Today Sony released their Q3 Financial Report for the 2009 Fiscal Year which described an increase in PS3 sales and a decrease in other gaming systems when compared to with last year’s 3rd quarter.

According to the report, Sony sold approximately 6.5 million Playstation 3 systems, 4.2 million Playstation Portable systems and 2.1 million PS2 systems. The PS3 was the only system to see an increase in sales, boosting a remarkable 2 million more sales than the previous year. The PSP and PS2 both saw a decline in sales.

However, Sony reports that because of “improvmenet in the cost of PS3 hardware” the profitability of their game business remains relatively unchanged from last year. You can read the full financial report via the source link below (warning: PDF)

Sony Q3 2009 Financial Report [Sony]

Another Thursday, another PSN update. Some suck, some don't, and this one definitely makes up for last week's rather unsatisfying update.

This week Sony unveiled it's '10 for '10 Game Sale,' where it slashed the price by half for 12 games, both on the PS3 and PSP. And no, I don't why it's called '10 for '10' when there's 12 games.

Regarding new games, the classic Championship Bass for the PSX was released, as well as Konami's latest addition to the Vandal Hearts series, Vandal Hearts: Flames of Judgement. On the PSP side the offerings were quite nice as well, with the revamped edition of Valhalla Knights 2, Valhalla Knights 2: Battle Stance, being released, offering improved warp points and new content over it's predecessor. The Metal Gear PSP bundle was also added, putting the Metal Gear: Portable Ops series and the Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel in the hands of all PSP owners. And finally, DJ Max Fever, the popular music game, has been uploaded as well.

Check out the full content of the update after the break.

After all the waiting, the day has finally come. (Or should I say the day is finally coming?) Atlus USA has announced on their forums and the US PlayStation Blog that Persona 3 Portable is coming stateside  for both PSP and PSPgo users. Here are a few details from the Atlus press release:

"Terrible creatures lurk in the dark, preying on those who wander into the hidden hour between one day and the next. As a member of a secret school club, you must wield your inner power—Persona—and protect humanity from impending doom. Will you live to see the light of day?"

Key Features

* Maximum Persona 3—The RPG that captured critics and fans alike achieves a new level of excellence. Built upon an enhanced version of the game, players will find numerous significant improvements, including the addition of Skill Cards, part-time jobs, a total of five difficulty settings (ranging from the newcomer-friendly "beginner" to the ultra-hardcore "maniac"), and most importantly, the ability to directly control your teammates in battle.
* Gain a whole new perspective—The choice of your protagonist's sex at the start of the game has a dramatic impact on the game's intricate social dynamics. Persona 3 veterans will get a kick out of playing through the story from a new female perspective, gaining new Social Links, special events, and unique romantic opportunities.
* Slick system enhancements—Improved playability permeates every aspect of the gameplay experience. One-button menu shortcuts, streamlined team equipment changes, incredibly short load times, and other tweaks and enhancements create an ideal pace for portable gaming.

Persona 3 Portable will be available for purchase on July 6th of this year.

Well it's the famed update Thursday for PSN, but sadly there's not much more content added. PS3 users did get a new demo of Uno and a permanent price drop of $15 on Steamboat Chronicles, but PSP owners got a single game, Luxor: The Wrath of Set. Other notable inclusions are Dynogems, a new PSP mini Puzzle Bobble clone, and a Gran Turismo car pack. Given the two week hiatus Sony had over the holiday, there's not much excuse for the PSP to have such a minimal amount of games - especially when they have the download only PSP Go to support.

On the PS3 side of the update, the quality was a bit better. Rock Band songs, as usual, are aplenty and DLC for Magic Orbz was also present. A White Knight Chronicles combat trailer was also uploaded, along with Socom US Navy Seals: Fireteam Bravo 3 dev diary, definitely pleasing both RPG  and FPS fans alike.

Check out the full content after the jump.

