To give some perspective on the relative age of Sony's second console, think about this: if the PlayStation 2 were a human being, it would be a third-grader right about now, and would probably know more about long division than we do. While most eight-year-old consoles generally go the way of the Jaguar, Sony seems dedicated to the continued growth of their popular (though fairly aged) home console -- for example, in an attempt to extend their already impressive multinational reach, Sony recently hired 13 Indian game developers to create domestically-themed games and improve sales in India and the Middle East.

Though nearly 3.3 million Indians already own PS2s, Sony is confident that creating games based on "Bollywood, mythology and culture" and featuring motion-sensing gameplay using the fairly neglected Eye Toy peripheral will further increase their dominance in the Indian market. Could these rupee-garnering efforts prolong the system's life until middle school, and the associated joys of puberty? Only time can tell.

The country of India obtains access to Xbox Live beginning November 5. A 12-month subscription to the service will cost 2200 rupees ($55 USD). 1600 MS Points (which is fake currency to begin with), normally $20 in the States, will cost 1070 rupees ($27). Indian XBLA will supposedly be tied into Asia, so if a game is available there, it should be available on the marketplace.

Apparently a key difference between India's Xbox Live and others is the "educational content." According to those at the event held at the Shangri-la Hotel in New Delhi, Microsoft announced India will be the first country with learning aids for grades 1-12. We have no idea at this point what that means, but if they being offering XBLA Number Munchers or Oregon Trail in the States, that's an automatic 400 to 800 MS Points spent right there. And, of course, Bollywood productions will be available through the Xbox Marketplace.

Read: Xbox Live, Games for Windows launches Nov. 5
Read: Microsoft India launches Xbox live

Eurogamer reports that SingStar Bollywood will hit European store shelves this Friday. Lucky for some of you, the game features phonetic English lyrics so gamers don't have to learn Hindi in the next three days. If you've never been treated to an over-the-top Bollywood production, we have some toned-down examples after the break along with the song list for SingStar Bollywood.

The term Bollywood typically refers to a part of Indian cinema best known for elaborate musical numbers involving massive choreography and catchy tunes. This is certainly another gem in the increasingly diverse SingStar pantheon. Now we wait for the announcement of a SingStar Swedish Folk edition ... actually, seriously now, a pure ABBA SingStar would be amazing.

ZDNet is reporting on Bollywood3D, a new company set up to release promotional games for India's famously prolific film industry. Unlike movie-based games in the States, which count on a box office bump from the film's premiere, Bollywood3D games will come out ahead of the movie to create early buzz, including built-in contests for merchandise and premiere tickets.

Bollywood's famous musicals won't be adapted to start -- early games will instead let you take control of big Bollywood action stars like Emran Hashmi and Salman Kahn. With budgets of $100,000 and and a development cycle of two months, the games aren't likely to be AAA blockbusters in their own right. But as a marketing promotion aimed at India's millions of computer owners, it might just work. Hey, if they can sell two million Burger King games, anything is possible.