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You may not be checking LittleBigPlanet for new levels as obsessively as you once were, but that doesn't mean that junior designers aren't still out there trying to perfect Super Mario Bros. 1-1 or trying to recreate the myth of Sisyphus. The game's community has just reached another big milestone: Two million available levels. It took them nine months to get the first million in late July of 2009, meaning that development isn't slowing down. In fact, it would appear to be speeding up.

It's inspired us to dust off our LittleBigPlanet disc and ... oh, wait.

A U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has dismissed a lawsuit against Sony Corporation of America and its related gaming branches (SCEA and SOE) which alleged the company denies access to its services for people with disabilities. According to court documents, plaintiff Alexander Stern argued that his "visual processing impairments" prevent him from enjoying titles manufactured by Sony and its game divisions.

Stern had filed the suit last October, claiming Sony's practices had violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Game Politics, the court stated that in order to prove a violation of Title III of the ADA a plaintiff must show: "(1) [the plaintiff] is disabled within the meaning of the ADA; (2) the defendant is a private entity that owns, leases, or operates a place of public accommodation; and (3) the plaintiff was denied public accommodations by the defendant because of [the plaintiff's] disability."

In the dismissal notice (PDF), the court ruled that because Sony is not a "place of public accommodation" it was "not liable" for violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

You ready? Okay -- follow along: Sony announced today that the Sony Computer Entertainment subsidiary will change its name to SNE Platform (or "SNEP"), and then transfer its video game operations to a new subsidiary, named -- surprise! -- Sony Computer Entertainment. On April 1, SNEP, which will be primarily operating Sony's network services and business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, will merge with Sony, and then promptly dissolve into the parent company. Since Sony already owns all shares of SNEP, there's not going to be any market action (issuance of new shares, share capital increases or cash payments) upon the merger.

So, wait, what's happening? Essentially, Sony is moving its network business out from under the gaming wing and bringing it up to the parent company level. This is a different path than the one laid out a year ago, which suggested SCE, as then operator of the network business (think: PSN), would begin to play a larger role in the unification of the company as it pertains to an online strategy. Instead, the "new" Sony Computer Entertainment will have a slightly more narrow focus, "mainly consisting of the planning, development, manufacturing and sales of home-use/portable game consoles and software," according to the reorganization announcement; and Sony Online Service, including the proposed expansion of PSN IDs to non-gaming Sony devices, will seemingly be handled by a new division (but possibly the same personnel) within the Sony parent company.

Though listed as the "Representative Director" of the short-lived SNEP subsidiary, Kaz Hirai will presumably remain in charge of the PlayStation division now and after the April 1 merger. Sub-divisions SCEA and SCEE are unaffected by the reorganziation.

PlayStation Blog has dropped the European advertisement for Heavy Rain. The ad, which you can watch after the break, places a heavy emphasis (geddit?) on the various choices that players make throughout the game. Specifically, it asks players to "start a journey that changes with every single decision." The PS Blog post notes that different versions of the ad will be airing in several countries over the next few weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.

If there's any justice in the universe, the US version will feature Kevin Butler.

SCEA's Senior VP of Publisher Relations, Kevin Butler Rob Dyer, has some pretty lofty expectations for the still-unnamed PlayStation Motion Controller. Set for release this Fall, it must not only compete against the Wii, but Microsoft's controller-free foray into motion gaming, Project Natal. Dyer obviously believes that Sony's offering has an edge, and expects more games to take advantage of the controller: "My feeling is that we're going to have a lot more games, a lot more innovation," he told IndustryGamers.

"It's easier to develop for," Dyer explained. "You can use the same code base that you currently use for PS3 or 360 or even the Wii in order to get a motion controller game out. You can't do that with Natal." While Microsoft treads new territory with its Project Natal offering, Sony's motion controller does seem to play it safe, offering an experience not unlike the one offered by Nintendo. Last year, Resident Evil 5's Jun Takeuchi commented about the theoretical ease of porting Wii games to the PS3, a trait that should expedite the number of games available on Sony's platform.

Even the announced offerings have played it safe for now, with familiar titles like LittleBigPlanet and the aforementioned Resident Evil 5 representing a large majority of the Motion Controller's upcoming library. However, while Dyer may tout a larger library of titles, gamers are likely to be disappointed if Sony's line-up is little more than "Wii games in HD" and "old games with tacked-on motion controls." Perhaps Sony's upcoming GDC presentation will assuage some of our concerns.

You know what, Uncharted 2? We get it -- okay? We get it. You're awesome. Not only did you win all the awards, now, according to Scott Rohde, VP of product development for SCEA, you've sold 3.5 million units, enough to become the fastest-selling first-party game on the PlayStation 3 to date.

Frankly, Mr. "Among Thieves," we've all been talking about it and ... well, it's starting to come off as a little desperate. And, to be honest, we're a little upset that Joystiq GOTY honors wasn't good enough for you. There -- we said it.

After completing 2009 with redesigned hardware and several high-profile games (including Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge and LittleBigPlanet), the PSP platform is looking for another strong lineup to carry it until the end of another year. Sony's senior vice president of publisher relations, Rob Dyer, told Industry Gamers that third parties will provide a "very robust lineup" in 2010 -- albeit one that has to face a very old problem.

"I think we had a great lineup last year. The biggest problem that plagued PSP was piracy; we have not been able to slow that down," Dyer said. "We think we have some answers going forward, but we're not ready to talk about that publicly at this point. So we're working on fixing that, because that's been a big problem. Publishers, when they put out good games, are not getting the same sales results that they got a few years back. So piracy's been a big issue and we're working on that very diligently to bring about some solutions."

Some solutions include the PSP Go, which focuses on digitally acquired games (through the PlayStation Store, of course!) and -- as recently demonstrated by third-person shooter SOCOM Fireteam Bravo 3 -- a form of potentially consumer-unfriendly online activation. And while Sony appears pleased with the platform's longevity, six years is a long time to still be tinkering with anti-piracy experiments.

"We're into the sixth year now on the platform, and that's a long time for a handheld," Dyer noted. "I think given where we're at right now, we're doing very, very well. But yes, the business has had problems and I think it all stems, candidly, from the piracy."

As if yesterday's free copy of flOw weren't enough for you, thatgamecompany has decided to extend its love to PSN users that much further today by dropping the price of Flower to $4.99. For the price of 1/20th of a rose (hey, it's Valentine's Day and those prices skyrocket!), you can give your love a flower that doesn't wither and die over the next week. In fact, we highly suggest you go with that route of explanation should he/she not take your digital gift as well as you hope -- simply explain that you wanted to give something more emblematic of your relationship! Maybe something like, "It's digital, so it'll never die, baby! Just like our love!" Yeah, that should do it.