Microsoft is making some noise today about the Xbox 360's sales numbers -- it's the first of this generation of consoles to top 10M sales in the US. That's well ahead of the Wii, which stands at 8.8M, and the PS3, which has under half the 360's installed base at 4.1M units sold. Worldwide, the 360 is also doing quite well: Microsoft says it's moved 19M consoles total, and that 12 million people are signed up for Xbox Live. That's behind the Wii's global sales of 25M units, but Microsoft isn't exactly content with second place -- it's making a point to say that the 360 has the " largest global install base of any current gen, high definition gaming console." Take that, Mario. Meanwhile, the PS3s doing quite nicely for itself as well: in addition to outselling the 360 in both the US and Europe, Sony says worldwide sales were up an astounding 156 percent last year with a total of 9.2M units coming off shelves, and that it expects to sell another 10M consoles by March 2009. Looks like the console race is hitting the next level -- any bets on how things will shake out in a year?

[Via Joystiq]

Read - 360 sales
Read - PS3 sales

2008 was predicted to be a big year for the PS3, and it looks like things are going according to plan: Sony announced today that European PS3 sales had topped the five million mark, and that the PS3 has been outselling the Xbox 360 sur le continent since October. Combined with the PS3's strong US showings lately, and that's a pretty solid run -- and we'd assume things are only get to get better once MGS4 hits in June. Hmm, looks like a few of you decided to take the plunge after all.

[Thanks, Nimro]

Now that the Dual Shock 3 is finally here, it looks like Sony's finding creative way to dump off old SIXAXIS stock -- like tossing 'em in MGS4 PS3 bundles. Japanese PS3 buyers will be able to choose from three "Welcome Box" MGS4 bundles in Satin Silver, Ceramic White, and Clear Black, and in addition to Snake's latest adventure and a Dual Shock 3, they'll find a SIXAXIS inside. The bundles will cost ¥49,800 ($470), compared to ¥51,800 ($492) for the gunmetal gray bundle that doesn't include the extra controller, so basically Sony's giving Japanese buyers $20 to take a SIXAXIS home. That's quite a deal, but honestly, we'd rather drop the Jackson on that super-hot gunmetal unit than have another (obsolete) controller lying around.

[Via Joystiq]

It doesn't seem like those Sony firmware engineers will be a getting a break any time soon. With the PlayStation 3's v2.30 firmware and its DTS-HD MA / PS store upgrades barely settled Sony Senior VP Peter Dille jumped on the official PlayStation blog to let us know what the rest of 2008 has in store. In-game XMB? On the way this year, along with a video service that "separates the service from others you've seen or used...to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want," and expanded community features. Also in store are PlayStation Cards (in $20 and $50 denominations) for the credit card-less among us. The four pillars of Sony's plan (community, free online gaming, digital media download services, and original content) hint towards the reasons we won't let the shiny beast get quite as dusty this year.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Sony, you tease! You go and finally put the 80 GB PS3 / Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle up at SonyStyle, complete with a SKU and price point, but you're not taking pre-orders? We just get to look at the thing? Can we touch it? Just for a second? We won't tell. Anyway, as expected, the PS3 / MGS4 bundle will be available in June at $499.99 complete with a DUALSHOCK3 wireless controller. Let's hope that "notify me" button says "add to cart" some time soon.

[Thanks, David]

It's no secret that we've been drooling over all the hot limited-edition Metal Gear Solid 4 swag that Sony and Konami are dishing out in Japan, but it looks like a select few in this country will be able to score the baddest of them all: the gunmetal gray PS3 / MGS4 bundle with matching DualShock 3. Yep, it's coming Stateside on June 12th like the rest of the MGS4 editions and the standard 80GB PS3 / MGS4 bundle, but you'd better get in line now, because we're told it's going to be extremely limited in availability, and we're calling one. We can do that, right? Say yes.

[Via Joystiq]

For the diehards out there (oh please, we know you're out there) who've already snapped up a PS3 Grill along with a lifetime supply of SIXAXIS BBQ sauce, there's hardly a better way to accent your PlayStation-themed home than with Jean Nouvel's chrome faucet. We'll be honest -- the glaring lack of a square button leads us to believe that this thing wasn't actually created with Sony's famed controller in mind, but hey, a boy can dream, can't he?

