Sony’s fight against piracy isn’t done primarily by firmware updates and technicians. When technology has failed, Sony has to turn its other method of defense. This method is called litigation, and it’s darn effective. It was effective enough to (mostly) shut up George Hotz, and it was enough to for a judge to grant the company the right to raid someone’s home. These incidents are isolated, but they could be the first of many like it. That’s why Sony Computer Entertainment of America needs additional help to beef up its anti-piracy program.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has brought in lawyers to sort through the mayhem that was caused by the recent PS3 root key hack. Court documents show that SCEA has called out George Hotz, “Bushing,” Hector Cantero, “Segher” and Sven Peter for “distributing software, tools and instructions (collectively, “Circumvention Devices”) that circumvent the TPMs in the PS3 System and facilitate the counterfeiting of video games.” Sony accuses the hackers of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Sony stated if the defendants are not prevented from distributing their methods that allowed them to hack the PS3, SCEA and other companies could suffer “irreparable harm.”

Putting Subway subs in your stomach might soon mean some free Playstation products in your home before they are in stores.

Subway and Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced today (August 16, 2010) a giveaway that will include more than $1 million in prizes given at the (average) rate of one prize per minute during the promotion which begins August 16, 2010, and ends at midnight on October 17, 2010.

The promotion is called Fiery Footlong Frenzy Fueled by PlayStation and will focus on Subway’s lineup of spicy “Fiery Footlong” sandwiches that includes the a Turkey Jalapeno Melt and Buffalo Chicken. Game codes will be included on 32 oz. drinks, specially marked SunChips Monterey Jack and Sundried Tomato bags and certain Subway Breakfast sandwiches. Codes will need to be entered at the Subway Fiery Footlong Frenzy web site. The companies are also using the slogan, “WIN IT BEFORE YOU CAN BUY IT!”

Every year I receive a bundle of holiday greetings from various game and entertainment companies usually in the form of a nice postcard signed by the PR staff.

In the past some some companies would include a little gift with their card (Sony) but, more recently, companies are opting for less expensive and more eco-friendly digital cards sent via email. Even in the less paper-y format, they often include characters from the company’s more popular games.

Here’s a collection of Christmas and Holiday cards I’ve received celebrating 2009…

Companies like to brag about good sales figures. When a new system – or new iteration of an existing system – is released on the market, companies want consumers to know how successful it is. It isn’t a bad idea, really. If people see a system or a console is a winner, then they’ll be more likely to jump on the bandwagon as well.

The thing is, we aren’t seeing that with Sony’s PSPgo.

The PSPgo debuted October 1, 2009. It’s been out for nearly two weeks and Sony has yet to start gloating about the system’s sales. There were no first two- or three-day sales figures reported. Sony hasn’t even released first-week sales figures. This leaves consumers to wonder whether or not the PSPgo is really doing all that well.

PSP owners have just been given another reason to think twice about upgrading to the PSPgo. The first pause would naturally be caused by the PSPgo’s $249.99 price point, about $100 more than a standard PSP and now even $50 more than a Wii. The second pause will be caused by the latest news from Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) – there’s no method for converting UMD games to digital ones in sight.

That’s right owners of PSPs with a UMD drive. If you decide to upgrade to a PSPgo, all of those UMDs are useless. They’re even to small to use as coasters! Last night Kotaku reported the heartbreaking news that the UMD conversion program was a pipedream. The SCEA representative spoken to said the program won’t be available “at this time.” So much for the conversion kiosks people were teased with at E3 2009. Now, at TGS 2009, SCEE has announced that there won’t be any UMD conversion method available in Europe either.

Yes, SCEE is going to offer you three free games with the PSPgo Rewards Program if you have an existing PSP and UMD, but IndustryGamers has gotten word from SCEA that residents of North America aren’t going to have that luxury…

Burn Zombie Burn! is a shooter in the most basic sense of the genre with a nearly endless barrage of zombies coming for your brains and you have to blast, burn, mow, bash or otherwise thwart their attempts at feeding. It’s simple, it’s silly and holy roasted zombie guts is it fun.

You play as a bobble-headed animated version of Bruce Campbell (Elvis lipped, big chinned and donning a Hawaiian shirt) in typical horror film settings with a constant influx of undeadites heading your way. You begin with a simple handgun and pick up myriad weapons including bats (baseball and cricket), a flamethrower, rapid-fire guns and even a lawn mower. Some are temporary – the best of the bunch – and respawn while others last a while. Kill enough zombies with the same weapon and you activate a giant red button that causes an area-wide effect (rain, dancing, whathaveyou).

According to the ESRB, that is.

While researching a rumor about Marvel vs. Capcom 2, we stumbled upon a listing for Street Fighter Alpha 2 coming to the Playstation Portable and Playstation 3. What’s particularly interesting is that this news comes hot off the heels of Capcom’s announcement that Sakura, the schoolgirl fighter, is being added to the Street Fighter 4 roster.

Street Fighter Alpha 2 was…

Yet another PSP firmware update has been released by Sony, v3.93. Figures – I just updated mine. This latest update is mainly fluff if you already have your PSP running with v3.90 firmware. All that is new in v3.93 is updated support for some of the Playstation Network games. v3.90, however, did add additional Skype and Internet Radio support to the handheld.