PSP slim has UMD cache, no Euro PS3 price cut

THIS WEEK GAMES news came in an extraordinary glut, due to the cut-down revitalised E3.

The INQ covered a lot of the main stories during the week, and you can find a link to them all at the bottom of the page.

PS3/PSP
Probably the most news concerning new SKUs and systems came from Sony this week.

The new slimmer Sony PSP was announced, though we don't believe it's that much slimmer, the availability of an extra RAM cache for the UMD drive should inevitably help speed up the games, and relieve the over-used battery, especially now games are being given the go ahead at 333MHz.

The newly redesigned Joystiq broke the news capturing several screen captures from the device, showing the cache, USB charging option, and the various TV outputs available with the new device.

There will also be a limited edition white version that comes with the Star Wars game, and with Darth Vader silk screen - seen here.

This should go nicely with the newly slimmed down PS2. The new PS2 SKU, SCPH-79000, has been cut from 900 to 600 grams, with the external power supply slimming down from 350 to 200 grams.

Whilst we covered the PS3 price cut story in full, 1up.com also followed it out, with various updates from Sony executives themselves. Suffice to say, the PS3 price cut is only effective as long as 60GB SKU stock is available - which allegedly there is plenty of - then you'll have to resort to the originally priced 80GB version.

Which, by the way, doesn't include the Emotion Engine chip - meaning you're paying $100 more for 20GB, and sacrificing guaranteed backwards compatibility.

Konami wasn't impressed, saying $100 wasn't enough (little did the company know), and that Metal Gear Solid's exclusivity was in doubt - a rumour that has circulated for some time.

As usual for rip-off Britain, Europe will not be witnessing a PlayStation 3 price cut nor will it be seeing the release of an 80Gb PS3, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced. Instead, SCEE will release a 'Starter Pack' which comes bundled with two first party titles and two Sixaxis controllers for £425/€599. Yay.

Eurogamer has a nice E3 round-up of Sony's conference, here.

Joystiq, on the other hand, had a long preview of Sony's PS3 Home, which looks stunning but lacks substance according to some.

In an interview with Gamasutra, senior VP of marketing for Playstation Peter Dille told Gamasutra that a direct download movie service for PSP and PS3 will be coming very soon, and that the company is actively working on the service, to rival that of the Xbox 360's Video Marketplace.

Xbox 360
Still reeling from the Xbox 360 RROD problems, Microsoft put on a brave face at E3 - despite continuing dramas concerning its faulty flagship console.

Not put-off by Sony's plethora of new SKUs, Microsoft added a new one for the Xbox 360 - a special edition Halo model.

Along with this, you can now see the first live footage of Halo Wars, which looks like it's coming on well.

The Xbox 360 Elite SKU will hit Europe on the 24th of August Microsoft announced. A day after this hack's birthday, hint hint.

It's alleged the successful US Video Marketplace will also follow shortly after the release of the larger capacity Elite, of which Disney just signed up too.

Legendary Xbox insider, Dean Takahashi, reports that the Xbox 360's next big thing is called Falcon.

Falcon is the name for the latest internal electronics in the Xbox 360. It will have an IBM microprocessor and an AMD/ATI graphics chip that are manufactured in a 65-nanometer production process. These are cost-reduced chips that do the same thing as their 90-nanometer predecessors, but they're smaller - meaning cheaper and more efficient consoles for Microsoft.

If pretty colours is more your thing, don't worry Microsoft will please you too. Pink and blue controllers were announced alongside the messenger pad.

Maybe you'd prefer a mini guitar for guitar hero? Check these out.

Engadget has a good interview with Peter Moore, head of Xbox related business at Microsoft.

Wii/DS
Super Mario Galaxy has finally been given a confirmed release date of November 12th, Nintendo said during the week.

Hopefully the Wii Zapper will come out before hand so we can shoot some ducks, or maybe the Wii Fit so we can lose some calories.

Alternatively, if you're more into beer and crisps, check out the Wii Party Station. Yum.

Kotaku had a sought-after interview with 'Shiggy' Miyamoto, and gives us a 6-parter video of the interview.

Eurogamer also has a E3 round-up of Nintendo's conference, here, and the usual Wii Virtual Console round-up.

E3 round-up
Vole executive dumped shares
All 11.6 million Xbox 360s are faulty
Sony confirms new PSP on way
Nintendo introduces Wii device for feet
Vole rolls out new Xbox goodies
Xbox 360 dies because of electricity protection