The PlayStation Phone? Not quite. But it's clear that Sony is keen to get in on the growing mobile gaming business, especially in the wake of Apple's recent iPhone game announcements.

Speaking of the iPhone, take a look, if you will, at the Sony Ericsson F305. Sure, it's sporting some decidedly old-school graphics on-screen, but what you can't see are motion controls under the hood. Our pals at Engadget report that the (officially) yet-unannounced phone contains an accelerometer to facilitate motion-based control, a la the iPhone. Plus, if you look at the right side of the handset (turned horizontally) you'll notice two familiar buttons: "X" and "O." There's also a prominent D-Pad on the phone's face, along with a distintive PlayStation-controller-iconified button.

The phone will reportedly come with three pre-installed games – Bowling, Bass Fishing, and Jockey – which all make use of the accelerometer. Not quite God of War, or even Super Monkey Ball, but it could signal a proverbial testing of the waters for Sony.

[Via Engadget]

Not content with simply digging up the 10 worst PlayStation ads (though we're still laughing about a few of those), our buddies at PS3 and PSP Fanboy have compiled a list of the 10 best PlayStation ads that show, despite their occasional mega-flops, the Sony Marketing Machine is capable of great promotion. Click here, get educated.

Some sharp eyes have spotted an interesting blip in a recent PlayStation 3 video, "What you Need." If you take look at the picture above (click for a higher-resolution shot), you can clearly see a section of the PS Store for television channels, including NBC, HBO, The CW, Cartoon Network (listed twice), MTV, Discovery Channel and others.

Television content from these channels are also currently available via Xbox Live Marketplace. Is this just a mockup from an overzealous ad firm, or a hint at an impending announcement? With E3 just around the corner, we'll likely know soon enough. Video embedded after the break.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sony's PlayStation party at GDC08 was one of the most exclusive parties to get into. Just ask MTV's Stephen Totilo, the GameTrailers crew, and the entire team at Insomniac Games. (None of these people were invited, supposedly.)

As we described earlier, "There are hula-hoop girls with really short shorts; there's a breakdancing crew getting boogaloo on the dance floor; there's a DJ mashing up 70's throwbacks; there's a barber shop upstairs (no, seriously, they're actually cutting hair)." If you didn't believe us, try watching this video: it'll be like you're there! Enjoy this, uh, VIP access to the show.

Click on that enormous PlayStation logo above – seen watching over the swank lobby of the swank W hotel in swanky San Francisco – for our guided tour of Sony's gift to us (and, by extension, you!): the PlayStation Bloggers' Lounge. We're simple machines: When you put Wi-Fi, power, and cookies in you get delicious blog posts out (like this one). Want to see some more pics, hit up the PlayStation crew's Flickr page. We know! Blogging, Flickr, Twitter ... who are you people and what have you done with Sony?

With everyone compiling their best-of-the-last-365-days lists just in time for a near year, let's not forget the one console from generations past who still packs a punch, the Sony PlayStation 2. (Remember, it's still reportedly the top-played system and manages to outsell its new brother.)

Our brothers and sisters at PS3 Fanboy are highlighting ten games that exemplify why Grandfather Emotion Engine still has a kick in his step. So long as still have your PS2 is plugged in (or your PS3 is backwards compatible), consider checking these games out - not only do they come with recommendations, but they're much cheaper than next-gen titles.

Agency Spy reports that Sony Computer Entertainment of America has already decided upon a successor for the American Playstation advertising account. The Los Angeles-based agency Deutsch, Inc. will reportedly be taking over the $150 million account, following Sony's decision to remove TBWA -- their ad firm of the last 13 years -- from the account's review.

Deutsch, one of the five finalists in the review of the Playstation account, is an award-winning ad agency first established in 1969. Currently helmed by chairman Donny Deutsch (pictured above) and CEO Linda Sawyer, Deutsch's clients include the likes of Ikea, Snapple, Johnson & Johnson, and Verizon. The agency's acquisition of the lucrative Playstation account has not yet been made official; we have e-mails in to Sony and Deutsch, and are currently awaiting confirmation.

Update: A representative from Deutsch, Inc. has confirmed that the agency has in fact been awarded the Playstation account. Now we'll just have to see what they plan on doing with it.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

We'd love to say picking up PlayStation 3 is as easy as going to the store and grabbing the first box with the console's name on it. For better and worse, this generation of consoles gives consumers many choices at the (potential) expense of causing confusion at the store.

So it's with this in mind that we present you this handy guide for discerning the difference between the various PlayStation 3 versions (aka SKUs) out there. Please note that the red and green coloring is not only festive decor for the holiday season but also a subjective highlight of what each version excels in (or subsequently lacks).

	80GB	60GB	40GB	20GB
Hardware
Model #	CECHE01	CECHA01	CECHG01	CECHB01
Price	$499.99	$499.99*	$399.99	$499.99*
Chrome trim	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
USB 2.0 slots	4	4	2	4
802.11 b/g	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Flash card reader	Yes	Yes	No	No
Bundled Accessories
Ethernet cable	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Video cables	Composite	Composite	Composite	Composite
Backwards Compatibility
PlayStation 2	Software**	Yes (NTSC), Software** (PAL)	No	Yes
PS One	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Notes:

* This model is discontinued. The price on the chart represents the listed price before Sony axed it.
** See explanation in F.A.Q. below.

Alright, Joystiq, time to answer your own questions.

Let's do this.

