Heres the press release:

Ever had your PSP run out of power just as you reached the end-of-level boss? Ever had your blockbuster movie cut out on you as the plot reached its climax? Ever wished you had a spare to fall back on as your PSP’s Rechargeable Battery faded and died? With Essential Power Duo Pack, you get not one, but two spare batteries for your Sony PSP!

Essential Power Duo Pack gives you two MAX Power batteries, each a direct Replacement for the PSP’s own rechargeable cell. Each battery boasts Lithium-Ion rechargeable technology, offering up to ten hours of power per charge, depending on what you’re using it for. You need never be short of a charged battery again!

Features

• Same performance as the battery supplied with the PSP.
• Up to ten hours of use per charge.
• Always have a spare battery handy.
• 3.6 volts.
• 1800 MAH

Essential Power Duo Pack is out now, and costs £29.99 UK. ...

PC Watch, a japanese software/ hardware news site have sat down with Ken Kutaragi of Sony Japan ("The Father of Playstation") for an interview about Playstation 3 video entertainment system.

A very kind spirit called Viano at E-mpire forums has translated the most interesting parts of the article:

- games on PS3 are running on the PS3 with "basic configuration"
- software will have different relationship with hardware (including non-gaming applications) in the future
- software module will be made inside the PS3 (such as OS?) so PS3 will have no problem adopting new hardware parts (this doesn't mean you can upgrade but just different versions of PS3)
- thus two models of PS3 are actually two different configurations, there might be other configurations in future, such as: enhanced version of CELL, more memory etc. The higher-end model of PS3 might be released in future.

Via Evil Avatar ...

Gold Miner Joe is the official port of Arcade Lab's game ( http://www.arcadelab.com/ ), ported on PalmOs and Pocket PC by Viex Games ! (Xavier Martin, the creator of MicroQuad, Table Tennis 3d etc)

http://www.viex.org/index.php?page=goldminerjoe

Help Gold Miner Joe explore the legendary four-shafted gold mine in this cartoon-style jump and run game. Collect the gold and be sure and avoid the sneaky Kentucky brothers who won't hesitate to fire your rump full of salt. Yeehaa!

Via mrpropre ...

IGN carries a good op-ed piece this week on the importance of the Virtual Console to the overall success of the Nintendo Wii.

Whilst it was clearly the innovative Wii controller that wowed the E3 crowds, some of whom were patient enough to wait in line for four hours to get their mitts on the thing, there is still much, much more to the Wii, which Nintendo will be shouting loudly about over the coming months.

The WiiConnect24 service which enables your Wii to effectively be "always on", just like your DS in sleep mode, will also enable Nintendo to deliver demos and content to your living room (and to your DS via the Wii) whilst you are sound asleep.

Thus in one fell swoop eliminating the need for overpriced 'Official' print magazines with their 'Official' demo discs (ie only thing of value) stuck to the cover. That era is well and truly over. Which can only be a good thing, for both the forests of the earth and for the young and impressionable gamers of the earth. Today's announcement that Future Publishing's long-serving chief executive, Greg Ingham has handed in his notice, is surely testament to this.

We digress. As well as the Wii's amazing control method and WiiConnect24, it's the Virtual Console that SPOnG is truly excited about and the IGN piece hits the nail on the head: "Of the added functionality embedded in the Wii, however, nothing provides more curiosity or true potential... as the Virtual Console. The possibility of downloading nearly every classic game from our younger years spanning every major system is awesome, and the added interest Nintendo has shown in ushering smaller developers into the next generation through smaller-budget downloadable games holds limitless potential."

There are clear similarities between the Virtual Console concept and Xbox Live Arcade, the main difference being the fact that Microsoft's backlog of classic arcade games relies purely on third-parties, rather than white-hot first party content in Nintendo's case. The amazing number of high-quality titles from the last twenty years of Nintendo's history should also ensure that the Wii has a bolstered launch line-up, with Virtual Console titles on offer as well as sixteen (so far) superb new titles we've already seen.

The Virtual Console should also help Nintendo (and it's many vociferous fans) ride out those inevitable 'drought' periods, especially in the first year following the autumn/fall and Xmas/holiday seasons after launch. As IGN outlines: "the backlog is so immense.... Even if Nintendo released a new game every week (four-five games a month ), it'd still only need 52 games a year; an order that could be filled with NES titles alone. That's marketing power that only comes with years of consistent product."

