All you jerks out there who are used to lording your shiny new DS Lites over Phat-owning early-adopters might have to get used to playing second fiddle soon. In the latest issue of Japanese gaming rag Famitsu, publisher Hirokazu Hamamura speculates that a new version of Nintendo's best-selling handheld may be revealed at this summer's E3 trade show.

As detailed in a Bloomberg Japan report (sketchy machine translation), Hamamura's comments seem based on nothing more than industry chatter and pure conjecture on his part -- Nintendo predictably offered up a no comment. The timing does seem about right, though -- going back to the Game Boy days, Nintendo has released a new portable hardware revision roughly every two years since 1996's Game Boy Pocket (1998: Game Boy Color; 2001: Game Boy Advance; 2003: GBASP; 2004: Nintendo DS; 2005: Game Boy Micro; 2006: DS Lite). What would you like to see on a potential DS upgrade? Let us know in the comments.

[Via DSFanboy; picture source]

Sony's PlayStation Portable holds a very odd little spot in gaming currently. It's not a failure in the portable market but, putting it next to the Nintendo DS, it just isn't as successful as it could have been. The PSP had a slow start, just like another recent Sony console, but if you picked up a PSP now, there's a pretty solid group of games. Not to mention that it's got some games in the pipeline, including the drool-worthy God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Our chums over at PSPFanboy have started putting together 60 reasons to own a PSP. They got the first part up now, which includes five reasons to own it ... hopefully there will be another 11 parts. The first five reasons PSPFanboy gave to own a PSP, with a quick quote from them for each reason, are:

• Games: "The library features some real gems, such as Lumines, Wipeout, Grand Theft Auto, and Tekken: Dark Resurrection ... a quick look down the horizon reveals a plethora of Final Fantasy titles, a new God of War, Syphon Filter, Castlevania, Silent Hill, and more."
• PSone classics: "The advent of the PSP Store later this year, we're confident that even more great games are going to come out."
• Downloadable demos: "Who doesn't like playing games ... especially when they're free?"
• Great homebrew games: "Upcoming titles like No Gravity show an unstoppable momentum for this underground movement."
• Play Flash games on the go: "Love a Flash game on the web? The PSP can play that as well. In fact, some developers have even created Flash games specifically for PSP's widescreen."

So, we're looking forward to the next 55 reasons. Clearly many people are not convinced, but the PSP is beginning to fulfill its potential. It's just the sad state of things that Sony is getting into the habit of manufacturing potential products. We want our systems good, and we want them good immediately or, at least, as soon as possible. Oh well, still much love for the PS2 -- that thing rocks!

Seems like the totally secret announcement of the Xbox 360 Elite -- and it's strapping 120GB hard drive -- may have spurred Sony to consider bumping the PlayStation 3's already user-replaceable 60GB hard drive to ... an 80GB hard drive! An FCC filing dated March 2, 2007 announces the addition of a new model, CECHE01, which includes some tweaks to the Bluetooth antenna and, notably, a larger hard drive. Unlike Microsoft's latest SKU, the CECHE01 will replace the anemic 60GB CECHA01. Or maybe it won't.

According to Sony, "The 80GB we're not making a comment on, but we don't have any plans at the moment." While it's true that the interior workings of giant megacorporations confuse and bewilder us, we're still left pondering how they managed to file a "Permissive Change Letter" with the FCC with no "plans at the moment." With the 20GB PS3 model being a no-show in Europe, and increasingly so here as well, maybe Sony just wants to stick those missing gigabytes back into the marketplace. Or something.

[Thanks, Cosmo & Dolla Dolla]

Read - FCC "Permissive Change Letter" for 80GB PS3 (via PC World)
Read - No current plans for 80GB PS3 (Eurogamer)

Just before the Tokyo Game Show, when Microsoft first announced support for 1080p, we were impressed with the sheer audacity of the addition! For all of Sony's technological one-upmanship, Microsoft had deftly removed one of the PlayStation 3's brightest tail-feathers in a single software download. Well, at least it seemed that way until a little over a month later when the update was available and Microsoft's implementation left a lot to be desired. Of course, they promised a patch to correct some issues in the update, notably the incompatibility of 1080p-over-component on televisions that supported the format. That second patch has finally arrived and, as promised, solves some of those issues. For example, the above image shows a Sony XBR3 television finally displaying 1080p content over component. So, for those users who only needed that fixed, you're on your way.

Still, despite the update's promise of "improved support for HD video output over VGA, including 1080p resolution" this blogger still encounters a significant (and certainly abnormal) amount of screen tearing while using the VGA connection, not to mention the pale, washed-out colors that have become emblematic of the 360's VGA implementation. But we're not the only ones with problems. A quick perusal of the AVS Forums thread shows some another anomalies that don't instill much confidence in Microsoft's upgraded upgrade.

We have a feeling that Microsoft will continue to tweak this feature until it works as expected; however, after two attempts we're left underwhelmed and Microsoft's magic hat trick is looking more and more like smoke and mirrors.

Read -- Major Nelson's Dashboard update announcement
Read -- AVS Forums on "improved" 1080p support

When PlayStation 3 launches on Saturday in Japan, the first firmware upgrade (v1.10) will be available to anyone lucky enough to score a unit. The update will add support for PlayStation Network.

Later this month (post launch) PSP will receive a similar update (firmware v3.00), also enabling PlayStation Network functionality. In addition, with both devices upgraded, "Remote Play" will be possible, allowing users to access content stored on PS3 via PSP.

See also: 3.00 firmware to miss PS3 launch

Our friendly anonymous source at Microsoft has provided us with a few more details concerning the 360 accessories announced back at E3.

Perhaps the most important involves the bundling of the Xbox Live Vision camera with a wired headset, the popular Live Arcade title UNO, and a month of Live Gold service for $39.99 when it releases in the States on September 19, 2006.

Granted, this is still an unofficial report (based on a leak of "official" info), so understand that you're probably not gonna get much confirmation from MS until they're good and ready to give it. If you'd like information on what other peripherals are coming out "Holiday 2006" (so sometime in the 4th quarter) and at what price, read on for more.