D3Publisher of America has announced that PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 should already be available on retail outlets for the suggested price of US$ 29.95.

The game, developed with the assistance of Kyoto University Professor Masuo Koyasu, is set to present a variety of puzzles and problems to players. Depending on the performance, and the speed that the players completed to puzzles, the player's "Practical Intelligence" quotient is calculated.

This sequel improves upon the original through a variety of ways, most notable is that this second installment allows players to create their own puzzles and share it with their friends.

For more previews of this title, screens can be viewed here, and a trailer video of the game can be watched here. If you're curious as to how the game's box will look like (assuming that you want to buy it already at the nearest store), here's the pack shot.

PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 is rated "E" by the ESRB, and if it wasn't, then something's very, very wrong in this world.

We don't know if you guys are interested to compute your intelligence quotient or something but in case you are, then you are probably anticipating the release of video game PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient from Nowproduction Inc. and D3Publisher of America (D3PA).

The game was developed with the help of Kyoto University Professor Masuo Koyasu. What it does is present various puzzles to players, and then compute their PQ based on the number of moves and the speed with which they complete the given puzzles. The game is actually a sequel to title PQ 1 and some of the improvements include:

• Players will encounter more than 10 new obstacles, more than 250 puzzles, and unlock 10 hidden puzzles; themed puzzles will focus on Single Moves, Traps, Reasoning, Fewest Moves, and more.
• Players will discover their preliminary PQ score in roughly 10 minutes through Quick Mode, or play through the full puzzle set for their full PQ Score.
• Players will move around with faster and sharper movements as well as choose which puzzles they want to play first.
• Using Infrastructure Mode for the PSP system, players can upload their unique puzzles and download puzzles created by other players or new tests that will be made available weekly.
• Using Ad-Hoc Mode for the PSP system, players can send out a trial version of the game to their friends allowing them to solve 10 puzzles to discover their preliminary PQ score.
• Players will check their rank among the world’s top 100 scores, their country, their region, their age group, their gender and even their own blood type.

Fans in North America should get PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient this coming June 12.

Back in January of last year, Practical Intelligence Quotient 1 (PQ1) was released on the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Video game developer Nowproduction Inc. and publisher D3Publisher of America (D3PA) believe that the game was popular enough to merit a sequel.

So come summer of 2007, fans will be able to get their hands on Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 (PQ2). To those not quite familiar with the game, the PQ series uses a measuring system that was created with the help of Kyoto University Professor Masuo Koyasu. D3PA Vice President for Marketing Alison Quirion is excited about the new project.

PQ1 resonated exceptionally well with gamers and we look forward to offering PSP system owners the second edition to the best-selling brain game on the PSP system. PQ2 will offer a compelling and rewarding gameplay session that translates well to portable, on-the-go gaming.

In PQ2, players will be able to create their own puzzles and share these with other PSP users via the system's game share mode or utilize infrastructure mode. Also, Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 will promote flexibility among players as it gives them the option of playing what puzzle they want to finish first.

A preliminary PQ score can be obtained by playing around 10 minutes. To see if the video game has helped improve your intelligence quotient, playing the full puzzle set including 10 unlockable ones will give you your full PQ score.

We thought that Sony's ordeal concerning fake memory sticks was over, but apparently we were wrong. Just recently, Japanese police arrested a Chinese student and his wife for selling fake Sony PSP Memory Sticks. The police found 19 pieces of 2G memory sticks in his home where he and his wife were hiding. He sold each of these counterfeit memory sticks for ¥ 8000 yen (around US$ 67), a price far cheaper than the original ¥ 20,000 (about US$ 169).

Peng Xiong, 26 and a student at Kyoto University in Japan, has admitted that the counterfeit memory sticks gets shipped overseas with the help of a friend. Peng Xiong had sold more than 400 fake PSP memory sticks and the amount transacted has reached ¥ 2.5 million.

Up until now, the Japanese police are still investigating where these fake Sony PSP memory sticks came from, but illegal sellers didn't seem to have taken this legal action very seriously. Sony is expected to address this matter as their trademark copyrights are at stake, not to mention the trust of millions of PSP gamers who rely on their quality products.