Piracy has always been a problem for Sony's PlayStation Portable gaming handheld. This was an issue Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) President David Reeves openly recognized for both its pros and cons for the company. Find out what else Reeves had to say on the matter of PSP piracy in our full article after the jump.

Product manager for Sony Computer Entertainment UK Claire Backhouse let slip a number of details regarding their upcoming titles for the PlayStation Portable this year. Interestingly enough, she also named LocoRoco 2 as one of their featured games for the year. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

According to reports a few days ago, the PlayStation phone (or PSP phone, whatever floats your boat) was confirmed in a statement by SCE co-chief operating officer Jim Ryan speaking with The Economic Times of India.

Want to know what Sony has to say? Check the full article.

Rockstar Games will be making another push next week to get Manhunt 2 (Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo Wii) onto store shelves in the UK.

The BBFC has reportedly confirmed that the publisher will be appealing to the Video Appeals Committee to get the revised version of Manhunt 2 onto UK store shelves. More details at the full article.

The British Board of Film Classification will be reviewing its guidelines for games classification next year as part of a review of all the BBFC's guidelines. This was revealed by BBFC senior examiner Gianni Zamo in an interview with MCV UK.

Additionally, Zamo explained that the more realistic graphics found in today's games don't necessarily pose additional problems for the BBFC. The same goes for motion-sensing controllers. Context is one of the big factors in classifying a game, but it's not without its problems. Said Zamo:

Many game narratives are often fractured and detached from the interactive element of the game, making it difficult to see them as a whole, coherent piece. Trying to understand the context of a 40 plus hour game (even with a storyline) is very different from understanding a 90 minute movie.

It looks to be a rude awakening over in Britain for Rockstar, as the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rejected the changes made to Rockstar's Manhunt 2 (Wii and PSP).

The BBFC mentioned that Rockstar seemingly ignored the suggestions made by the BBFC to address the game's content. It is currently unclear if these changes are the same as in the revised edition made for American audiences.

David Cooke, director of the BBFC, had this to say about the changes made to the game:

We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version.

The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient.There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the "execution kills", but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.

We did make suggestions for further changes to the game, but the distributor has chosen not to make them, and as a result we have rejected the game on both platforms. The decision on whether or not an appeal goes ahead lies with the distributor.

With this bit of news, it seems Rockstar's last chance to get the game to be released in Britain is to go through the Video Appeals Committee, which is expected to hear Rockstar's plea later in the year.

ChartTrack statistics have pegged last week as the worst sales period for Sony's PlayStation Portable handheld video game system in Europe. The dip in sales (32.1% to be exact) was attributed by Sony to growing anticipation for the PSP Slim's launch. This is according to a report from MCV UK.

"There are probably a lot of consumers who are now waiting for Slim & Lite to arrive," said ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch. "The fact that kids are returning to school is also sure to have had a marked effect. There are always bad words to say about a dip like this, but there may well be a sales spike in week 37 after the new console is launched."

The redesign for the company's popular handheld will be launching in the UK on September 14. ChartTrack also noted that retailers were thinning out stock of the original PSP to make sure that there will be enough PSP Slims at launch.

US attorney Jack Thompson has commended the UK for banning Take-Two Interactive's Manhunt 2 from sale, adding that he "would absolutely like to see the US and other countries following the UK’s lead."

Thompson said in an article published in MCV UK that the British have a working model where a law has a functional sanction that prevents people from purchasing the concerned material. "I think you all have it right and I think the ruling on Manhunt 2 was spot on – and I see also that Take 2’s The Darkness was banned in Singapore," he says to the UK ratings body BBFC.

Thompson also took a swipe at nemesis publisher and developer tandem Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games, saying that the fact that they made Manhunt 2 made it all the more likely for a ban to be imposed. The high visibility of Take 2 and Rockstar – the poster child for what’s wrong in the industry – made it more likely that it would get a ban," comments the activist lawyer.

"In a way the BBFC rating is redundant because the industry itself, the format holders, have banned it," Thompson says in reference to what he says is a sensible act by Sony and Nintendo to not allow an Adults Only-rated game to be sold in their platforms.

And if you think gamers are the only people excited about Grand Theft Auto IV's launch, you're in for a shock. Thompson says "the next big thing that’s going to hit is Grand Theft Auto 4 and we’ll have to wait and see whether or not that deserves a very restricted rating or doesn’t get rated at all."

The US attorney then concluded with optimism that Americans will adopt a similar rating system to that of the UK, especially Thompson says, if Hillary Clinton becomes the next President. "This has been one of her issues for many years, so I think if she’s elected you’ll see a real push from the White House to have a national sanction hooking into the Government’s rating system."

It comes out as no surprise sometimes when two great firms partner with each other. MCV is a respected trade magazine in the UK that focuses on the video gaming industry. Famitsu is the most widely respected video game news magazine in Japan. Recently, the two establishments announced that they will continue corresponding with each other in securing video games data.

MCV managing editor Lisa Foster said that they are delighted to able able to continue their mutually beneficial association with Famitsu. Famitsu will continue to provide MCV with authoritative marketing data as well as industry leading analysis and news. MCV in return will supply Famitsu with the latest trends, data and stories from the European market.

Ricky Tanimoto of Famitsu says that they are honored to be able to use MCV's content in their publications and online product. He further elaborates that their knowledge of games marketing in Europe has been enriched in the last two years, as attention towards the emerging European game market, especially in the UK, has continued to increase in Japan.

We're glad for this announcement. Both publications, like we said, are quite known in their fields and it's always nice to have a collaboration.

MCV came up with some breaking news which UK gamers will definitely find interesting. Game retailers in the UK are slashing prices, which means it's a great time to hunt for those games you wanted to buy but were too broke to get when they first came out.

Some retailers are selling Xbox 360 games for a lot less, with games like Dead Rising and Splinter Cell: Double Agent costing around £25 (US$ 49). Expect some really good games to cost less than £30 for the next few weeks

They've also priced DS and PSP games a lot lower. Some DS games are going for under £10 (US$ 19), while GTA: Vice City Stories  for the PSP is selling for £19.99 (US$ 40).

The sourced page has a short list of some favorites and their prices per store, including a bunch of PS2 hits. All in all, now's a good time to make a sweep of your favorite game stores to rack up some great games for the summer months. Enjoy!