Once rumored, now confirmed, two expansions to the Spore universe are on the way.

Gamespot reports that the “Creepy & Cute Parts Pack” will be available for both PC and Mac versions of the game on November 18, just two months after the long-anticipated evolution sim from Will Wright hit shelves. EA didn’t confirm pricing, which was listed at $19.99 on Gamestop’s product page.

Speculation of an add-on began 10 days ago, when the product showed up on Gamestop’s and Amazon’s Web sites. The listings were subsequently removed, but not before some keen retail watchers took notice.

The expansion includes over 100 new creature parts, plus new backgrounds, paint options and animations. Those who bought the Spore Creature Creator, but not the full game, will also be able to purchase the add-on.

A full-fledged expansion, currently called the Space stage pack, is scheduled for a spring 2009 release, with no word on pricing. It will allow players to teleport down to other planets and includes an “Adventure Creator” for building and sharing user-created missions.

Surely, this news is welcomed by those who want to spend more money on the game they just bought. Seriously, though, we’ll need more details on these expansions — particularly the parts pack and what impact it will have on gameplay — before knowing if this is worth such considerable extra expenditure.

From Sony’s official Playstation blog comes word of hefty updates to the Playstation 3 and PSP system software, adding some long-overdue features.

PSP gamers will soon be able to download games directly onto the handheld with a Wi-Fi connection by signing up for the Playstation Network. This also allows for a consistent account between the PSP and PS3. Downloads through PC will be temporarily unavailable as Sony makes some adjustments.

The version 5.0 firmware upgrade also adds a sleep timer to use while listening to music and a full-screen keyboard for text entry.

The PS3’s version 2.5 updates aren’t as significant, but there are quite a few of them. Support for an official bluetooth headset has been added, which is helpful as it will come bundled with the upcoming SOCOM: Confirmation. Movie watchers will be able to splice their videos into smaller chunks for easier viewing, and In-game screenshots will be supported on a case-by-case basis.

For the trophy-seekers, tweaks to the interface show how far you are from the next Trophy Level, and players will be able to view their friends’ Trophy Level progress. A minor change to Friend status information shows how long it’s been since your buddies have gone online. Promotional codes and Playstation Network cards will be redeemable directly through the store.

In the power-saving department, new settings enable a shutdown of the PS3 and controllers after set periods of inactivity. The system can also be set to switch off after downloads are complete.

There’s no word on a set release date. Playstation Network Operations director Eric Lempel only promises that the updates are “coming soon.”

Just in case you didn’t log enough hours on Halo 3, another fix will be available at retail stores next year.

Bungie detailed Halo 3: Recon at Tokyo Game Show, explaining that the game is a boxed expansion pack. Recon will star a yet-to-be-named Orbital Drop-Shock Trooper, fighting the Covenant on Earth while the Chief does his work on Delta Halo.  As such, the Chief won’t appear in the game at all, Gamespot reports.

Spokesmen Luke Smith and Brian Jarrard put down several circulating rumors about the game. While combat as a normal human instead of a super cyborg, Recon is not a squad-based or stealth game. It will be a first-person shooter like its ancestors.

Multiplayer will include all the maps from the Mythic Map Pack, set for release next spring, and a full set of 1,000 Gamerscore points awaits achievement-seekers.

For those wondering if Bungie can ever get away from the Halo universe, Jarrard stressed that the company has other products in the pipeline. Further, Jarrard called the project a “one-off thing” and not part of a new story arc for the franchise.

“This is the first time we’ve tried to have a smaller, nimble, more agile team of people on a project while the rest of the team tackles other projects,” he said.

Microsoft has confirmed that it has plans to offer customers a Blu-Ray player option to its console Xbox 360. Due to their unenthuasiasm for the BD-Java technology, the software giant originally had adopted the HD-DVD format which was recently phased out – leaving Blu-Ray the victor in the format war.

In the past, Microsoft had clearly stated that it will not be adopting the Blu-Ray format for their Xbox 360 unless there was a high demand. It looks like with the increasing sales of the Sony Playstation 3, Microsoft is now quickly acting to offer a Blu-Ray option to match its console competitor.

