Hey! Have you heard about the PlayStation Phone? Sony’s totally making a PlayStation Phone! No, really! PlayStation Phone! PlayStation Phoooone!

Yeah, that didn’t happen. The NGP might turn out to be something like a PlayStation phone, but the slide-open, gamepad-equipped, Android-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Play is most definitely not a PlayStation phone. In fact, it proves that the whole “PlayStation Suite” and “PlayStation Certified” thing is basically bullcrap. All is not lost, though. This phone is surprisingly awesome in its own way, just not with any real Sony game presence on it. Find out more in our gaming feature review of the phone.

At last, our long national nightmare is over. PS3 owners around the country are rejoicing as the PlayStation Network has come back online. After a system update and a mandatory password change, you can finally sign on to PSN. Unfortunately, it’s not quite 100%.

The PlayStation Store still doesn’t work. Which means no downloading new games or DLC, no redeeming DLC content cards, like the one that comes with L.A. Noire, and so on. That’s a pretty big detail.

But hey, PlayStation Home works! So that’s something. Kind of.

Welcome to the first bit of good news on the PSN hacking story. Sony has announced that it will be offering free identity theft insurance and protection services through AllClear ID to PSN and Qriocity users. This is on top of a free month of PSN Plus, and a far more important offering to users of the service that was hacked, compromising personal information and credit card numbers for millions.

With $1,000,000 identity theft insurance, the AllClear ID service offers a bit of reassurance for the various PSN users, including myself, worried that they’re going to see their credit cards maxed out and their bank accounts drained after this. Sony will start sending out authorization codes to PSN users over the next few days. After you receive your code, you can set up the service at this web site.

Now, let’s all get excited over the inevitable June announcement that AllClear ID’s database was hacked and its user information was stolen.

I know we’re all pissed about the PSN outage, but at some point you gotta feel bad for Sony. Engadget, via Nikkei.com, has confirmed that Sony has had another breach resulting in the release of 12,700 credit cards numbers, with at least 4300 of them being Japanese and unknown number from various other countries. The exposed data is from 2007, so the number of valid credit cards exposed should be limited, but there is the possibility of other info having been leaked as well. In response, SOE’s services were taken offline yesterday. This comes on the heels of Kaz Harai’s announcement a few days ago that the PSN breach could had caused the loss of 10 million credit card numbers.

So what does all this mean? Well, if you were playing Everquest, Free Realms, or DC Universe Online, you’re SOL. You still can’t play games online on your PS3. You can possibly brute force your way into Netflix, if you’re lucky. You can’t get any PS3 DLC. And if you had a credit card tied to almost any Sony Online services, be it an MMO or PSN, there is a chance it’s been compromised…

At first, the PSN network crash was an inconvenience. Then it was a frustration. Then it was simply ridiculous. Now it’s reached a mythical status. Most network shutdowns are resolved after a day. The PSN shutdown has lasted for 8 days. This is the Hannukah of hacking, a dropped service miracle that, like the oil in the story kept the Jews in light, has kept PS3 gamers in the dark for over a week. Instead of going blow-by-blow, here’s a summary of what we know about the hack/crash (or, at least, what Sony is willing to admit):

Looks like the ill-fated PSP Go is about to be gone. A Japanese tech blog update (translated by Andriasang via Joystiq) reports that Sony has ceased shipments of the download-only handheld gaming platform to Japanese retailers, which parallels similar developments in other markets worldwide. Amazon’s product page says the PSP Go has been “discontinued by the manufacturer.” Sony has adopted a neither-confirm-nor-deny stance regarding future shipments and whether or not manufacturing has been halted altogether.

