Will this be the final chapter in the infamous and incredibly entertaining tale of former Gizmondo head Bo Stefan "Fiery Ferrari Crasher" Eriksson? Doubtful, but with any luck it'll serve as a decent thread to wrap up that optioned movie on his life. An Uppsala, Sweden District Court has sentenced the man to 1.5 years in prison for his most recent round of escapades, which include illegal threats, attempted blackmail, and robbery. Assuming he starts jail fairly soon, mark your calendars and place your bets, we're expecting a whole new slew of comical misdeeds to hit the news feeds by March 2011 -- and no, we still don't think a new Gizmondo will be out by then.

[Thanks, piraya]

We've already gotten the official word that it was coming last month, and gone hands-on with the identical United Keys OLED keyboard even earlier than that, but it looks like OCZ is now finally shipping its own Sabre OLED gaming keyboard and, consequently, given it a price. Somewhat surprisingly, OCZ is letting this one go for just $135, which, while still not exactly a bargain, is a heckuva lot cheaper than the $260 that the United Keys version still runs. That'll get you nine customizable OLED keys, along with most of the standard specs you'd expect from a gaming keyboard, including "super tactile" keys, plenty of macro configuration options and, of course, some blue LEDs to remind you that you didn't buy this thing for work.

[Thanks, Jay]

Oh sure, the DSi was the definite hotness when it sprung onto the scene earlier this year, but if you're growing somewhat bored of the same old camera + touchscreen action, why not spruce things up with an all new exterior? The case you're looking at above does require the disassembly of your console, and thus, you can kiss your remaining warranty goodbye. Frankly, we view the sacrifice as thoroughly worth it, as XCM's Eye Candy shell is practically guaranteed to get more eyes, fingers and tongues on your machine. And really, who wouldn't want that?

[Via Boing Boing]

Thought all your dreams of an all-in-one NERF gun / Wii controller were fulfilled with the original NERF Blaster Controller? Think again. 'Cause EA has now announced its follow-up NERF 2: N-Strike Elite game, which will of course also come bundled with a new and improved NERF Switch Shot EX-3 blaster. As before, this one will house the Wiimote inside to let you use it with the game or let you ditch it to take things outside (or to the office), and it adds a new attachable "NERF decoder scope" that'll let you detect enemy weak spots, decode secret messages, and uncover other hidden gameplay elements. And, well, it's a NERF gun and a Wii controller. Is there anything else you really need to know? No word on a price just yet, but you can look for the bundle to launch sometime this fall.

[Thanks, Vincent]

We can attest that Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, is a pretty nice guy. But all the PS3 price-cut chatter from industry analysts and gaming execs seems to have the man riled as he tries to keep Sony afloat. Responding directly to Robert Kotick's threat to stop developing Activision titles on the PS3 (and PSP) due to the console's relative high price, Stringer told Reuters, "He likes to make a lot of noise. He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business." When asked about the logic of not cutting prices, Howard said, "I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make -- how's that for logic." True, until the 45nm Cell processor launches allowing for a cheaper, cooler running slim PS3 later this year, right Howie... wink, wink?

[Via GameDaily]

If Sony's PSPgo was some halfhearted attempt to quell incessant PSP2 rumoring (and our favorite PSP2 mockup render, above), it certainly doesn't seem to have worked. The new rumor out and about is that the inevitable PSP2 will harbor a PowerVR GPU along the lines of what's present in the new iPhone 3GS. The SGX543MP cited has four cores, with a rating of 133 million polygons per second at the low-end 200MHz mode that seems likely for portable use. GamesIndustry.biz calls this a "ballpark match" for the original Xbox, with some additional Dreamcast rendering enhancements for avoiding wasting time on hidden elements in a scene. They also point out that Imagination Technologies calls the chip a GP-GPU, capable of handling computing tasks in addition to graphics, and potentially giving the PSP2 the power savings of not needing a separate CPU to operate. Sure, it's all a difficult to pin down rumor at the moment, but if anything these sort of specs show what's possible for a new generation of handheld gaming when the likes of Sony and Nintendo are ready to give it to us. Now about a second analog stick...

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

As Sony shoves one more PlayStation 3 bundle down our throats while we anxiously await the appearance of a slimmed-down version of the console, we have to admit that the game choices here are really top shelf. After catching wind of the Killzone 2 / Metal Gear Sold 4 PS3 bundle yesterday, we now have all the confirmation we need to believe that such a bundle is indeed filtering out to Best Buy stores. The image above shows an internal memo sent out to alert employees that the new package could start arriving as early as July 6th, with the official announcement coming in the July 12th ad. If you're actually in the market for a non-discounted, thick PS3, we'd say a phone call or two is in order, no?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Update: The $399.99 bundle is now live on Best Buy's website and available for in-store pickup in select locations.

Looks like that bulky Guitar Hero World Tour drumset might be getting itself an extreme makeover in time for the launch of Guitar Hero 5. According to our source, the blurred render above is the newest plastic percussion peripheral, and while functionality remains the same, it's moved the control console to the forefront, given the cymbals a more well-rounded existence, and done away with some of that body, particularly on the top and on the stand -- all in a all, a much more Rock Band look, if we do say so ourselves. The back of the unit contains three mini ports -- two for kick pedals, and one ever mysterious black mini jack. Yeah, Rock Band's drums have that mysterious unused port, too, and who knows what nefarious needs either will serve. What's suspicious is that it's two months before GH5's release and we still haven't seen this officially, whereas the previous set was ceremoniously unveiled almost six months prior to GHWT's launch -- not that we wouldn't put it past Activision to keep it under lock and key for now, but why not let its newfound beauty shine?

Well, it's not a price cut, but it looks like Sony could be about to offer one of its best deals to date to potential PS3 customers, with a little help from Best Buy. Apparently, in an effort to clear out the 80GB PS3s once and for all (to make way for... something), Best Buy will soon selling a bundle that includes said console, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Killzone 2 -- all for the usual price of $399.99. Better still, that bundle is supposedly set to go on sale as soon as next Sunday and, as you can see above, at least some of 'em have apparently already made their way into the stores' back rooms.

[Via Joystiq]

Looks like all that excitement over PSPgo's faster (but likely to be underused) 480MHz processor is all for naught. Our friends at Engadget Japan have gotten in contact with Sony Computer Entertainment and been informed that the Maximum clock frequency mentioned here is for the USB device, not the CPU. All those dreams of hacked firmware to unlock more power? Better hold that thought for now.

Even after five iterations, Ben Heck's portable Xbox 360 models are still a spectacle to behold -- he seems to keep outdoing himself every time, both in functionality and style. This latest model has the appearance of an oversized plastic polycarbonate Macbook when closed, and packs a 17-inch Gateway LCD panel. The big improvements here include the Jasper motherboard, a flush-mount DVD door and side panels, digital potentiometer / button volume controls, and an ethernet port in addition to WiFi. Not everything's been kept, as Heck says he ditched the camera, not seeing a point for it -- but hey, there's still two USB ports if any of his (already spoken for) customers want to add it. Impressive work, indeed. See it for yourself in the video after the break.

[Via TechEBlog]