What's this? Greg speaking at the beginning of a mailbag? Who tossed this wrench in the mailbag format?

The short answer: Sony.

With the massive meeting of the minds that was E3 this year, I was able to take some of your burning PSP questions straight to the source and compile the ground-shaking answers into today's mailbag. That's right, instead of reading my hypothesis on what Sony might be thinking, you're going to get the info from three wise men …

Patrick Seybold -- senior manager of hardware public relations for SCE
Dave Karraker -- senior director of corporate communications with SCE
Jack Tretton -- the exalted ruler of all things Sony

So, I'm putting it on cruise control and letting the experts talk you through your problems …

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PSP Redesign Dates: Slim and None?

A firm date for the new SKU's to start appearing in US stores. Is the piano-black PSP-slim the first to roll out with the Daxter unit to follow? Make some calls lad.

-- NeoMaxims

Hey--

Make a call? Pfft -- it's almost 2010, dude. These are the glory days of e-mail.

"The Daxter PSP Pack will be available September 10th, the Star Wars PSP pack will be available on October 9," Patrick wrote. "The core PSP will be available in September, I don't have a hard date yet."

NeoMaxims, your question has been pwned.
Greg

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Sweet Talk Will Get You Everywhere

When the hell is Sony launching a PSP version of the Playstation Network or Store. This is getting ridiculous.

-- Mo1518

Hey--

I'm not in love with your tone, Mo1518, but it's a decent line of questioning. Dave?

"It's on its way," he said. "We don't have any announcement dates for that just yet, but it is on its way."

Stay tuned!
Greg

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The Small Fish

Why not have some homebrew game support?

-- carterman

Hey--

Yeah, why not, Jack?

"I think that is something that is in the works," he said. "We certainly see some of the stuff that has been done via homebrew, and it's incredibly creative. And I think we'd like to try and tap into that a little bit more."

Dave added to Jack's comments by saying that moving to forward with homebrew software has one main hurdle to cross -- figuring out how to support the new content without putting the PSP at risk.

You know some hacker wants to brick your baby for fun.
Greg

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Lay Down the Boogie

Why can't we listen to our .mp3's during any game ala the Xbox360, with official Sony firmware yet?

-- Steele311

Hey--

Dave says: "It's one of those things that we'd probably look at doing in the future. At this time, not a high priority, but it's definitely something that we'd look at."

Ouch.
Greg

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Classics Calling?

Wheres all the PS1 games for download? Are third party's on board? Wheres MGS, Silent Hill etc? … WHERES MY RESIDENT EVIL PORTABLE??? TEAM ICO PSP GAME?

-- FFObsessed86

Hey--

We'll do this in two parts with Dave.

Where's the PS1 games, dude?

"You need a vehicle to be able to do that and that would be the PlayStation Store, which is on its way," he said.

Sweet. What about an RE PSP?

"Call Capcom," Dave said with a laugh.

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You do your job, pencil neck. Don't tell me how to do mine.

Give these guys a hand, mailbag fans. It's not every day that Sony higher ups stop in and answer your questions, so don't take the responses for granted. If you're wondering, Jack, Dave and I spoke at E3 and Patrick and I chatted via e-mail this morning. Want your burning questions answered? Make sure to drop the PSP mailbag a line and keep an eye on the boards for special interview opportunities.

Also, look for tonight/tomorrow morning's Metal Gear anniversary coverage. Konami's going to be announcing all sorts of goodies in Japan tonight as it celebrates the franchise's 20th year, and we'll have our chief Japan correspondent Anoop on the scene. I'll run home base and have the news as it happens. The show kicks off at 1:30 a.m. our time, so grab your coffee and join me for some Metal Gear Mania!

Greg Miller
Editor, IGN PlayStation Team and awesome guy
(Check out my blog or make one of your own)