[Via PS3Fanboy]

We'd been hearing that the DualShock 3 wasn't supposed to land until April 15th, but apparently Sony decided that getting gamers good and buzzed couldn't wait until Tax Day -- the official PlayStation Blog says the vibration-enabled controllers will hit US stores next week. There's a new DS3-compatible logo for rumble-compatible games, and quite a few titles will be getting updates to support the new controller. Everyone got their $55 together? Sweet, now all we need is an early release of MGS4.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Read - PlayStation Blog announcement
Read - Full list of compatible games

If Metal Gear Solid 4 truly is the last game in the series (please please no), it's going to have gotten quite a send-off: a limited-edition gunmetal PS3 in Japan, a new $499 PS3 bundle in the rest of the world, the North American launch of the DualShock 3, and, uh, some wireless headphones. Well, not just any wireless headphones: a limited-edition run of Sony's hot 7.1-channel MDR-DS7000s, with different artwork on each can. Sadly, it doesn't look like these are going to be all that easy to get -- only 30 will be randomly handed out to those buying MGS4 bundles from the Japanese Konami store from now until June 1. Better get clicking, Sparky.

[Via Gemaga; thanks J]

We were already blown away by Johnny Lee's headtracking demo using a Wiimote, but it looks like Sony's trying to take it mainstream in a much slicker way. The company was demoing a PS3-based headtracking system at GDC that doesn't require any special IR glasses to function -- it just uses a bone-stock Playstation Eye camera to track your ugly mug around the room. Sony says it's not announcing the system for any games yet, but we can't imagine devs aren't clamoring for this to get official -- this would be amazing for all sorts of genres. Video after the break.

Well that was fast -- just a day after we'd heard that Best Buy was dropping the 80GB PS3 SKU, it's gone from the retailer's web site. We aren't sure what this means for the broader US market -- several other stores are still selling the 80GB model -- but for now, it looks like customers of the Blue will have to get their PS2 fix from actual PS2s.

[Thanks, Rob]

As if we didn't already know, Sony just spit out a press release announcing the availability of Skype on PSP courtesy of a firmware update due later this month. After the update, a Skype icon will be available under the Network menu, allowing users to create a new account or login with their existing one. Otherwise, it's Skype as usual: free calls between Skype users; SkypeOut to make calls to regular old phones; SkypeIn to receive calls on your PSP (just don't answer the phone in front of a potential mate). There is one notable caveat however: Skype will only work on the PSP-2000 (ie: PSP Slim, PSP Lite, PSP Petite). We're not sure if there's a hardware limitation preventing the original PSP from using the service but our best guess is that whatever microphone attachment is released may not be compatible with the older model. Also, no word if Skype functionality will be enabled in-game. More as we hear it, folks.

This is just the faintest whiff of a rumor, but Sony Asia just put up a questionnaire in which it asks how interested PlayStation Store for PC customers would be in a "Monthly subscription plan (1 price for unlimited download)." That suggests that the company is at least thinking about a service that would let gamers play as many downloadable PS1 and PSP games as they want for a monthly fee -- although it's not at all clear if the service would be PSP-only or work on both the PSP and PS3, which would sweeten the deal considerably. Chalk this up as wishful thinking for now -- but those of you with PSN IDs may want to hit the read link and fill out the questionnaire.

[Via CVG, thanks L. Rawlins]

ZodTTD has made good on a promise to release their psx4iphone app to the public just a handful of days after announcing the project, meaning that the iPhone could very well end up taking a slot beside the PSP as a premier destination for portable PlayStation gaming. We're still not entirely convinced that the transition from PlayStation controller to touchscreen is going to be an easy one, though we're pretty sure hardcore gamers have overcome even greater obstacles in the past in the name of emulation. The package is being billed as a 0.1 release, meaning that it may not be the most solid build in the world -- but then again, it's not like you're getting your PlayStation jollies from Sony Ericsson any time soon, right?

[Via Mobilewhack]

So we were doing some followup research on yesterday's post about the upcoming mylo 2 Personal Communicator, when we happened to stumble upon the picture you see above, first posted in the beginning of October by qj.net. Part of an article sourcing someone claimed to be "close to Sony." this supposed mockup of the second-generation mylo immediately struck us as having an almost identical form factor to the FCC render that we just saw. And sure enough, as you can see after the break, a little resizing magic does indeed show the two outlines lining up pretty closely -- although not perfectly. Hmm...if this is in fact the production version of the mylo 2, what does that PlayStation-style typeface on the keyboard say about the device's features, we wonder?

[Image courtesy of qj.net]