Microsoft has contracted a Toshiba-Samsung joint venture to manufacture external Blu-Ray disc drives for the Xbox 360 console. The company is hoping to offer the new drives for about $100-$150 in order to compete with the Sony Playstation 3 in the video game console market.

There is no mention of when the drives will be offered to consumers as of yet, although there is anticipation that they may be available as early as the holiday season. Otherwise, it’s most likely Microsoft will be postponing the unveiling until the Consumer Electronics Show early next year in order to attract the most attention concerning the device.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band a little too, erm, “suburban” for you? Come next spring, you’ll have Scratch: The Ultimate DJ, which lets players get on the turntables and pretend-play some hip-hop.

Quincy Jones III, who produced records for Tupac Shakur, LL Cool J and Ice Cube, is on board for the project, and DJ equipment manufacturer Numark was enlisted to create the “Scratch Deck” controller. The game developer is 7 Studios, which has spent most of its recent years creating movie tie-ins such as Shrek the Third and Napoleon Dynamite: The Game. Scratch is under development for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.

“With the recent success of music-driven videogames and the dominance of urban culture in the youth market, the potential for Scratch is endless,” Jones said in a statement.

There are no details on which hip-hop artists will appear in the game; the press release only promises “original recordings from the catalogs of many top urban artists.” We’d also like to know more about the concept of improvising on the fly in addition to the usual note-matching sequences.

Also of note is how this will compare to a possible “DJ Hero,” rumored to be in production by Guitar Hero publisher Activision. Is the death of rock at hand?

[Press Release via Joystiq]

Mind-controlled video games are becoming a reality. NeuroSky Inc., maker of “wearable” consumer bio-sensors for various applications, announced today that it would unveil a brainwave-controlled video game at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 in Makuhari, Japan on October 9th and 10th. The game is being jointly developed with Square Enix, creators of the popular Final Fantasy series.

The game will initially operate on Windows PC machines in conjunction with a NeuroSky commercial headset called the MindSet. The MindSet is capable of interfacing with various gaming platforms including PC, console, and mobile. The MindSet is fashioned like a regular headset, except for a single electrode which contacts the wearer’s forehead and reads brainwave information, or EEG data. The headset will sense relaxation or concentration states of the player, allowing them to perform various actions in the game as a result.

Ryutaro Ichimura, Producer at Square Enix said, “At Square Enix, we are actively involved in developing a variety of gaming interfaces. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work with NeuroSky, and apply their advanced sensor technology in this brain-wave controlled game demonstration. Although the main purpose of the demo is to test the results of our short development period, I hope it also unlocks new potentials in gaming.”

The CEO of NeuroSky, Stanley Yang, believes that brainwave-reading technology (EEG) will rapidly emerge in the video game industry as an alternative to traditional controllers.

Nintendo and Wii fanboys beware.

After giving PC gamers the popular and long-standing Massively Multiplayer Online games EverQuest and PlanetSide, Sony Online Entertainment is changing course. John Smedley, president of Sony’s online arm, suggested that all of the company’s MMOs will appear on consoles from now on.

Smedley told MTV Multiplayer that Sony has designed the technology behind its online game worlds to run on both PC and console platforms. After that initial investment, there’s no significant cost to entering the console market, but the potential is huge because — let’s face it — consoles are where it’s at these days.

Asked by reporter Tracey John whether all of SOE’s MMOs will appear on consoles from now on, Smedley replied “Yes.” Sony has already announced three MMOs be released for PC and Playstation 3: DC Universe Online, The Agency and Free Realms.

But what about subscription fees? Smedley is non-committal on how the console business model might work.

“I think it’s about making a great game, but we also believe that there’s a chance, maybe [the games] won’t be subscription-based,” he said. “Maybe the free-to-play model is the right one to use there, too. We don’t know yet. We’re going to find out with ‘Free Realms,’ and adapt as we see things go.”