If you ever hear someone drone on longingly about the “Sly Cooper” series, understand that it is because it’s one of “those games”. There wasn’t much hype around the first game, so anyone that played it usually did so under unique circumstances, and were met with a title that was simply charming. It may have been rough around the edges, but the mounds of charm that emitted from the title combined with some great stealth-lite gameplay to produce something that made you want to scream its praises to anyone within earshot

It’s that type of reaction that led to a continuation of the series, that will carry on with the upcoming “Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time”. Until recently, the only good reason you needed to be excited for Sly 4 was Sly 1-3. However, there’s now an even better reason to snatch up the game like a thieving raccoon, considering that it will now only cost $39.99 for the PS3 version and $29.99 for the PS Vita. We also know that the PS3 version will include a downloadable copy of the Vita version as part of Sony’s “Cross-Buy” initiative.

Clearly, that makes this a hell of a deal. In fact, considering that all we hear about is the rising costs of video game production, some are considering this usually joyful announcement of a cheaper AAA video game to be suspicious. The concerns are that this will somehow lead to a very short game, or one that the developers are somehow worried about going over well. This has led to a marketing manager at Sony assuring people that this is not a cover up or ploy, but rather a way to make sure as many people as possible get a chance to play the game.

Of course, even if it is somehow true that this price cut is a preemptive measure for something the developers know that we don’t, this is still a generous move that all PS3 gamers should take note of when Sly 4 is released on February 5^th in North America.

It looks like Sony is willing to part with its 250GB PS3 Slim as a stand-alone console (i.e. not part of its many bundles). The company announced the new SKU today, which will run you $350 when it launches next month. The company will still offer the standard PS3 at the 80GB/160GB SKUs, making it pointless to get anything other than a PS3 Slim.

I’m still surprised Microsoft hasn’t announced the same. As the holidays edge closer it seems prudent to get a top-of-the-line system out to market as that splurge gift from mom and dad or the elusive fat, bearded guy.

If you’re big into downloaded content or digital storage for your various media, spend the extra $50. It more than doubles your drive capacity for what feels like pennies in comparison with other console storage media.

When Sony first announced the PSP Go, I decried the lack of a UMD drive. The nonexistent feature meant existing collections of PSP games could not be used on the new device. Then there was hope. Sony announced plans to implement a “good will” program by which PSP owners with UMD discs would be able to get a digital copy for use with the PSP Go.

Well it looks like that’s not going to happen. “We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time,” an SCEA spokesperson said today. The change makes the “upgrade” even less appealing for its October 1st launch.