As the IGN piece concludes: "Xbox may have a few strong titles in the mix right now, but all Nintendo has to do is launch a marketing campaign that showcases as small as the top five titles on every previous system and the backlog already blows away the Live Arcade list as it stands. How do you compete with two decades of the biggest names in gaming? The answer is, you simply can't."

We can't wait for that marketing campaign to roll-out, and we'll be sure to bring you news on how Nintendo are going to play it as soon as we get it. ...

Heres the all formats charts:

1. Hitman: Blood Money
2. FIFA World Cup Germany 2006
3. Tomb Raider: Legend
4. Pro Evolution Soccer 5
5. X-Men: The Official Game
6. Animal Crossing: Wild World
7. The Sims 2
8. Half-Life 2: Episode One
9. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis
10. Championship Manager 2006

Hitmans doing very well esp with the world cup so close. ...

Kaz Hirai, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc, is more than happy to follow Microsoft's lead with online gaming and actually expressed gratitude saying "thank you, Microsoft, for helping us in taking consumers online."

Hirai believes that, with the launch of PlayStation 3 looming, Sony is in the perfect position to capitalise on all the work Microsoft has done with Xbox Live in developing online gaming.

Sony understands the importance of online gaming as being "an integral part of the experience" and a way of enabling new business, Hirai told US newspaper Mercury. He also stated that the part of online gaming that particularly interests him is the connectivity with portable devices, namely PSP.

It is here that Hirai believes Sony has an advantage over its rival, as the only portable devices Microsoft can use with Live Anywhere are mobile phones, which Hirai describes as "not primarily designed for entertainment".

While this is all very bullish from Hirai it seems rather an obvious attempt to spin a position of weakness into one of strength. Microsoft has had a significant head start with online gaming due to the success of Xbox Live so Sony will have to deliver a particularly attractive service to entice online gamers over to PS3.

Via Gamesradar ...

Sega has revealed that it is working on a new game for Wii, which is currently going under the title of Bleach.

The game will be based on the anime series of the same name which focuses on the exploits of the flame-haired Ichigo Kurosaki, a 15-year-old high school student with the ability to see ghosts.

This won't be Sega's first Bleach game as the developer/publisher is currently working on Bleach Advance for GBA and Bleach: Souten ni Kakeru Unmei for DS. The latter is a fighting game so we can probably expect a similar action-based title for Wii.

Via Gamesradar ...

For years, the WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW and Day of Reckoning series have been the top wrestling franchises in the United States. However, their developer, Yuke's Company, Ltd., has never had a North American office in its 13-year history. Since 1999, SmackDown publisher THQ, which partially owns Yuke's, has instead acted as the primary point of transpacific contact for the shop, which has also developed Rumble Roses for Konami.

THQ recently announced a long-term partnership with Yuke's that will see the two companies making games together for years to come. Today, though, Yuke's announced plans to establish its own North American office. Inventively titled Yuke's Company of America, the subsidiary will publish games for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable systems. No location for the office had been made public as of press time.

Via Gamespot ...

Last November, Midway announced that it was stepping into the ring with the up-and-coming federation TNA Wrestling and going after THQ's undisputed US wrestling game championship. But instead of the wild, chair-throwing, body-slamming, pull-apart brawl that usually follows such a revelation in the world of pro wrestling, there's been very little movement on TNA iMPACT! (working title) since.

However, grappling gamers looking forward to the title will be pleased to learn that development on the game "geared up in a major way" last week, according to a news post on the official site of TNA Wrestling. According to the federation, Midway is set to brainstorm ideas for the game with Samoa Joe and AJ Styles, a pair of stars from the company's high-flying, hard-hitting "X-Division." According to TNA, both are hardcore gamers.

The visual side of the game is also set to be defined soon, as Styles and Jeff Jarrett will be undergoing motion-capture sessions for the game at Midway's Los Angeles studio. Styles and Jarrett will be the first characters designed in the game, with "many more" to come.

The news post also mentions that the game "will be available for all new generation systems including Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3." Midway's original announcement of the game also mentioned that it had the exclusive rights to publish PC and handheld games based on the federation as well.

The game is currently being developed at Midway's LA studio, which worked on Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Before it was acquired by the publisher, it was known as Paradox Development, creators of the Backyard Wrestling series of games.

Via Gamespot ...