Playstation 2 might have gotten slimmer but interest in the all-time best selling console is certainly not shrinking – not with 120 million consoles out there. Rumor has it that a new add-on for the PS2 will soon be launched. No, it is not a Wii type controller officially released by Sony, but another ingenious creation of modders. If this rumor is to be believed then it would be the first plug-n-play modchip for the PS2.

It is a custom memory card named “Vast” – so not actually a mod chip, per se – with a pre-loaded OS that serves as a plug-n-play virtual mod chip. Once plugged into the memory card slot, the custom OS on the memory card loads, allowing many mod chip style functionality including the ability to boot backed-up copies of games. Price and PS2-version compatibility details of the device are not yet known.

Ah, the shady, questionable use of mod chips. Tons of fun for gamers, fattening wallets for makers and sellers but the cause of huge losses for many game companies.

In an effort to crack down on cracked game systems, US Ferdeal customs agents raided more than 30 homes and businesses (using 32 search warrants) in 16 states to stop the flow of game system mod chips.

The raids, performed Wednesday, August 1, 2007, were the end result of a year-long investigation and, according to the New York Times, took place in California, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

Soon after the raids, Nintendo sent out a press release applauding the effort which, it hopes, will help stop…