While gamers in parts of Europe have a long road ahead regarding their copy of Take-Two Interactive's Manhunt 2 (PSP, Wii), word is out that the game is expected to be released in the Netherlands. According to Holland Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin, this is because existing Dutch laws do not authorize banning games due to violent content.

The Minster noted that theoretically, it would still be possible to prosecute people who distributed the game to people under the age of 16 provided the images were violent enough. "The current law is based on the principle that every adult is considered capable of deciding for himself which games he wants to play, unless it contains illegal material," said Mr. Ballin in a letter to the Dutch Parliament.

Ballin further noted that the decision of what sort of video games children are allowed to play is "the joint responsibility of parents, the audiovisual industry and the government." Ballin wrote in the letter a plea for unified EU standard for video game ratings. As it stands, Manhunt 2 has been re-rated M by North America's ESRB, and has been cleared for an October 31 launch in the region.

 

Back in the day, in some backwater places, only the cool kid gets to have a gaming system. Today, it's either you've got the latest high-end console or you prefer sticking to retro. In other words, video games can almost measure your machismo. People in Amsterdam have a similar idea - the PSP in the Netherlands is a fashion statement.

Some models during the Amsterdam Fashion Week walked the ramp carrying PSP units with "Go! Cam" attachments. We do not know if Sony is behind this, but we can say that a portable 1.3 megapixel camera with a microphone, 180-degree rotating lens, and huge capacity that can hold 40,000 images and about 2 1/2 hours of video is very sexy. Oh, the models are pretty hot too.

The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) has recently released an official announcement ticking off the need-to-know facts of this year's Tokyo Game Show (TGS). The freshly wired press release claimed that an anticipated 168 exhibitors will strut their stuff on 1,708 booths over eight spacious halls in Makuhari Messe, Mihama-ku, Chiba City starting September 20, 2007.

 

From 2007 onwards, the TGS will serve as a essential part in Japan's International Contents Festival (CoFesta). And while it will serve as a bid for major publishers towards the end-of-year season of software releases, it will also bring mobile telephony forward to the tech-savvy masses, courtesy of special sponsor NTT DoCoMo.

TGS2007, extending its show to four days for the first time, will also be introducing new exhibitors from around the world, including companies from The Netherlands, Sweden and Thailand, adding to the 51 international participating exhibitors from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China.

The business leg of the event is also stretched to two full days, a conclusion of which is succeeded with open exhibition to a targeted gathering of 180,000 attendees on September 22-23. The first two days of the Nikkei co-organized event will be open only to attendees with business in mind, touting a TGS Forum 2007 program keynoted by none other than Kazuo Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) president and group CEO.

Need to know more? Then head on over to the full article, right after the jump!

When Electronic Arts said they've upped the ante on Need for Speed ProStreet (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, PSP, PS2), they definitely weren't kidding. While they've spun developer interview after developer interview explaining why Need for Speed was being redefined for a more hardcore audience, those interested in what EA Black Box was offering waited quietly for an up-close and personal look, taste and feel.

But wait no longer, because from Dutch (Netherlands) Game1, we've watched an in-game gameplay demonstration of Need for Speed ProStreet on what appears to be an updated version of the circuit race (or URL) and found our eyes momentarily glued to the screens in awe. That much detail (including damage and asphalt grain) with an almost unflinching framerate was dumbfounding - at the least.

Without further ado, though, we'll let you check out the three-minute long gameplay video. Downtown Tokyo, here we come a-driftin'!

This is a follow-up to our report the other day that Sony recalled all of Netherlands PSP supply because of plans to replace them with "unflashable ones."

Despite many confirmations from various sources and even testaments from QJ.net readers, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's Nick Sharples maintained that no such thing occurred. While the SCEE Director of Corporate Communications admitted that there's a supply issue in the said region, Sharples commented that this is due to an increase in demand brought about by recent price cuts.

He even referred to a recent statement by David Reeves where the official uttered that PSP sales have surged by 40% across the PAL region. The following are Nick Sharples' exact statements about the matter,

Following the recent price cut of PSP, sales have increased dramatically and retail stocks are temporarily low, which is why some of your readers may be finding it difficult to source a PSP at the moment. There is nothing wrong with the PSP, in the Netherlands or anywhere else...

Lastly, when the homebrew scene was brought up and asked about Sony's official stance, Nick Sharples simply declined to comment.

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.

After Monster Hunter Portable 2nd was released - and hit sales of 700,000 on the first week, Capcom has announced that Monster Hunter Freedom 2 will be released in September 2007... In PAL regions.

