The first SingStar was released all the way back in 2004, for the PS2, and the series now spans over seventy releases across fourteen languages.

Not bad for a game that's essentially only been big in one market (Europe).

SingStar Holiday Update [PlayStation]

Between now and January 10th, European PSPgo owners both new and old can download a special free PSPgo Promotion Theme to their handheld, which will trigger an email voucher good for full versions of one of three popular PSP titles - Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, Gran Turismo, or MotorStorm Arctic Edge. The offer is good only for the PSPgo, and the theme must be downloaded directly to the handheld via wireless internet in order to trigger the voucher.

This promotion is on top of the free copy of Gran Turismo handed out to European PSPgo buyers in early October and the three free titles offered to folks that upgraded from the original PSP.

I picked up a PSPgo this weekend on a whim, and received a lovely five-song demo of Rock Band Unplugged. Hooray.

PSPgo game offer (selected titles only) [PlayStation UK via Videogamer]

While the list is obviously headlined by Marvel (whose comics have featured in every screenshot we've seen of the service), and is joined by the likes of 2000AD (Judge Dredd), IDW (Transformers) and Disney, there's, uh, several important publishers not there.

Like DC Comics. You know, those guys Sony are making an online game with. No DC also means no Dark Horse and Vertigo, either. Oh, and there's no Image, either.

Which means, at the moment, no Batman, no Superman, no Wonder Woman, no Hellboy, no Walking Dead, no Fables, no DMZ.

Sony say "we'll announce some more great publishers soon", but with the comics store due to open in only three weeks, would they really keep such major publishers off the list for a "surprise reveal"? I hope so, but at the same time, that's a little dim. Three weeks out from launch, I want to know a comics store will feature Superman, not be left guessing as part of some PR stunt.

PlayStation Network Digital Comics [PlayStation]

Speaking with GI.biz, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House has taken a couple of shots not at his company's arch-rival, the Xbox 360, but at the Wii, a console he says is experiencing quite the "downturn".

"I think at a time when we're seeing one of the major competitors somewhat losing a sense of momentum - at least in many of the markets I've looked at - it's gratifying to see a platform that's always had a very significant share of sales go to third party publishers capture that momentum again", he says.

"The knock-on effect can only be a positive one if publishers are making up 75 per cent of the sales on a particular platform, as opposed to a much smaller share elsewhere, then that's the platform I think it's in their interests to see succeed - and I think that's the dynamic we're seeing return right now."

Asked to clarify exactly which "competitor" he was talking about, House elaborates. "From data that we're starting to see, in some of the publicly-released figures, we're seeing a significant year-on-year downturn for the Wii. I think that's just a factor of this Holiday season."

Hey, it's been a rough few years for Sony. Let him have his fun.

Andrew House - Part Two [GI.biz]

"Make no mistake", SCEE boss Andrew House told GI.biz, "when you're looking at PS3 games and you're seeing the shift in the sheer size of the data that's becoming available, the packaged media business is not going away any time soon".

The "shift" he's talking about is the number of people realising their PS3s can connect to the internet, connect to the PSN, then guy games off it.

"I think there's been an overstatement there potentially, and then a backlash to that - but I don't think we were really responsible for that overstatement, so we're not really part and parcel of the backlash, if that makes sense."

Not really, no! But hey, if Blu-Rays and UMDs are going to be coming down the pipeline for a whiles yet, you got your point across.

Packaged media "not going away any time soon" - House [GI.biz]

I say tacky because, sadly, when putting the list of Christmas songs together, they didn't go the preferred route and include some Rat Pack crooning. Instead, we get ten downloadable songs featuring Slade. Wings. And...Cliff Richard.

OK, so Wings is actually pretty great. Especially since "Mull Of Kintyre" made the cut, which should give anyone with Scottish relatives something to do once, come December 25, the sun sets and the lid comes off the whiskey bottle.

But Cliff Richard? Come on, Sony. My mum doesn't know how to access the SingStore.