This news isn’t exactly a shocker, but it’s always noteworthy when another system that seemed forward-thinking turns out to be fatally flawed and goes the way of the N-Gage. I actually can’t think of anyone I know personally (UPDATE) know one person personally who bought one. I have no doubt that download-only systems will be the norm in years to come, but the PSP Go was just too pricey for the features offered in order for it to see much commercial success.  If the Next Generation Portable, scheduled for late 2011, is any indication, Sony has decided against going back to the download-only model for now. So pour one out for another gaming system headed to the annals of history before its 2nd birthday. If you’ve got any PSP Go memories to share, I’d love to see them below.

UPDATE: Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan has confirmed to Industry Gamers (via VG247) that production of the PSP Go has ceased in the land of the rising sun, but SCEA says it will still be headed to stateside shelves. SCEE has yet to comment on the device’s future in European markets, but at least one UK retailer reports that when “current PSPgo stock is sold we will not be receiving replenishments.” SCEJ has indicated that their focus in that market is on the Next Generation Portable.

Sega held a Japan-themed shindig at the Hiro Ballroom in New York City last night to promote its upcoming crime-em-up Yakuza 4. There was sushi, Japanese rap, Asian hostesses, and plenty of opportunity for hands-on time with the game.

I haven’t played a Yakuza game before, but from what time I spent with the new one it seemed like fun. This isn’t Grand Theft Auto, with you driving everywhere wreaking havoc. Instead, you get into a lot of street fights and train pretty girls in clubs to please customers. I’m pretty sure they’re not prostitutes. Honestly, I don’t know. From the cutscenes, it sounds like they’re just waitresses trying to get attention and money from customers, wrangling them in to be regulars. Either I’m missing some innuendo, or there’s some major organized crime money in the service industry. Anyway, it seems like fun.

Check out photos of the party below. Yakuza 4 comes out on the PS3 March 15.

Every now and then, something comes along that makes even a mega-geek like me clench my fists and snarl “NEERRRRRDDDS!” Atlus’s Catherine is one such item. The game’s announcement made a splash at TGS last year for its weird, erotic trailers and out-of-left-field action/puzzle gameplay. The collective “WTF?” was quickly followed by excitement and then disappointment as Americans saw no planned release for North America. No surprise there, this weirdness is the kind that rarely ventures outside of its native Japan.

Yankees, Canucks…commence salivating like I know you do for anime babes. Atlus has confirmed a U.S. release for Catherine in Summer ’11 (via The Escapist), for PS3 and Xbox 360. Honestly, I applaud Atlus for the potentially-risky move of bringing an unconventional sort of title stateside, and I’m interested to see if it delivers on its mind-trip thriller promise. The U.S. of A. unfortunately has a reputation of being a poor market for goofy/sexy games.

LittleBigPlanet 2 is out this week. More importantly, Sony held an event at which several players worked to break a handful of world records. The Guinness Book of World Records recorded them as having played the longest amount of time in any one session of a platformer video game. They rocked their Sackboys for over 50 hours, breaking 5 total records in the process.

More importantly, Sony took out this giant, terrifying Sackboy after the records were beaten. He’s six feet tall, has a head four feet wide, and his sack is made from the souls of the damned. Giant Sackboy will haunt my dreams.

Incidentally, the LittleBigPlanet 2 Collector’s Edition is surprisingly hard to find in New York. Every Gamestop in the area pre-sold-out weeks in advance, and out of almost a dozen Best Buys in the city I managed to find exactly two copies of the edition that weren’t pre-purchased. Amazon still has it in stock, though. It’s still remarkable to see it almost completely absent in retail stores, especially when nearly every Gamestop in the land has the Halo Reach: Legendary Edition on sale for nearly half off, the huge boxes stacked up the walls.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: And they're all gone. That was ridiculously fast. Sorry for any commenters too late to get them! Remember, just 2 days left on our Child's Play fundraiser. Donate through the widget on the right, get a Street Fighter movie Rifftrax!]

We just got a whole batch of LittleBigPlanet 2 beta keys, and we’re just raring to give them away. If you want in, comment below and we’ll mail you one! First-come first serve. We have about 25, and we’ll keep sending them off as we get comments. Aaaand… go!