Late Night Consoling

Late last week, Sony succeeded in its most recent legal battle to block well known online video game import shop Lik Sang from exporting PSP consoles from Hong Kong to the European Union. Sony is now taking the ruling, laid down by British High Court Judge Michael Fysh and based on claimed infringement of intellectual property rights, as precedent for prohibition of import and export of other Sony devices such as PlayStation 2 and the upcoming PlayStation 3.

Speaking to the BBC, a Sony Computer Entertainment Europe representative said, "The law is clear, and grey importing PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU, without the express permission of SCEE is illegal. Therefore, we will utilise the full scope of the law to put a stop to any retailers who chose to do this." The rep went on to explain that the reason for the move is to "protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards."

Sony recently announced its intention to launch PlayStation 3 in Europe next March, several months after its November launch in Japan and North America. Many European gamers had expressed a desire to import a foreign PS3 unit prior to the official European launch. It is unclear what measures Sony will take to prevent such practices.

Arcade ports on portable systems seem to be all the rage these days, and Konami today announced that it plans to bring a number of its classic arcade titles to Nintendo's latest portable console. The collection, entitled Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits, will consist of over a dozen games both in their original arcade forms as well as in new "remixed" modes tailored to the DS' dual screen configuration. The game will also allow players to choose between horizontal or vertical screen orientations in order to appropriately emulate an arcade cabinet. Konami Classics Series will consist of local wireless multiplayer as well as the ability to share replays and high scores via wireless. Konami is considering the inclusion of online functionality via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. - Screenshots.

Konami has so far revealed eight of the unspecified total number of included games:

- Circus Charlie
- Contra
- Gradius
- Roc'N Rope
- Rusn'N Attack
- Time Pilot
- Track and Field
- Yie-Ar Kung Fu

Konami plans to ship Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits for Nintendo DS in March 2007.

Many purchasers of Q Entertainment's Lumines Live!, released last week for Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Marketplace, were surprised to learn that certain game modes, skins, or puzzles clearly accessible within the game's menus are in fact unavailable without the purchase of numerous additional (and unavailable) content packs. The first of these packs, the Advanced Pack, is now available for purchase at a price of 600 Microsoft Points ($7.50), or half the price of the original game. It unlocks the game's Advance Challenge mode, adding 22 skins.

Three more packs are expected early next year: the Artist Pack, containing music videos from personalities such as Madonna; the Mission/Puzzle Pack, unlocking the rest of the mission and puzzle challenges greyed out in the base game; and the VS CPU Mode Pack, which adds multiple opponents to the vs CPU mode. Pricing for these remaining packs has not yet been announced. However, according to IGN, sources close to Microsoft state that they may fall within the $2-$3.50 range, with artist packs potentially going for $1-$1.50 for a single song.

In celebration of the twentieth anniversary of its venerable Castlevania series, Konami has revealed the preorder bonus for the anticipated upcoming title Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (NDS). Gamers who reserve the game at GameStop, EB Games, or Game Crazy will receive a wax-sealed limited edition box set containing a 38-page art book, a 20th anniversary Castlevania soundtrack album, a Castlevania-branded Nintendo DS stylus and DS case, and a Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin poster backed with a timeline detailing the history of the Castlevania series.

Konami's Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is set to ship for Nintendo DS this December.

This one managed to slip under our radar last week. Sony has released an update for its Media Manager software for PSP owners, which allows users to easily copy files between a PC and the portable system. The latest update allows users to transfer home videos from DVDs, documents, and internet browser bookmarks to a PSP.

Media Manager is available for $16.99 via download, or $24.99 in boxed form.