so you'll have to make do with slapping your friends silly.

PlayStation Home's offering is a little less adventurous. The virtual Mall will feature "Renaissance costumes pulled straight from 15th Century Italy." In other words, you can dress like a courtesan (essentially, a fancy way for saying "prostitute"). Once again, no lethal weapons will be included, so instead of killing, you'll have to make do with ... um, dancing.

Source - Assassin's Creed II Costume - LittleBigPlanet
Source - This Week in PlayStation Home - PlayStation.Blog

What does 15 years of PlayStation look like? Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has opened a brand new site celebrating the legacy of the PlayStation platform, featuring a timeline of Sony's major gaming hardware releases, beginning with the launch of the original Japanese PlayStation on December 3rd, 1994. Sony's handheld holds a majority of those dotted events, with every version of the PSP (from the 1000 to the Go) represented.

The "15" year logo is a fun potpourri of various accessories released throughout the brand's history. In addition to SingStar microphones and Buzz! controllers, you can see Sony playing homage to UMD, PocketStation and rubber ducks -- stars of the initial tech demos for both PS2 and PS3.

[Thanks, tmacairjordan87]

The wait to try out Sega/Platinum Games' over-the-top, demon/angel-slaying action title Bayonetta is finally over. The demo for the title is the highlight of this week's European PSN update, joined by a whole bunch of DLC for Fight Night Round 4, an Ezio Auditore costume for LittleBigPlanet and roughly 17,000 Rock Band tracks. That's just a quick estimate, but we think it should be pretty accurate.

Continued →

"I'm not saying it's going to happen tomorrow, but in the way that Activision sort of alternates sequels of Modern Warfare and Call of Duty and owns the leadership position in FPS [first-person-shooter], between Medal of Honor and Battlefield, I want it back," EA CEO John Riccitiello declared in an interview with Kotaku. This means war.

With the Call of Duty franchise growing into a $3-billion juggernaut, it's no surprise to see EA looking to topple Activision's bulging beast and reap the significant rewards. According to Riccitiello, the newly rebooted Medal of Honor and March's Battlefield: Bad Company 2 represent a strategy of "innovation and quality," one he suspects is bolstered by DICE's multiplayer expertise. "We think we've got an advantage over Modern Warfare 2 with our multiplayer," he suggested. "The guys at DICE do that really, really well."

So, you think the console wars are intense? Just wait until you see the war ... wars.

Here's at least one reason to buy your copy of The Saboteur new: All fresh copies of the game will ship with a code to download DLC, called "The Midnight Show," for free. The pack contains new Parisian hiding spots, a new minigame and, for better or for worse, the option to unlock nudity in the game.

If you buy the game sans code, you'll also be able to pick up the DLC for $2.99 / 240. But at that point, whether you'll admit it or not, you're basically paying to see digi-boobies ... and if you do that, we're just not sure we can be friends with you any more.

A Konami press release, laden with the heft of a UK release date for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, landed in our laps this morning. We don't think it had enough force to do any serious damage to -- what? Oh, right. Potential FOXHOUNDs living in the United Kingdom can get their hands on the co-op portable stealth title on May 28, 2010; or, as they'd likely call it, 28 May, 2010.

For those of you keeping score, now the UK and Japan both have release dates for the game. Who does a guy have to hide behind in a box and then put in an unrelenting sleeper hold to get a North American launch date around here?

THQ is no stranger to producing accessible, fun-for-the-whole-family entertainment and has just inked a deal to acquire exclusive rights to Dreamworks game tie-ins worldwide. This agreement will see THQ produce three titles initially: Kung-Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom; a game based on upcoming Shrek spin-off, Puss in Boots; and a title based on the animated TV series, The Penguins of Madagascar. That last one sounds a lot more interesting than a game based on Morgan Freeman's penguins, though we must admit, a game based on the French version of that would be fantastique.

But, we digress. THQ also gains rights for "Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Nintendo Wii Virtual Console" -- we guess THQ has never heard of WiiWare? The first title to release as a part of this deal, The Penguins of Madagascar, will grace store shelves starting next year, while the other games will release alongside their theatrical counterparts in 2011.

Mindscape has established a new development studio in France called Punchers Impact, Develop reports. The news here isn't so much that the team will be focusing on downloadable games for XBLA, PSN and PC -- rather, that many of the 40-odd staffers come from noteworthy devs EA and Free Radical.

The studio is being led by Guillaume Descamps in the role of studio director and executive producer. Previously of casual game devs ZigZag Island and DK Games, Descamps is in charge of Punchers Impact's yet-unnamed first release, which Mindscape says will be ready for the end of 2010. While the team's makeup may lend itself well to delivering a solid downloadable action title, we have a sneaking suspicion that, given Mindscape's track record of games such as My Pet Hotel, the chances of a TimeSplitters-like release have been neutered.

We imagine it'll be somewhat strange the first time we watch Resident Evil's Albert Wesker being eaten by Lost Planet 2's giant salamander boss, now named "Gordiant". And watching the helmet-less antagonist desperately struggling to keep his hair just so while battling the third level's boss, "Red Eye," should prove comedic if nothing else. We just couldn't help but put two and two together when looking at the new screens the game's publisher released recently of three new bosses (including the eloquently named "Akrid X"), especially with the knowledge that we can play through the entirety of Lost Planet 2 as Resident Evil's recurring villain still so fresh in our minds.

Sure, finding out that the ginormous monster that we battled in the demo is named "Gordiant" is just about as exciting as meeting Michael Bublé (swoon), but it doesn't have quite the same charm as finally watching Wesker perish. The demo experience has certainly changed for us, though – now we have a name to direct all these profanities at while being repeatedly murdalized.

Source 1 - Capcom Unity
Source 2 - Capcom Unity
Source 3 - Capcom Unity

What do you do once you've directed actors for a game that's piled up millions faster than pretty much everything? Well, if you follow the Keith Arem School of Thought, you move on to directing in film. Variety reports that Arem's just signed on to direct upcoming action-thriller Frost Road -- the story of a man who awakens from a car crash to find the world is infected with a deadly disease to which he is inexplicably immune.

Moving on to movie making is not much of a stretch for Arem, who was the talent director responsible for rounding up actors and coordinating their efforts in Modern Warfare 2. He also penned the script for Frost Road, so we're totally expecting the protagonist to have one bitchin' mustache.