So, you wish there was a way to enjoy on-demand video on your PSP without having to carry UMD movies around? European handheld owners need not wait too long for on the go video as Sony announces that its Go!View service in partnership with Sky will go full swing this summer. Details after the jump.

Gamers who are looking to attend the upcoming Games Convention 2008 can expect a treat as the Video Games Live Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert to kick off the start of the event. Featured during the concert is American star pianist Martin Leung, along with conductor Jack Wall. For more details on this night of sight and sound, check out the full article.

Looks like the most popular gadget in Europe this Christmas is the Wii if online searches are anything to judge by. According to the figures released by comScore Inc., the gadgets most frequently searched for in online engines in Europe during the first three weeks of November is the Nintendo Wii followed by the iPod. Next comes the DS lite, the PSP and the iPhone. More in the full article.

If you got excited by reports of a PSP Phone patent and you drooled over the prospect of getting a Bravia mobile TV in the UK, you'll be a little disappointed that Sony Ericsson senior marketing director Richard Dorman has shot down the rumors.

"It is not a focus for us with the UK and western European market at the moment," says Dorman. "I've seen our road map for the next 12 months and neither of those two handsets will feature in it."

This is contrary to Sony Ericsson gaming chief Peter Ahnegard's statements during the GC 2007 gathering in Germany a few months ago. Ahnegard said a PSP Phone was in the works and that it should be around before this year's Christmas.

That's a confusion yet to be cleared by the people over at Sony Ericsson. Is this another case similar to the Dual Shock 3 controller rumors for the PS3 which were vehemently denied by management but was later announced? We'll see soon enough.

The world's most famous hedgehog is back for more high-speed platform racing as Sega showed off Sonic Rivals 2 for the Sony PSP in Germany's GC 2007. The sequel looks to deliver more of what the first game gave us. Take a look:

Sega describes the gameplay style of the Sonic Rivals series as "classic 2D" taking place in 3D environments. Sonic and his friends from the franchise speed off in familiar locales to see who's got the fastest wheels around, eluding traps and using power-ups all the time to gain an edge.

The Sonic franchise has taken its lickings after its 16-bit heyday, but young fans continue to support releases because of the light and casual appeal seasoned with addictive elements. Will Sonic Rivals 2 contribute to a new golden age for Sonic? We'll see when we get our hands on it.

Climax Studios CEO Karl Jeffery has something to say about the leaked demo of Silent Hill Origins that has been made playable on homebrew-capable PlayStation Portables. The game demo, initial reports mentioned, was smuggled during the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

Jeffery told online site Games Industry that the stolen demo didn't come from their studio because what was shown at the event belongs to Konami. The CEO explained, "All I can say is that code did not leak from Climax - 100 per cent guaranteed. The code that is out there is fingerprinted and was supplied solely to Konami for marketing purposes".

Karl Jeffery mentioned that the leak first appeared on torrent sites last August 19 and was literally devoured by PSP users. One unnamed site, according to reports, enjoyed more than 1,200 downloads during the outbreak. Why did this happen? Climax Studios doesn't know for sure but the CEO said that this has never happened to them before.

"At Climax we have strong and proven security procedures that protect all of our code, assets, and builds. We have developed over 100 titles in 20 years in business and have never had a leak or theft from inside the company", said Jeffery. Silent Hill Origins is expected to officially hit retail stores later this year.

 

Adding to a starry lineup of game publishers and developers planning to arrive at the big Leipzig bash, Atari and Ubisoft will be tagging along with a good share of games to present at Games Convention (GC) 2007 exhibition. 360-Gamer reports that Paris-based Ubisoft will feature a line of promising games, while Atari will sport a few contenders of its own.

Ubisoft's list includes heavy-hitters Far Cry 2, Haze, and Assassin's Creed, while Atari queues Alone in the Dark 5, The Witcher, Eternal Sonata, and Ace Combat 6 for guests visiting the stand. Also, Atari Germany will have Race 07, a well-known WWTC race PC simulator that may be compared to other racers in various platforms. The lists for both companies are as follows:

Atari

• Alone In The Dark (Eden Studios) - PC, PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS, PS2
• The Witcher (CD Projekt) - PC, also on mobile
• Eternal Sonata (tri-Crescendo) - 360
• Ace Combat 6 (Project Aces) - 360
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (unknown) - Wii, PS2
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja 2 (CyberConnect2) - PS2
• Asterix at the Olympic Games (Atari) - PC, Wii, PS2, DS
• My Horse & Me (W!Games) - PC, Wii
• Race 07 (Atari Germany) - PC

Ubisoft

• Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC
• EndWar (Ubisoft Shanghai) - PS3, 360
• Haze (Free Radical Design) - PC, PS3, 360
• Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 (Ubisoft Paris) - Wii, DS
• The Settlers Rise of an Empire (Blue Byte Studios) - PC
• Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway (Gearbox Software) - PC, PS3, 360
• Splinter Cell Conviction (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC, 360
• Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal) - PC, PS3, 360

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe or SCEE, together with UK's multichannel multiplatform television service operator Sky, announced today the creation of a new company named Joint Venture. So what now?

Well, the new company will be providing PSP owners in UK and Ireland on-demand entertainment content. That means that Sony is now officially providing its user base with a video on demand (VOD) download service for the PlayStation Portable.
Anyway, SCEE and Sky mentioned that they both have equal board level representation in Joint Venture. Furthermore, it was also said that the service will be exclusive to Sony's handheld console.

More interestingly, Joint Venture announced as well that it is considering to provide a similar service across Europe in the future, but as of now, it would like to focus on UK's and Ireland's consumer base which amounts to 2.3 million users when combined.

SCEE, finally, added that more will be revealed during this year's Game Convention in Germany.

We just got word that there are some weird things going on in the Netherlands concerning Sony and handheld console PlayStation Portable. According to a respected distributor, giant corporate retail chains had to send back all PSP units to the warehouse because Sony asked them to.

Now, why would Sony do that? Our sources mentioned that Sony will replace these returned PSP units with new and "unflashable" ones. The distributor likewise said that the custom firmwares being produced by the homebrew community is causing poor game sales in the region.

Furthermore, it was said that the operation is on a nationwide level and one wouldn't find any PSP units in mainstream stores. It should be remembered that we ran a somewhat similar report concerning Sony Germany planning to hunt down websites offering PS2/PSP mods and downgrades.

We really would appreciate it if our readers from the Netherlands or nearby regions will help us ascertain these reports.

We got word that Sony Germany is allegedly hunting down online sites that offer any form of console modding services in relation to the PlayStation 2 (PS2) and more importantly, the PlayStation Portable (PSP).

And by hunting down, we mean lawyers have been included in the picture and lawsuits are likely to follow. Furthermore, Sony Germany also wants these same websites to remove any product that is related to the above mentioned services especially those concerning PS2 mods and PSP downgrading services.

It was reported as well that using and sharing of custom firmwares is a big no-no. Here's the thing, we are uncertain if this is only in Sony Germany or it's actually a worldwide act that was just started there.

One of the most popular modding sites in Germany and the one which will likely take a huge blow is online site "www.ModControl.com". We will update you as soon as we get further details regarding the matter