Some new screenshots from the highly customizable LittleBigPlanet, which is due for release later this year.

Gamasutra reports that a keyboard peripheral for the PSP will be released within the next 12 months in North America. This comes from Sony senior marketing manager John Koller, who further added that the TV tuner for the portable won’t be making its way to the region, citing an incompatibility with the over-the-air broadcasting system in the country.

Koller also talked about the GPS peripheral, which is scheduled for release in the near future. He said that the device would let users be part of “mobile social communities”, making the portable a more social space.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Madden, Sony Computer Entertainment America and EA have announced the Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack, a limited edition bundle that launches this August alongside the sports game. To retail for $199.99, the bundle will feature a limited edition “metallic blue” PSP with a copy of Madden NFL 09, “NFL: In Just One Play” on UMD, a PlayStation Network voucher to download Beats and a 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo.

“Sports games are one of the most popular types of games among PSP owners, and it was only natural to make our next PSP Entertainment Pack a sports-themed bundle,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President, Product Marketing, SCEA. “PSP continues to have great momentum in the marketplace. We expect that the Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack will capitalize on this momentum and strengthen PlayStation’s presence in the sports genre.”

In a surprising move, a free track for Guitar Hero 3 will be offered for PS3 gamers on Thursday, June 5. The free track in question will be inspired by God of War, Sony’s insanely awesome action game. This was revealed through a PlayStation Underground mailing from Sony (attached in this post), with no additional details provided.

This may seem odd at first, but Neversoft and Microsoft teamed up for a similar promotion that saw them giving away a free Halo tune for the Xbox 360 edition of the game.

The delay for Killzone 2 came out of nowhere at the PlayStation Day in Europe. However, the game apparently doesn’t need the extra time, as Sony has admitted that the game was delayed due to management decisions instead of technical issues.

Sony has quite a few games coming out this Holiday season, including two top-tier first-person shooters - SOCOM and Resistance 2, both of which are guaranteed best-sellers. The company did not want three titles fighting for “retail dollars” during the holiday season so they shifted Killzone 2 to February 2009.

Personally I think that’s a good move by Sony. This will allow gamers to experience the other two deserving titles, and the more polish Killzone 2 gets, the better it will be.

Sony Computer Entertainment is furious about the Uncharted-branded air guns being sold on the Internet, and plans to do something about it. The gun is being offered on KingofSwords.com for $170, with real wood grips and whatnot.

In fact, the gun may seem endorsed by Sony itself as it is being advertised using artwork from the game. “The Drake’s gun is not licensed or in any way sanctioned by SCE, and one we certainly do not condone,” said a Sony spokesperson to Gamesindustry.biz. “We are investigating the source of this product and will proceed with the most appropriate action.”

If you’re interested in purchasing that thing, do so before the company gets taken down by Sony’s elite team of lawyers.

The Japanese will no longer be able to purchase 20GB and 60GB models of the PS3, as Sony has decided to cease production of those models to focus on the cheaper 40GB model, which sells for 39,980 yen (approximately US$360) in the country. This model does not feature backwards compatibility support; this void has been filled by Sony which now offers many PS1 games in the PlayStation Store.

It can also be noted that Sony “will launch new models to respond to end-user preferences,” though no exact timeframe was given.

A new firmware update for the PS3 is now available, adding the ability to play DivX encoded videos on the console. The v2.10 update also introduces Blu-ray profile 1.1 (known as Bonus View) that will enable PS3 owners exploit the potential of Blu-ray titles coming in 2008.

The update also offers a voice changer feature, enabling users to alter the tone and pitch of their voice from the control panel during AV chat. Finally, the update also adds VC-1, alongside DivX, video playback capabilities.

Meanwhile, the PSP was also updated to v3.80, gaining the ability to play streaming internet radio. Most interestingly, these updates allow even more interactions between the two platforms, letting users stream and play PlayStation games on the PSP using Remote Play on the PS3. This applies to both physical and downloaded PS1 games.

SCEA boss Jack Tretton is one tough cookie. Following up on Activision overlord Bobby Kotick’s ultimatum that the PS3 and Xbox 360 needs to drop their prices to the magical price point of $199 to compete with the Wii, Tretton told him to shut it, or design a platform himself. Here’s the scoop:

Tretton:…you know, I’m surprised by it, because I would never venture to suggest what software publishers should price their software at. So I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to suggest what hardware should be priced at.

SJM: I guess what he’s calling for is maybe a more nimble reaction to the Wii’s success.

Tretton: I don’t know, maybe he should design a platform.

The rest of the lengthy interview talks about the future and the current market position of the PS3, among other things.

This year’s list of “101 Dumbest Moments in Business” chronicles the PR blunders of Sony, listing the God of War 2 decapitated goat debacle as well as the inclusion of the Manchester Cathedral in Resistance. The list also carries other gaming organizations, including Atlus and Microsoft, though the latter is not included for a mistake related to gaming.

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer is planning a major expansion for the PlayStation Network. He also talked about the company’s plans to link up the PS3 to mobile phones and a range of other unspecified products. The drive for mobile phone-PS3 connectivity will be part of the company’s next three-year business plan, he revealed.

Stringer also plans on building up the PlayStation Network with content from other Sony divisions. “On Friday, we had a dinner where the heads of Sony Electronics, [Sony] Pictures, Sony BMG, and Sony PlayStation were all at the same dinner table intermingled and actually communicating,” he said.

The promised demo for LittleBigPlanet, the cute sandbox game that is in development at Media Molecule for the PS3, will not appear this year, according to SCEA PR Manager Ron Eagle who confirmed this to MTV.

“I can officially confirm that there won’t be a demo this year,” Eagle told Totilo, as reported on MTV’s Multiplayer blog.

He said that the game is still on schedule for release next year and that more of the game will be shown off in January. Eagle also claims that he has played through 60% of the game’s 50 pre-designed levels.

North Americans will be getting Patapon, Sony Japan studio’s 2D platform/action adventure game, exclusively on the PSP in February 2008. The game combines rhythm/musical beats with action, having players march Patapons, a tribe of small, quirky warriors, as they wage war against opposing armies and gigantic monsters in a bid to reach the end of the world. The Patapons have been designed by popular French graphic artist Rolito, who served as chief artist for the game.

“Patapon is a unique experience for gamers of all ages because it combines two key forms of entertainment: rhythm and music, and stellar platforming action,” said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. “Music is a huge part of the PSP’s multifunctional feature set, and we are excited to deliver a new genre of music and action gaming that further adds depth to the PSP software lineup.”

There will be over 30 missions with more than 20 different environments. Various types of warriors, such as archers, infantry, cavalry and more will be available to the player, along with more than 100 weapon and shield upgrades.

It was only a matter of time before talks of a Heavenly Sword sequel came up. EuroGamer has the scoop: “Those of you hoping Sony and Ninja Theory plan to revisit Heavenly Sword would have been encouraged by a launch event for Andy Serkis’ new games industry networking organisation Games Eden on Wednesday, where a spokesperson for Ninja Theory repeatedly and perhaps revealingly referred to the developer’s only PS3 project to date as ‘Heavenly Sword 1′.”

Not much is known about Sony Japan’s Afrika, which was only shown at E3 2006 and the Tokyo Game Show through short trailers. However, the game is still in major development, as Sony recently picked Los Angeles-based composer Wataru Hokoyama to compose the game’s score, according to this 1UP report.

This was learned through a local Los Angeles musicians’ newsletter. His past credits include the role-playing game movie adaptation Dungeons & Dragons back in 2000.