This is intriguing math. Gfk-ChartTrack of UK has released the data for console sales in the region up to June 27, 2009 and it shows that there is a stellar 24 million installed base in the UK to date, with 8.4 million contributing to that number in the past 12 months.

It would seem that Sony's had plans of coming out with a UMD-less PSP all along. According to Sony's product planning division head honcho, Naoya Matsui, "We'd planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning."

You know what comes next after the European PS Store Update, yes? That's right, it's the US PS Store Update for the week of July 2, 2009. And it's a hefty one to serve you fine too, in time for the 4th of July weekend. So in case you're feeling a little lethargic to join in on the festivities, at least you'll have something else to do to keep you busy. Among those stashed in this week's goodie bag are add-on packs for MotorStorm Pacific Rift, Cross Edge, the Capcom Classics Collection Remixed for the PSP Store and more. Full list after the jump.

As promised, PSPGen together with GENyUS has released the much awaited Custom Firmware 5.50GEN-B. This is great news to all GEN users especially when news broke days ago that Sony has successfully implemented a security update that prevented Custom Firmware 5.00 M33 users from accessing the Playstation Store. Fortunately, Custom Firmware 5.50GEN users were safe.

Download: Custom Firmware 5.50GEN-B

Capcom is showering more love onto Sony's PlayStation consoles. Well, the PS3 and PSP anyway. They've announced that they'll be rolling out more downloadable classics on the PlayStation Store over the next few months.

Sony has announced that it is expanding its Official License Program (OLP) to peripheral manufacturers in Japan, Asia, North America and Europe/ PAL territories. Details after the jump.

After 12 years, Sony is about to pull the plug on its Yaroze program, which made console development available to aspiring non-professionals. Through this service, subscribers received access to an online community, development software, as well as a very rare black PlayStation One console that allowed devs to run their own code on the system.

First it was Square Enix, and then Capcom, and now here's Sony Japan joining in on the teaser wagon with a teaser site for a new entry in the Hot Shots (or "Minna no") series for PSP.

The PSP blog saw a nice healthy balance of hardware and software news this week. PSP owners have been clamoring for a new GTA game for a long time now. This week they finally got their wish. Those holding out for a lower price point for the PSP Go, however... well, I'll just advise you not to hold your breath for it as Sony is showing no sign of backing down on this one. At least the launch titles are looking pretty good, along with the possibility of indie apps and maybe games. Read on for the rest of the PSP Weekend Warrior!

Following the E3 unveiling of the PSP Go, Sony's new handheld got a lot of raps for its features, its looks, and its rather unfriendly price tag. As a result, two indie retailers in the UK have not registered a single pre-order for PSP Go, leaving their respective management teams to wonder if they're gonna stock the new hardware.