Let's face it. The PlayStation family didn't blow any socks off with its performance for the month of October. In the U.S. the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP were sitting at the bottom half of the the hardware standings, all showing a decline from the previous month, a month that happened to be shorter. But when life hands you lemons, there's a public relations team member tasked with making lemonade.

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Starting a band and rocking the world got a hell of a lot cheaper today, as Harmonix, MTV Games and EA have dropped the price of the original Rock Band Special Edition bundle to just $US99.99 for the Wii and PlayStation 2. That includes Rock Band software, the drum kit, guitar controller and microphone, just in case there was any confusion there.

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Following the weekend rumour that Sony had nixed delivery of electronic goodies to Circuit City amid credit concerns comes the official notice today that the electronics retailer is in deep financial woes.

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The PlayStation 2 is far from dead, and the console is outselling the PS3. With Sony Europe's developer relations manager George Bain announcing that it's no longer necessary for developers to submit upcoming titles to Sony for content approval, don't expect the PS2 to die off anytime soon. The platform is now open, and this action will certain spur on a spate of low-cost titles. Bain cited territories like Russia and India that are now able to "create low-development cost titles and release them in their market". Dev kits are still a necessity, but there are no longer PS2 licensing fees. "This has never been done before," notes Bain. "This is something we're actively promoting."

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Sony, as a company, are not in good shape. Global financial crisis will do that to a company. But hey, least it's not the gaming division's fault! While the company as a whole has seen profits drop by an incredible 90%, sales are up (for the most part) across Sony's gaming hardware range, with the PS3 selling 2.43 million consoles over the past three months (Q2FY08), which is nearly twice as many as it sold during the same period last year. PSP sales were also up, 3.18 million handhelds sold during Q2 as opposed to 2.58 in for the second quarter of FY2007.

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Look, some laws down here, they're liberal. Like, if police cracked a PS2 open and found a mod chip? There'd be trouble in the US, but in Australia, no sweat. They're legal. But 3400 ecstasy tablets, that's going a little too far. Three men (two Canadians and a New Zealander) have been charged with smuggling, after the console - which was detected by Customs at Sydney airport then tracked - was confiscated at a house in Surfer's Paradise. If found guilty, they face a maximum punishment of $825,000 and/or life imprisonment.

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Urge to groove building. Must... snap.... fingers....

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today announced a deal with ABBA to bring the band's groovelicious music to SingStar on the Playstation 2 and Playstation 3. SingStar ABBA is being developed in collaboration with the Swedish Pop band...aka most played band on my iPhone.

"We are thrilled to be collaborating with ABBA to bring their tracks to SingStar this Christmas," said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "The popularity of this iconic band continues year after year, and we know SingStar fans will be delighted to add this selection of classics tracks to their SingStar collection."

Is it me or does that sound like Reeves has never gotten down with his funky self?

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Ah, yes. Those were the days. It was a simpler time. Back when developers only really had to worry about one machine — the PS2. Everyone had one, and all the devs figured out how to develop games on that platform. Things were competitive, but straight forward and streamlined, even. But now, now is hard. Everything is complex! Says Koei president Kenji Matsubara:

In the PlayStation days, the platform was only one, but the competition was so high. For PLAYSTATION 3, we have to spend huge resources. In the PlayStation 2 days, we could just focus on one platform, but these days, we have to spend resources on handhelds, popular consoles like the Wii, and high-performance consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3. It means that we have to spend too much money and many resources. That's a challenge for us.

Hey, it's a challenge for consumers, too! Honestly, picking just one platform to own these days seems very, very hard.

Koei President Matsubara Explains Third-Party Challenges In Japan [Gamasutra]

A tipster who chooses to remain anonymous dropped us a line to let us in on a juicy little tidbit from the GameStop Expo in Las Vegas. According to the source, yesterday during Square Enix's presentation, mention was made of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories for the PS2.

Once Square-Enix was up, there was a small mention of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. When asked if it was the one that was included with Final Mix II in Japan, they confirmed it with a nod. There hasn't been any official announcement through Square, just a small mention...

Of course until we get an official announcement this is still firmly in the realm of rumour, but combined with the rumours that ran rampant back in July about Square Enix auditioning an English voice cast, there could very well be some truth behind it. With a hungry fanbase desperate for anything Kingdom Hearts related, it would be silly for this not to happen.

You got your SingStar 90s, your SingStar Summer Party, and now SingStar Country is coming to the Playstation 2. Now about that SingStar Gregorian Chant...

SS COuntry will come pack with 30 songs from artists I've never heard of, including Rascal Flatts, Keith Urban, Taylor Swift, and Faith Hill. OK, so I've heard of them, but not by choice. Country is one of the few genres I just can't seem to tolerate. Well most country.

But for Country fans this seems like a big win. SCEA has teamed up with Sony BMG Nashville for the title, meaning they can put the artists on the cover. They've also teamed up with the label to kick off a nationwide SingStar Country radio promotion called Sing your Way to the CMA Awards. The promotion will bring SS tournaments to LA, Dallas, Houston, Chicago and San Francisco, giving gamers a chance to attend the 42 annual CMA Awards on Nov. 12.

More details on the jump.

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