Metal Gear Solid Touch is scheduled for release in Spring 2009, reports Kotaku. The game is a completely original adventure set in the latter-day world of Metal Gear Solid 4 (read: Snake is a geriatric), and consists of 8 stages.

What would a Metal Gear Solid game be without unlockable content? Earning bonus points through gameplay will allow players to download special Metal Gear-themed iPhone wallpapers.

No price has been established for the title, though we expect to hear more details from Konami soon.

The latest news comes from a recent EETimes article that talks about a joint venture with Imagination Technologies Group to manufacture a certain chip set for a unit called the “PSP 2.” The chip set in question is similar to the POWERVR SGX graphics processor, and you can find the SGX chip sets in everything from palmtops to mobile PCs.

It’s currently considered to be one of the most powerful available today, so most are assuming it’s a good decision to implement this piece of technology into a new portable gaming device.

However, Sony will neither confirm or deny that research and development of a new PSP is either currently taking place or coming to a close, so everything is just speculation at this point. Then again, when something carries the title of “PSP 2″ with it, it’s difficult to imagine the aforementioned joint venture is anything but a team dedicated to a Sony handheld sequel.

So now the question is, what do you want to see in a new PSP? We’re sure many owners out there have suggestions for Sony in regards to additions and enhancements, so let’s hear it. Bigger screen? Different button layout? Something crazy original like the DS? Or just more media stuff in general?

But Nikkei Net has lots of details on the supposed product, including a price (16,800 yen, or $158), and availability set for 2008. The report, which has been cited on gaming sites across the Web, even says that you’ll be able to use photos you snap in new kinds of games, and music and photos will be accessible via wireless connection and SD card. (That would also suggest that the DS would add a new storage slot to the mix.) The screen is rumored to be larger, too.

The launch is said to be set for Japan first and only with a few hundred thousand units, which is typical for Nintendo, so even if the rumor pans out, it’s unlikely we’ll see units on our shores before 2009. (And even then we’ll undoubtedly be in another Wii/PS3 situation with shortages, long lines, and gunfire.) To put that in perspective, the company plans to sell 28 million DS units this year worldwide.

The move would be an interesting, and probably successful one, for Nintendo. The DS is a phenomenon that’s far larger than almost any other gadget (only the iPod is really competitive), and it makes sense for Nintendo to upgrade its game device to grow along with its young customer base. As kids stop playing cake-baking games, they start snapping pictures and listening to music… so why not give them everything in one package, right? Especially one they’re already intimately familiar with….

Now all Nintendo needs to do is add a cell phone to the DS and they’ll have a lock on tweens for life.

Nintendo rumored to be updating DS with camera and MP3 : Christopher Null : Yahoo! Tech

Two weeks later it’s here courtesy of a little solder and hot glue, opening up the massive library of Game Boy and Advance titles. Yeah, the system isn’t much to look at, and with an entire GBA hanging off the back it’s pushing the limits of the word “mini.” But, it is an intrepid hack and, like his others, he’s more than happy to tell you how he did it. Video of this meaty portable in action after the break.

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Bacteria’s “Mini-Platform” gets GBA’d – Engadget