In a press release that was shot out earlier today, Electronic Arts hosted a conference call for their investors about the downturn in the 2010 financial projections. The end result is that the primary contributing factors to the change in expectations are the result of "weakness for EA and the overall packaged goods sector in Europe, " and "a product mix shift to lower margin distribution products in the December quarter, primarily in North America." In layman's terms, the profit margin for their top sellers in North America were not very big.

The full scale of the losses don't look that big at first glance, but they really are some decent sized swings in the wrong direction. It will be interesting to see how the other big publishers weathered the Holiday Season this year, and chances are good that EA won't be alone with a negative projection year over year. If you're interested in seeing the full financial numbers, follow the break:

While Atlus U.S.A. continues to leave us in suspense over a Persona 3 Portable U.S. release date, they've decided to indulge PSP owners' RPG-appetites with the announcement of "Hexyz Force". This game was released in Japan back in November, and it seems Atlus U.S.A. has decided the time has come to release it stateside on the 25th May 2010. The game will be available on both UMD and PSN for the price of $29.99. Details on the game from the official forum thread follow after the jump.

Apart from the addition of a playable demo of Capcom's sci-fi shooter Dark Void and Matt Hazard: Blood Bath & Beyond, the first PlayStation Store update of 2010 is a rather uneventful affair. Sony is taking its sweet time to wake up from the long holiday and we can't blame 'em. On the DLC side of things, Borderlands The Underdome is now available, as is an extra character for PAIN. For those hunting around for deals,  Ubisoft-published titles Cellfactor Psychokinetic Wars, Prince of Persia Classic, TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-Shelled have been discounted to $5 each, down from the regular price of $9.

Thankfully, PSPgo owners were kept in the loop during this lull period as Pinball Heroes, Bomberman Land, and Dungeon Explorer have all been added to the growing collection of UMD Legacy offerings. While the selection of PSOne Classics remain stagnant for another week, there's no shortage of premium themes and wallpapers for customization junkies.

Hit the break for the full list of offerings.

Despite rumors of a PSP-4000 on the horizon and a greater focus being placed towards digital distribution with the PSPgo, Sony isn't finished with refreshing its PSP-3000 product lineup in Japan.  Meet the Blossom Pink PSP, a eloquent new color sure to be an object of desire amongst feminine-minded consumers. Scheduled for a March 4 drop date, it'll debut at a 16,800 yen price point after tax, which Sony labels as a "limited offer."

It has been over three years since developer Strmnnrmn began programming his Nintendo64 emulator for the PSP, with strong improvements implemented ever since. When progress became inactive, a team of coders took on where he had left off with DaedalusX64. However, Strmnnrmn approved the project and joined their team shortly after the first release.

The DaedalusX64 team remains hard at work into the new year with their latest revision of their Nintendo 64 emulator for homebrew enabled Playstation Portables. Recent changes provide small speed ups and increased quality of sound. I played a few levels of Super Mario 64 and its quite comfortable to play with sound.

While you're at it, drop by their forums to give a "thank you". They have a great forum, filled with compatibility topics, save states, and the team even recruits developers for their project! Enjoy playing a fine collection of classic games.

Download: DaedalusX64 Forums

Publisher Atlus today announced plans to bring Metal Slug XX to PSP, an enhanced version of DS title Metal Slug 7 with the much-welcomed addition of cooperative play at a palatable budget price to boot: $19.99.

Players can choose between six characters from the Metal Slug universe, engaging in frantic non-stop shoot em' up action that fans of the series have come to expect, backed by lush 2D visuals. To round out the package a "Combat School" gameplay mode is due for inclusion, which features 70 challenge centric missions. Additionally, a seventh playable character - Leona - will be available at launch as DLC for $0.99 from the PlayStation Store.

Metal Slug XX is slated to hit retailers February 23 on UMD. No plans have been made for a digital equivalent at this point, meaning PSPgo owners are out of luck for now.

Atlus Preps Metal Slug XX UMD for PSP [eXophase.com]