The complete list of holiday songs is below:

Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
Doris Day – Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
Cliff Richard – Saviour's Day
Johnny Mathis – When A Child Is Born
Nat King Cole – A Cradle in Bethlehem
Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder – Ebony & Ivory
Paul McCartney – Dance Tonight
Wings –Mull Of Kintyre
Wings – Band On The Run
Paul McCartney –Pipes of Peace

From CydoniaX:

Allow me to put your minds at ease about this recent press. The coverage of what Pete Edwards said at the London Games Conference was not only a misquote, it was a misreprentation of what he actually said.

Edwards was saying that monetizing Home was not as big a priority as building a great platform, with a compelling environment and a strong community. Home is still a top priority for Sony and will continue to release quality content and provide a positive experience to our users.

And yes, we will continue working on fixing bugs, login problems, and other user issues.

Additionally, Michael French, the editor-in-chief of Develop Magazine, which hosted the event in question, tweeted to Stephen Totilo this afternoon that Edwards was in fact misquoted: "Edwards was definitely misquoted at our event. His point was that Home is a community platform first, and 'a business' second"

So this should all make Sony's position on Home crystal clear. It's not dead, it's not going away, it's still a priority and it continues to have the full support of the company.

PlayStation.com Forums [via VG247]

"It's been a long road," Pete Edwards said, according to Edge Online. " We've proved there is a market out there and we've got a lot of people that spend a lot of time in [Home]. It's not a priority right now but there is a business model there."

Edge Online noted that Edwards himself said European users spent an average of 56 minutes in Home per session. So it's not like Sony's shelving or shutting down Home; he's just saying that investing further in its business model is not part of the strategy right now. Still, publicly deprioritizing PlayStation Home speaks loudly enough about how Sony feels about this project a year later.

PlayStation Home Not A Business Priority [Edge Online via Game Stooge]

There will be three, all offered from October, all costing £285 (USD$464). The first will go on sale on October 1, with a pack consisting of a 250GB PS3 and either a copy of Infamous or two platinum games.

The next goes on sale on October 16, consisting of a 250GB PS3 and a copy of Uncharted 2, while on October 19 there'll be a pack with a 250GB PS3, a Blu-ray remote and the movies Wolverine and The Dark Knight (Blu-Ray versions, of course.

SCE UK Announces 250GB PS3 Bundles [Edge]

It'll be out in Europe on October 16, and priced at £20 (USD$33). Even allowing for a wonky exchange rate, that's a great price.

No word on an American release, but then, it's a PS3 disc. If it's not released in the US, feel free to import to your heart's content.

WipEout HD Blu-ray bundle official [Eurogamer]

SCEE's Zeno Colaco has told Develop "The most successful Minis titles will probably transition to UMD", meaning that the range could act as either an audition of sorts for small-time developers looking to get onto retail shelves, or that successful Minis titles could be packaged in bundles on UMD.

And that's just extra opportunities for the games on the PSP. Colaco also says there's a chance that, where suitable, Minis could end up on the PSN as well.

"These games won't need to necessarily be built for the home console, and I think these games will find their true life and identity in those micro-bursts of play", he said. "But I do think there's a possibility that Minis could find themselves on other consoles down the line."

Sony: PSP Minis ‘will probably transition to UMD' [Develop]

Before you say anything, yes, we know Metal Gear Solid 4 has been out in select PAL territories for months now. Guess it's now out in more territories.

Speaking about the endless comparisons between the PSPgo's "Minis" line and the almighty App Store, Colaco says that unlike Apple - who he says leave devs "out in the wilderness" - Sony are looking at a way of ensuring both quality titles and accessibility for smaller developers.

"Further down the line, we may investigate a totally free model or supported model."

Wonder what criteria you'd need to establish before qualifying for a free dev kit?

Q&A: Sony on PSP Minis [Develop]

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have confirmed with VG247 that that "it will not be possible to release the games this calendar year" in the Old World. So it's January 2010 at the earliest for them.

Got a favourite overseas importer saved in your bookmarks?