PAL would normally mean UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand. PAL, by the way refers to the region format - and it's devastating to know that North America is NTSC. It looks like Capcom did take its massive sales on the first week as a signal to ship global. The sad thing is, there hasn't been any announcements regarding a North American release.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 will share all the goodness of the original Monster Hunter Freedom but with 50% more content. Anyway, let's keep our fingers crossed for a NA release date. Stay tuned.

Back in Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg), PSP does not only stand for Playstation Portable. It also means a cool, white motorbike as well.

Vespa PSP has Sony's signature all over the vehicle, as the handheld logos appear all through out its sleek body and a purchase entitles the buyer to a free white PSP value pack. A free white PSP? And now, we wonder just when Sony's coming up with this kind of bargains back here.

Known for making and dealing quality motor scooters, accessories, and lifestyle merchandise, Vespa just modified the original Vespa LX 50 to appeal to PSP fans and came out with the limited Vespa PSP. This scooter costs €2,699 or roughly $3,470 USD.

Anybody wants to visit Benelux?

Yeah, I know you're probably groaning at the thought that this ad's in the news again, trust me, I hate seeing this image just as much as you do, but seeing as how there have been some new developments, and I initially reported on the story, and then followed through on it, I felt it only right to take the story full circle.

Game Politics is reporting that Sony has issued an official statement in regards to the whole sordid affair that reads thus:

"We... recognize that people have a wide variety of perceptions about such imagery and we wish to apologize to those who perceived the advert differently to that intended. In future, we will apply greater sensitivity in our selection of campaign imagery, and will take due account of the increasingly global reach of such local adverts, and their potential impact in other countries."

It's kind of hard to write this article since quite frankly, I couldn't care less about the issue any more, and I don't think gamers in general really should either. I still stand by my decision that it was a silly move by Sony, and one whose consequences they must surely have been aware of, yet they continued down that path just to get some cheap coverage by wrongly manipulating public sentiment. My initial posts were not intended to brand Sony racist, and despite the fact that I seem to have been branded a knee jerk reactionary by the multitude of commenter's in both earlier articles, that isn't the case, at least I don't think so. The idea was simply to point out the low depths that Sony had apparently sunk to in order to grab peoples attention, a message that seemed to be largely ignored.

Oddly enough, at the end of the day Sony wins anyway, the ad has now been seen not only in its source country of the Netherlands, but all over the internet, drawing attention even from the NAACP, whose San Jose chapter President, Rick Callender remarked:

"Sony has done the honorable thing by owning up to the fact that communication and ads in today's global market have a much further reach than in the past, said Callender. "Their attempt to contrast colors clearly created controversy and sparked painful feelings in the global community. Hopefully in the future, Sony will employ a better litmus test to their ad campaigns to determine if they will be sour to the taste of worldwide consumers. I commend them for their actions."

Whether you agree with Sony on this one or not, it's pretty clear that now's a good time to sweep this one under the rug, no harm no foul right?

*UPDATE: The missing .ini file in the download has now been included. Go ahead and click on the link below and enjoy this DickyDick1969 app! (Thanks, NorthernFusion for the heads up!)

The recent release of jockyw2001's PMP VLC Player may have been one of DickyDick1969's inspirations in improving his homebrew app, the PiMPStreamer. This time, he has updated the latest PiMPStreamer v0.65. What is new? Now, the app sports subtitles! Again, this update is for firmware 1.5 only, but he is really working hard to bring out the goodness of PiMPStreamer to other firmwares, so watch out for updates.

Although the team he is rooting for to win the World Cup (The Netherlands) loss in part because of some questionable calls by the officials, he was able to shrug it off to bring to life this update. According to the good developer, "I merged the code from Raphael so there is now a SUB supported PiMPStreamer. At special request from a great donater. To use SUB files, place the sub file in the PSP/VIDEO and play the movie. If your movie to be streamed is called sometitle.avi the subtitle file has to be named sometitle.avi.SUB. It only works with full fps streaming and without time skip." Nice!

Here is a screenshot of the updated PiMPStreamer in action (Guess what he's streaming...). Don't you worry if the subtitle is blurry in this pic for according to DickyDick, "the blurriness is because I can’t take pictures." As always, your constructive criticisms, observations, and suggestions about this app will be well appreciated by DickyDick1969. So feel free to tell us what you think through your comments, for they will surely not fall on deaf ears.

Update: Some of you may have noticed that the important .ini file was missing from the download. Well, thank goodness that DickyDick1969 reads your comments! According to the good developer, "I’ve placed the pmp.ini file back in.. Due to the merge I misplaced the location (it looks into /pmp.ini instead :~),  so i recompiled." So now, you can download the complete homebrew app without the hassles! Enjoy and don't forget to tell us what you think about it.

Download: [PiMPStreamer v0.65 fw 1.5. with Subtitle Support (missing .ini file fixed)]