Some companies would get discouraged after having their three systems come in fourth, fifth and sixth (out of six systems total) in the latest NPD sales report. Not Sony, though. According to a press release issued by the company, October was actually a great month for the "PlayStation brand." Some Sony-penned reasons why (and why we're not exactly that impressed with them):

• Overall sales for the brand (PSP, PS2 and PS3 hardware and software) were up 39% since last October to $353.4 million (not bad... considering the PS3 wasn't out last October)
• PSP sales were up 120% year-over-year from last October (amazing what a price drop and redesign will do)
• The PS2 is still chugging along and "remains the best-selling gaming platform ever released" (that's right... none of the other systems have yet caught up to its five-year, 100-million-unit head start).

As for the PS3, Sony seems to be maintaining its message of "just wait until next month." According to the release, internal tracking puts sales of the system up 192% in the two weeks since the price drop, with 100,000 systems sold in the last week alone. Good news for Sony, surely, but not as good for the 121,000 people who bought the system at a higher price just last month. Sorry, fellas.

Gamevideos shows two new clips of Pain, the extreme health insurance simulation. Well, like the rest of our murder simulators, Pain only shows the id-worthy, visceral high of crashing your sim-like characters into obstacles. Pain unrealistically omits the months and years of recovery.

Anyway, the jackasses in us have been scoping this upcoming, PS3 downloadable for its visceral high and unrealistic omission of months and years of recovery. See some of the ways you'll torture your characters after the break.

German gaming news site GameFront has uncovered a Japanese trademark filed by Sony, which features the familiar four Playstation shape buttons mapped around the surface of a sphere. It's doubtful that this could be the logo for the inevitable Playstation 4 (after all, where's the Spiderman font?). More likely is that the logo is an icon to be displayed in-game or on game boxes -- perhaps advertising a worldwide connectivity feature. Equally likely is that the symbol could ultimately become nothing, and be one more paranoid trademark made during a creative meeting.

We're hoping for the latter, as the logo looks like a early-90s design reject, on par with that awful Sega Channel logo. Any other ideas?

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sony recently updated their US backwards compatibility search website now that the States gets to join in Europe's pain. As we learned during E3, the new 80 GB PS3 does have backwards compatibility issues. All future PS3 models will also have similar BC issues as they'll use the less expensive software emulation program instead of the PS2 native hardware which is currently in the 60GB model. If you're even considering a future purchase of a PS3 and are at all concerned about your consoles' backwards compatibility, it may be well worth it to get the 60GB model while it still exists -- it truly is your best option in case Sony gets lackadaisical about updating their software backwards compatibility like Microsoft was.

A quick search in the database shows cracks in the foundation already:

• God of War -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "During various FMV sequences throughout the title, the audio plays overlapped by static audio distortion."
• Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "During various FMV sequences throughout the title, the audio plays overlapped by static audio distortion." & "Throughout gameplay, the title performs at a significantly slower than normal performance speed."
• Final Fantasy X -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "At various points throughout the Opening FMA sequence, the graphics jitter."
• Destroy All Humans -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "At specific points during gameplay, character weapons do not function as intended."

Go look up some of your favorite games, these were just the first four we checked. There is no master list either, every game must be specifically selected by title. If backwards compatibility is something you care about, it's worth taking the 60GB model under consideration.

Though the phone company has previously stated that it's "obviously" looking into the production of a PlayStation-branded gaming phone, a new online report suggests that Sony Ericsson's future offerings may arrive sans the letters "PSP." Previously, SE's Peter Ahnegard stated that a PlayStation-branded phone would only be considered if it was "recognised as a true continuation of that brand of products."

Mobile news site, Mobile Entertainment, asserts that a phone equipped with a "games-oriented user interface" and motion-sensing technology is due to be unveiled by Sony Ericsson in February. It "will not be PSP branded," it explicitly notes. While Sony's intention to move into a market notably occupied by talkative tacos has hardly been conspicuous, details of possible configurations have been (and still are) the source of much speculation. Adding a motion-sensitive mechanic to phony games would certainly help resolve some of the perceived control issues, but would inevitably result in one too many of those tilting "get the ball into the hole" titles. And if this pans out, expect plenty of golf games too.

Stuffing an electronic device in your pocket simply isn't worth enduring the oddly shaped bulge if it can't play some decent games, right? Sony Ericsson seemingly agrees in an interview with Pocket Gamer, with the phone company's Peter Ahnegard (touché!) discussing the possibility of releasing a PlayStation-branded phone. Ahnegard explains that sticking the PlayStation name on a phone is easier said than done, as consumers have certain expectations from such a prominent label.

"We're not launching a brand of handset simply because we can, but because we can lead up to the expectations of the consumer," he said. "Up until today we haven't felt we could launch a PlayStation phone because it wouldn't be recognised as a true continuation of that brand of products." When further prodded, Ahnegard admits that a PlayStation phone is "obviously something that we're looking at" and expects it to materialize in some form before Christmas... "but exactly which Christmas I can't confirm!" Well, that narrows it down.

Having recently returned from the future with 4399 other people, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter revealed that he believes a PS2 price cut may be possible this year and the PS3 will get another drop in early 2008. Last year's PS2 price cut wasn't exactly what many were hoping for, but continued strong sales of the PS2 show it didn't hurt. Now Pachter believes that the PS2 might finally hit the $99 mark this year, which if you've held out on getting a PS2 this long -- seriously, it's a really amazing system for $99.

As for the PS3, Pachter doesn't expect any further price cuts on the PS3 this year. He expects the next price drop to happen with the release of the delayed GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 next year. We're still wondering if the 80GB will take the 60GB's spot once the clearance sale is over. We know that in a semantic argument that doesn't technically count as a price drop and is more of a "product shift," but we're very curious to know what happens after those 60GBs are gone?