No God of War remakes for Europe in 2009 [VG247]

The console company has already brought a number of titles to their console that blend video game graphics with real images streamed from a camera to your television. And the publisher has high hopes for games that will put an interactive, 3D digital pet on people's coffee tables through the PS3 and allow children to capture the invisible animals in their homes with the PSP. But that could be just the beginning.,

"Ten years ago we embarked on a project involving cameras," said Mike Haye, senior director of Sony's London Studios. "The culmination of all of that experience in terms of technology and marketing was augmented reality."

For this holiday, augmented reality for the Playstation means the EyePet and Invizimals.

The EyePet, heading to the Playstation 3, will allow people to care for a virtual pet that appears to be in the room with them with the help of a video camera.

The furry, big-eyed cross between a tiny dog and a monkey, can interact with your hands, real toys and even draw and create its own toys to play with. We were told about a bubble machine, tennis and football sets and a treadmill and singing set. You can also use the card to take the creature to a virtual outdoor setting to fish and garden.

The biggest potential for the EyePet to become a money-maker, it seems, is through the introduction of downloadable clothing and toys, all of which will be sold through the Playstation Store, the developers said.

With Invizimals people will use the PSP and a camera to search their home, yards, anywhere for virtual invisible creatures. Once they are found and captured, they can be used to fight one another, in Pokemon-like battles.

There will be more than 125 of these creatures to capture, finding them will take a bit of exploration and perhaps a knowledge of the creatures. The developers told us that certain creatures like certain colors and times of the day. The creatures are captured in different ways, like by shouting at them, whistling a tune and causing an earthquake by shaking the PSP. There will be more than 30 ways to capture creatures, they said.

While the EyePet is announced as a PS3 title and Invizimals a PSP title, it seems like either could work on either platform.

When I asked if it was possible that the EyePet could come to the PSP as a sort of portable augmented reality space the developers said, "watch this space."

The folks behind Invizimals say that with augmented reality such a broad and relatively untapped genre, they think they could find better fits for the PS3 than their PSP title.

"I think in the future augmented reality is going to explode," an Invizimals developer said. "This is just the beginning."

They'll be available next month, and come in two flavours: €20 & €50 for Euro-using types, £20 and £50 for Britons and $30 & $50 for Australians.

Harmonix's Sean Baptiste has issued a short, blunt statement on the matter, saying "This isn't true, just a misheard rumor. I'll have more details later in the day about whatever it is they misheard."

The game was rumoured to be a "port" of The Beatles: Rock Band, but Baptiste's comment casts some serious doubt on that. Incidentally, no details were provided on just what it was MCV "misheard," so colour us intrigued on just what is going down here.

[Rock Band]

The game is quite a unique beast, as according to MCV it's not a competitor to Beatles: Rock Band. Rather, it's a "port" of sorts, and will be the same game as we're expecting with Beatles: Rock Band, only...without instruments.

It's still being published by MTV Games, and like Rock Band will still be distributed by EA. MCV say it'll be out "within days" the the September 9 release of The Beatles: Rock Band.

SingStar: Beatles on the way [MCV]

On the topic of delayed games - particularly those on the PSN - Sony's Angela Madronero says that when it comes to first-party titles, "We know how important this is to you, and I hope that you've seen an improvement in synchronised, worldwide releases over the past six months".

A fair point. But a lot of user rage isn't directed at first-party titles, it's focused on third party titles, Super Street Fighter II HD's agonising delay being a great example. On that topic, Madronero has a refreshingly honest, up-front explanation:

The decision about whether and when to release a game for sale is in the hands of the individual publisher (companies like Capcom, EA, Konami, Ubisoft, etc.).

In the same way that the publisher decides when to launch the disc version of a game, they also decide if and when PlayStation Network content is made available.

There are many reasons why our third party partners may not be able to launch content in one region on a particular time/date; this may be due to technical glitches, digital rights issues, localisation requirements etc. So the issues are a little more complex than may first appear.

We know that there is a lot of frustration when content is released on one store but not another. I can confirm that from a PlayStation Store point of view, we are committed to supporting our third party partners in bringing as much content as possible to the European Store.

In other words, you got a problem with a PSN game delay, you take it up with the publisher. That or the fact there are so many languages in Europe. But, yeah, probably best to start with the publisher.

PlayStation Store – Frequently Asked Questions [PlayStation]