Sony announced today that the dynamic duo of Jak and Daxter will make their return in The Lost Frontier on November 3 for PSP and PS2.

While creator Naughty Dog has traditionally handled the series, High Impact Games took the helm on this one, best known for Secret Agent Clank and the PS2 port of Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier Hits PSP, PS2 November 3 - [eXophase.com]

A candid recount of an alleged private meeting between SCEA and Sega appeared on Sega’s public asset FTP earlier today. The companies talked digital distribution, revealing Sony’s long-rumored intent to publish emulated PS2 titles over PSN. Sega was also approached with the idea of bringing over classic Dreamcast titles to PSN. The memo notes that in exchange for exclusivity, more marketing support would be provided.

On the topic of motion control, a Spring 2010 release date was once again reiterated in this meeting for Sony’s wand-based motion controller. Interestingly, however, a March 2010 date was specifically mentioned for Japan.

Keep in mind this was apparently a business meeting between the two parties and as such none of the ideas exchanged may come to fruition, but the possibility is now out there. See the full memo in all its entirety past the break, which also discusses the prospect of selling import titles directly over PSN.

If you are not familiar with The Nielsen Company, they collect and aggregate consumer data primarily from digital media and analyze it. In a recent publication dubbed, "Hottest June on Record for Video Games," it was outlined that over the past six months the Xbox 360 was the most active console in terms of percentage of users. Between January and June 2009, the Xbox 360 netted between 11 and 12% during any given Nielsen-metered minute.

The other notable stat given was that the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 are essentially tied at the top of the Minutes Played category. The average gamer logged 768 minutes of play during this past June and the PS2 and 360 combined for just under 50% of the total time played between themselves versus the rest of the field. (The rest of the field being the PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Gamecube, and the Original Xbox.)

For some other stats listed in the study, follow the break:

It’s no secret that the lack of PS2 emulation on newer PS3 units is a bit of a put-off to prospective purchasers. Especially when considering that majority of would-be PS3 owners are those that own a large library of PS2 titles. Granted, not being able to play those games isn’t a deal breaker for most, but it certainly makes laying down $400 on new hardware a tougher decision.

However, it looks like Sony may be bringing to PS2 emulation to non-backwards compatible PS3 units after all, if a recently unearthed patent is any indication. The patent references a software-based technology that would allow the PS3’s Cell CPU to translate or emulate code written specifically for the PS2’s Emotion Engine chip.

We can only think of one reason why Sony would be experimenting with such a technology and that is backwards compatibility. That leads us to questions over implementation. Will Sony allow folks to emulate any PS2 game of their choosing or sell digital downloads of PS2 titles over the PlayStation Store? We can only hope that Sony will side towards both options. Doing so would benefit consumers across the board, those that own an expansive library of PS2 oldies as well as the younger ones that missed out on last generation’s hits.

Sony Patents Software Based PS2 Emulation Technology - [eXophase.com]

Be rest assured, this is not an April Fools joke! This year’s PSP lineup just reached a new level of awesomeness, as Sony today announced that Jak and Daxter are poised to make a return in The Lost Frontier, an all-new adventure heading to PSP and PS2. As a direct sequel, the title picks up from where the original Jak and Daxter trilogy left off.

Embarking on a quest to rid the planet of an evil force known as “dark eco,” players will team up with Kiera, an apprentice sage that aids the duo on their journey. While the overall focus is still on platforming, Sony is spicing things up in this installment with the ability to pilot five flavors of aircraft engineered for combat. Up in the sky players will find themselves facing off against nefarious “sky pirates,” which can be vanquished with the help of a weapon known as the Gunstaff. This particular piece of weaponry possess special powers, able to transform into other weapons at will.

Development duties are being handled by High Impact Games, responsible for both Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters and Secret Agent Clank.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is slated for an Autumn 2009 release. Screenshots can be found past the break.

Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier Screenshots

It’s official: Sony confirmed rumors that the last-generation PS2 will see a $30 dollar price reduction across North America, bringing the total MSRP of the console straight down to the budget-friendly cost of $99.99. At that price it might be worth just picking up another PS2. The cut goes into effect tomorrow — April 1. Says marketing director John Koller of the move:

Why is this so significant? Well most importantly, this new price means that more people than ever will be able to join in on the fun that so many of you PlayStation 2 owners have been enjoying for years, which means new families will become part of the platform’s record-breaking install base. With this new price, we intend to introduce a new generation of consumers – some of whom weren’t even alive when the system was first introduced in 2000 – to the immense entertainment value offered by PlayStation 2.

And yes, this was the big announcement. Will be interesting to see if PS2 spike up next month.

It appears the long awaited Playstation 2 price drop is nearly upon us. A number of employees of large American retail stores have posted pictures of a $99 Playstation 2 appearing in their retail databases.

It is believed that the official announcement will come from Sony on April the 5h to coincide with the beginning of NPD tracking for the month as well as to offset sales of the Nintendo DSi. Since this is still all a rumor at this point it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Purported image of $99 Playstation 2 listed in Kmart retail database:

Internet Leaks Appear To Confirm $99 PS2 For April 5, 2009 [ VGChartz]

UPDATE - All signs pointing to this being Sony's hush-hush announcement have been confirmed.  The price for a PS2 has been reduced to $99 starting April 1st.

PS2 Price Drop [PlayStation Blog]

If a GameFly product page listing is any indication, it looks as if Sony is bringing over once-PSP exclusive Secret Agent Clank to the PS2.

Released back in 2008, the stealth-centric platformer stars robot sidekick Clank in a struggle to save the wrongly accused, which in this case is his friend Ratchet, who has been thrown in jail for a crime he did not commit. Clank suspects a crime lord known as Kingpin is behind the framing.

Online retailer GameFly has pegged a May release date on the port. Consider it a rumor for now, as Sony has yet to make an official announcement, but if true such news wouldn’t be met with surprise. Numerous AAA titles on the portable have made the jump to PS2 in the past, including the likes of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories.

Yes, Iwata, we know the Wii can surpass the PS2 in hardware sales - but a question looming on many minds is, will it? Nintendo’s head honcho believes so and is promising to showcase the software it plans to achieve this goal with at E3 2009.

What we are looking at are the cumulative Wii and DS sales through the end of 2008. Wii has been selling at industry’s record pace so far, and with new customers acquired by the gaming population expansion efforts, it is not impossible for Wii’s total sales to exceed the final install base of PS2. Wii still has much more room for expansion. We can expect more sales of software in the next fiscal year than in the current year. With what kind of software is Nintendo going to achieve this goal? Well, it will be shown at E3 to be held in the U.S. this June.

We’ll be waiting in anticipation, even though Nintendo’s performance at last year’s E3 was rather disappointing to say the least. They have to make up for that. A new Zelda better be there, for one.