I mean, there'll be a new one next year so I might as well still wait. Man, at least I'm not one of those dudes who paid six hundred bucks for it this summer. Gotta suck to be them right now. Especially when they get their 130-page phone bill. Okay, how about the iPod classic?

Looks kinda ... pudgy.

Dang, it's just a slightly neater version of the last one, except ... yeah, it looks like it has baby fat. Man, why you even got to do a thing? They could have made it all svelte like the "Touch," like it came from the spy supply store, but the damn thing looks like a Sta-Puft. Forget it, maybe I'll just get a little thing.

Ooh, the Nano is kind of nifty. It's neat that there's all that screen on that little player. It's pretty much as convenient as a Shuffle; I just need to get a case with a clip, but it's finally small enough for my shirt pocket.

Wait, I wear t-shirts.

Okay so it's silver, blue, red, and — oh god, it looks like a big Tic-Tac. In fact they all look pretty dopey. Man, I miss the real old glass Nanos. The new expensive iPods look like that. It's like they stole the cool look for the pricier phones. Jon Ives, that is cold. Screw it, no Nano.

And the Shuffle is ... in new colors. Blech. Great, that's everything. I'm free of the need to buy. I can find satisfaction in things other than conspicuous consumption. I am not my fucking mp3 player.

Ooh look, Sony's selling new PSPs in a week! Man, which one should I buy?

Nick Douglas writes at Valleywag, Too Much Nick, and Look Shiny. He's buying the full package, in silver.

Dave Karraker, the senior director of corporate communications has just announced he will be leaving Sony Computer Entertainment of America for Skyy Spirits. His last day at SCEA will be this Friday, his first at Skyy Spirits will be Oct. 1.

Karraker said he decided to take the position after being "presented a global opportunity near my home in an industry where I have previous experience that I feel I must pursue."

Karraker said it was a "difficult decision to leave Sony" and called the past year with SCEA a "wild ride and an incredibly enriching experience. I have enjoyed immensely my tenure at SCEA and think the company and its brands are very well positioned to have an exceptional holiday and a very bright future. I look forward to continuing to follow this industry as a gamer, rather than a spokesperson."

We had our tifs Dave, but we've always loved ya and we'll miss our back and forths.

Roughly 80 to 100 employees of Sony Computer Entertainment of America's Foster City headquarters were laid off today, Kotaku has learned from a source who was among those asked to hand in their badge and keys before leaving the premises.

"In an effort to accurately align the company to meet the changing needs of our consumers and of our industry, Sony Computer Entertainment America has found it necessary to analyze our current business and to restructure the company as necessary to continue our standing as the market leader," SCEA spokesman Dave Karraker told Kotaku this evening, when contacted for comment. " These restructuring efforts are currently underway and do include the streamlining of our operations and other initiatives to further strengthen the business, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency. "

Karraker declined to comment on the number of employees affected.

The lay-off meetings, which came as a surprise to even middle management, started in the morning and ran throughout the day, the source said. Departments were separated into two groups, with those being laid off meeting first and those remaining behind meeting next in half-hour sessions. Those who were laid off were asked to leave their belongings at the office and either have their manager pack up their desk for them or schedule an appointment some evening to fetch their possessions. Those laid off were give a fair severance package, the source added.

The lay-offs, which were preceded by a months long hiring freeze, were prompted by SCEI's call for cut backs which in turn was spurred by the company's multi-billion dollar losses and the sky-rocketing cost of PS3 game development, upper management told those who remained at the office.

The day of across-the-board lay-offs come just month after SCEE was hit by mammoth lay-offs which hit hundreds. Brian Crecente

First to summarize: We posted a rumor after Sony asked us not to and they emailed to say we were no longer welcome at any of their private GDC events and that they would no longer provide us with any information found outside of the public forums.

We posted said e-mail and the Internet imploded.

First, I have to say thank you to all of the websites, newspapers, magazines, people who were so quick to come to our defense and supported our decision to stand by our story.

Second, I want to thank Dave Karraker, head of SCEA PR, who was big enough to call me and talk the whole thing through after this exploded.

He told me his take on the story and his frustrations and I told him mine, in the end we agreed to disagree on some level, but also decided that our readers and gamers in general would be best served if Sony and Kotaku could still play nicely together.

In a nutshell: The story remains up and Sony has re-invited us to the meetings and interviews initially scheduled for the Game Developers Conference.

It's unfortunate that we, not just Kotaku and Sony, but all of us had to go through this, but it's good to see the outcome: We were doing our job and Sony was doing theirs and now we can both continue to do so. Brian Crecente

Michael Pachter, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst, doesn't really see Ken Kutaragi's promotion as a way to remove him from the game, but rather as a way to prepare him for heading up the entire company.

Speaking to GameDaily BIZ about the management shuffle, Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, "I think it's prudent succession planning. Kutaragi is the visionary, and his work on PS3 was done at launch. They need to groom him to replace Stringer. The rest of the guys are competent, experienced, and loyal. I think each of the other moves made sense. In time, I think you will see Kutaragi given responsibility for other functions, like Blu-ray."

As Sony President Ryoji Chubachi explained it to the Nikkei, "Mr. Kutaragi's strength is his knowledge of technology. His position is, of course, chief executive, but this means he will especially be looking closely at the area of technological development."

I've come to realize that Sony uses the volcano school of management, heat from bad decisions and poor management builds until a key person involved in the decision-making process is pushed up and up and up and finally ejected entirely from the company.

I'm going to patent that shit, Brian's School of Volcano Management.

Kutaragi Being Groomed to Replace Stringer - Pachter [Game Daily]