Side-scrolling shooter meets ... turn-based strategy game? According to a blurry Famitsu scan, a new R-Type will attempt just that. R-Type Tactics features traditional side-scrolling shooting action confined to a turn-based grid system. Instead of cursing bosses for cheap kills and numbing your fingers slapping the fire button, you'll take turns attacking and plotting devious schemes with your enemies. Look for the strange mix of genres on the PSP in Japan later this year.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Sony has said "No" to a PSP redesign on several occasions. Now a conflicting report from SCE UK managing director Ray Maguire says a "smaller, lighter" PSP will be introduced in the future. However, a day later the head of SCE UK PR fed us this line: "There are no immediate changes planned for PSP." Did someone miss the memo?

Actually, both of them are probably telling the truth in a sneaky corporate kind of way. Most gaming systems get plastic surgery a few years after their launch. The DS was transformed from a clunky brick to sexy machine we're proud to carry around. It took four years for Sony to release a slim version of the PS2, which means the PSP could be overweight for another two years. A redesign is on the horizon, but that horizon could be a lot further out that we think.

An old skeleton from the PSP closet has come back to haunt Sony as their 2.81 lockdown has come to an end thanks to the ongoing efforts of the PSP homebrew community. Famed PSP hacker Fanjita has taught an old crack a new trick as the Grand Theft Auto saved game exploit has once again brought Sony's PSP security measures to its knees, enabling any and all firmware versions to run homebrew applications.

That's odd. We thought they squashed that bug a long time ago. According to Fanjita, Sony didn't quite bring their A-game when it came to stopping their unruly fan base.

It's not all sunshine and unicorns for those itching to tear apart the coding that holds their PSP together. The brave will need an original copy of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (later copies were updated to prevent this trick from resurfacing) and nerves of steel. An "easy mode" downgrader isn't available yet, but the wait should give you enough time to scrounge up a stack of PS One games to stick in there.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]

Dallas' NBC 5 News has the story of a Fort Worth mother who bought a "refurbished" PlayStation Portable MemoryStick from Gamestop only to find it filled with pornographic videos and photos. Sandra Hemm bought the stick as a birthday present for her son, whom she described as "pretty devastated" over the discovery. Frankly when we were his age we would have just been thrilled at our luck.

A Gamestop spokesman said the company was investigating the incident and that standard procedure is for used cards to be wiped clean before being sold. As a precaution, local reporter Scott Friedman recommends parents try out used MemorySticks for themselves before handing them over to the kids. Or, you know, you could just shell out the extra $5 for a new stick and not worry about it.

Modder Psyberjock has added a swanky hack to his PlayStation Portable that replaces the silver ring around the UMD tray with a circle of led lights; however, it's not for the faint of heart. If he gets enough requests, he'll post a how-to, but right now he says, "Considering the difficulty level of this mod, if you can't figure it out yourself, you'll probably just break your PSP or UMD tray."

We hope he shares the love, because that's a groovy looking mod.

I'm not exactly what you'd call football's number one fan (that's soccer to Americans), but a lot of my friends are close. That's why I'm slightly depressed to bring you news of a World Cup themed feature for the PSP that I know a lot of my footie-loving friends would love to get their hands on. The aptly named (at least for this post) P-TV, the portable TV service for PSPs, is offering all 64 World Cup matches for viewing on the PSP for around a dollar per game. A visit to the "jardin" during a match will no longer be a problem: if you live in Japan. Yep, the deal's exclusive to the land of the steel phallus.

In all seriousness, Sony could sell a bucketload of PSPs in the UK if they combined a "don't miss a single shot" marketing line with this promotion. There's no problem with access either: a lot of pubs now serve up wifi with their pints. Unfortunately, unless Sony ends up bringing this deal out of Japan, then footie fans will have to resort to that other boring, but tried-and-tested method for minimizing water breaks: not drinking so much damned beer!

According to an E3 video preview hosted by Steve Truitt and Diane Mizota of PlayStation Underground, a Lumines sequel is in development and will likely be (officially) revealed at E3. About one minute into the video, Truitt confirms, "The PSP system is revolutionizing portable gaming with titles like ... Lumines 2." There you have it, folks.

Don't believe us? Just read the fine print in the document Truitt's holding (pictured).

[Thanks Justin; via Modojo]