Today marks the first birthday of PlayStation Plus. A year ago, I had my doubts about this service. At the time, it came off as nothing more than a way to monetize PSN without forcing subscriptions to get the most out of the network. I can now say without a doubt that PS Plus is much more than that. It really does pay for itself in a short period of time. We’ve all gotten a 30-day free trial of the service, so you’ve been able to make up your mind on whether you’ll renew your subscription at the beginning of July. If you do, you’ll get at least one month free.

Sony’s PlayStation 2 console may have just turned nine but for fans in the know that may seem to mean there’s only one year left to the system’s life.

So when Sony sent out a press release earlier today touting the PS2′s ninth birthday, I contacted Sony to find out whether or not this is the system’s final year.

Click though for the official word…

If this one doesn’t tug at your heart strings, I don’t know what will…

You’ve already seen my baby gamer modeling the Wendy’s kids’ meal toys and he helped test the Hallmark Player 1 Christmas ornament (he wore those batteries out pretty dern fast). So it’s only appropriate that, for his first birthday, he have a controller-shaped cake.

My wife made the cake using two chocolate, sour cream based cakes (super moist and yummy) stacked together. She then cut the…