Port Washington, N.Y. - Once again bucking the overall economic downturn, U.S. video game sales were up 10% in November, to $2.91 billion, while year-to-date sales are up 22%, to $16.04 billion compared with $13.14 billion at the same point a year ago. "One reason for the continued strength of the industry compared to other forms of entertainment comes from a number of sources," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "Certainly, the expanded audience for gaming due to the availability of a wider variety of compelling content is a strong contributor. Economic factors are also at play given that a video game is a relatively inexpensive form of entertainment for the hours of value it provides. Our Consumer Spending Indicator shows that video games is the category consumers are least likely to cut back on this holiday."

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America (NYSE: SNE) has announced that upcoming system software updates for its PlayStation 3 and PSP game devices coming later this month will bring advanced voice chat, in-game screenshot captures and easier game downloads. New to the PS3 will be a video scene search function; information board; and power-saving mode. The PSP firmware update will add direct access to the PlayStation Store, allowing consumers to browse and download games whenever they're at a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America (NYSE: SNE) on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a new $500, 160GB PlayStation 3 bundle, as well as an updated version of its PSP handheld that will bring an improved LCD screen and built-in microphone.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America said on Thursday that the next system software update for its PlayStation 3 will add BD-LIVE, a set of interactive features for the game console's Blu-ray player. BD-LIVE will enable features such as downloadable video content, ringtones and games. Sony said the update, due for release in late March, will also enable photo and music playlists on the PS3 to be copied to a PSP handheld.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America this week began offering MTV programming on the UMD format for its PSP handheld game device. An initial slate of UMD videos, priced at $14.99 each, will contain episodes of shows including "Beavis & Butt-head," "Jackass" and "Aeon Flux." Sony has sold more than 10 million PSP units in North America.

Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) will delay the introduction of the Skype Internet telephone service for its PSP handheld game device in Japan while it works on technical problems, Reuters reports. The company said the microphone it had planned to offer did not meet Skype specifications in Japan, although the microphone did meet Skype specifications outside Japan, and Sony reiterated plans to launch the service overseas later this month.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) (NYSE: SNE) said on Monday that it sold 1.2 million PlayStation 3 consoles during the holidays, along with 1.4 million PSP handhelds and 1.3 million units of the PlayStation 2. The holidays timeframe was defined as Nov. 23 through Dec. 31.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that sales of its PlayStation 3 are up 298% since Nov. 2, compared with October sales, which the company credited to availability of both the 40GB and 80GB models of the game console.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment America on Thursday announced the release of a new firmware upgrade for its PlayStation 3 game console, which adds features including the ability to turn on the PS3 via a PSP system connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot; a scrolling PlayStation news ticker; and the ability to build music and photo playlists.

Tokyo - Sony Computer Entertainment said on Thursday that the new, slimmer version of its PSP handheld game device sold 580,000 units in Japan in the two weeks since its release there on Sept. 20.

Tokyo - Japanese game industry magazine Enterbrain reported on Wednesday that Sony has sold 250,000 of the new smaller, cheaper version of its PSP handheld game in Japan in the device's first four days on sale. The figure is roughly the same as the total number of original PSP units the company sold in Japan during July and August.

Leipzig, Germany - U.K. telecommunications firm BT announced on Thursday that it has partnered with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to develop GoMessenger, a service that will allow owners of Sony's PSP handheld game to make Internet telephone calls, and send and receive instant messages when connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot. BT developed the PSP software, which when paired with a headset and GoGam video camera will allow gamers to use voice chat and make video calls, respectively. BT and Sony plan to initially offer GoMessenger in the U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy in early 2008, before expanding further into Europe. Sony did not mention plans to offer the service in the U.S.