Standard & Poor’s (S&P) has lowered Sony long-term credit and debt ratings from "A-" to "BBB+," according to an IndustryGamers report. That report also notes that the firm also removed the ratings from CreditWatch, where it dropped them in November of 2011.

It looks like those UMDs you bought for your PlayStation Portable will be completely useless if you decide to upgrade to a PS Vita.

Nikkei is reporting that Kazuo Hirai will take on a much broader role within the company as its new President. The former President, Howard Stringer will remain as the CEO and chairman of the board, according to the report.

Stringer was named president in 2009 in the hopes that he could turn the company around as its PS3 console battled both the Wii and Xbox 360 for dominance. In 2011 he oversaw the cleanup of one of the biggest security breaches in the company's history.

It looks like Nintendo, Sony, and Electronic Arts have withdrawn their support for the much maligned SOPA bill.  An update to the government’s list of SOPA supporters (PDF) no longer sports the companies’ names (although Sony’s music divisions are still on there).

Why the change of heart?  We’re not sure.

A new video supposedly from the hacking group Anonymous warns Sony that they are soon to be targeted for their support of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

New data released by Japanese retail research company Media Create reveals that the 20 titles that launched with the PlayStation Vita sold a combined 300,000 units. This happened, according to the firm, in the first two days of Vita's launch. The system sold an estimated 325,000 units in the same timeframe. According to Andriasang - who translated Media Create's numbers, this gives the Vita an attach-rate of around 0.92 games per system. That rate might be a bit higher because these numbers don't take into account games purchased online through PlayStation Store.

Sony is apologizing this week to Japanese consumers who have bought its new PlayStation Vita hand-held, after some found that their systems were having a host of serious technical problems.

In September Sony updated the PlayStation Network's terms of service to include a new clause removing the ability for customers (who were more than likely upset over the major security breach that happened earlier in the year) to file future class action lawsuits. Users who accepted the new TOS had to agree to individual arbitration instead of a lawsuit if they had a grievance against Sony. Since users had to agree to the new TOS in order to sign in to PSN, many simply agreed and moved on.

According to Boss Studios co-founder Henrique Olifiers, Sony's Vita will suffer a "horrible, premature death" if it does not open up to multi-platform accessibility. Olifiers said that the UK studio would not develop games for consoles because of their closed systems, and believes manufacturers will suffer in the long run if they did not change their stance on interconnectivity.

A class action lawsuit filed against Sony for removing the "OtherOS" option from the PlayStation 3 has been put down for a dirt nap by a federal judge. The lawsuit, which was brought against Sony in April 2010 over its decision to remove Linux operating system support from the PlayStation 3 console, was eventually certified as a "class." U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg granted a motion by Sony to dismiss the case.

As we mentioned in a previous post, the new Xbox 360 Dashboard has been quickly making its way to users today.

As with any new product, you get the fine print of Terms of Service, and Microsoft is following on the heels of Sony and Electronic Arts with their own "no sue" provision in their updated wall of text.

With the pending release of PlayStation Vita in Japan, Sony has finally revealed how owners of UMD-based games will be able to get digital versions of them on their new PlayStation hand-held devices. All games will have to be re-purchased to be played on Vita, but those who can prove via UMD that they already own games will get a discount when re-purchasing the same content digitally.

According to a C&VG report, Sony has confirmed that it will pay around 900 million Euros (roughly $1.28 billion USD, according to current exchange rates) to Ericsson to get out of its decade-old joint mobile phone venture with the company. This will allow Sony to integrate its smartphone business with its gaming, tablet and PC businesses. In turn, Sony should be able to cut costs and synchronize its product development strategy.

While most games for PS Vita will allow you to save directly on the media the games come on, it looks like a handful will require an additional memory card, according to a Kotaku report. So far the list of games that will require an additional memory card to save progress include Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Disgaea 3, Hot Shot Golf 6, Monster Radar, Dream Club Zero and @Field.

Of course, if you buy your games via the PlayStation Store, you'll need an additional memory card anyway.

GameSpot managed to corner Sony Online Entertainment president John Smedley during the GDC Online conference this week in Austin, Texas to get his thoughts on the recent attack that resulted in Sony temporarily locking down around 93,000 PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network, and Sony Online Entertainment accounts.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released new guidelines on Thursday that require publicly traded companies to disclose when they are the victim of a security breach or cyber attack. The new guidelines are the result of members of congress pressuring the watchdog agency to add them following several major cyber attacks earlier this year. Senator John Rockefeller is one of those lawmakers.

Last night Sony's new SVP & Chief Information Security Officer, Philip Reitinger wrote a lengthy post on the official PlayStation Blog, detailing some questionable mass logins. While some of those attempts to login to accounts by unknown persons were successful, Reitinger assures the public that those accounts have been identified by the company and temporarily locked down.

In a recent interview with Dengeki PlayStation, Sony Corp.'s Yoshio Matsumoto told the publication that his company is still trying to figure out what it plans to do with consumers who own games on the UMD format as it heads towards its March release of PlayStation Vita. He said that Sony is "looking into" offering UMD owners the chance to re-download their games on the Vita for a special price.

Yesterday we reported that Sony Computer Entertainment America planned to use its PSN Online Pass scheme for Resistance 3, which would effectively charge used game buyers $10 to play the multiplayer portion of the game. It turns out this is not an isolated incident but Sony's new modus operandi when it comes to used games that contain a multiplayer component.

Sony will be rolling out its PSN Pass for the multiplayer aspects of its upcoming game Uncharted 3. As it did earlier this year with Resistance 3, Sony will implement a "PSN Pass" code on Uncharted 3. This means that when you buy a copy of the game brand new at retail it will come with a special code specifically for multiplayer that you will have to activate the first time you play online. Should you sell the game the next person that buys it will have to turn around and pay $10 to get access to multiplayer.

Sony did not break Australia’s Privacy Act during the PlayStation Network cyber attack, ruled Australia's Privacy Commissioner Timothy Pilgrim. Pilgrim’s report, released today, said that the Commission found "no evidence that Sony intentionally disclosed any personal information to a third party." Pilgrim said that he was satisfied that Sony Australia took reasonable steps to protect its customers’ personal information, including encrypting credit card information and ensuring appropriate security measures were in place.

A little public service announcement for all PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable users that play games over the PlayStation Network in Europe: on Sunday, between the hours of 5am and 12pm British Standard time select PS3/PSP titles will go offline for maintenance.

Sony also noted that users may experience "some additional downtime after the maintenance for testing purposes."

During that time the following games (and associated websites) will not be playable over PlayStation Network:

Sony confirmed today that its next hand-held device, the PlayStation Vita will be region free - meaning that software bought in other areas - like Europe or Japan - will be playable on the units sold in North America. Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida confirmed it via his Twitter feed, saying, "Yes, it is," - in response to a follower's question.

It also means that the Vita could be imported by gamers outside of Japan when it launches in the region on December 17. Of course, Sony discourages this idea.

An interactive entertainment lawyer tells GameIndustry.biz that the new wording in the PlayStation Network terms of service is geared more towards consumers in the United States and is probably not enforceable in the United Kingdom due to existing laws that prevent such contracts.

In case you've forgotten it from yesterday, here's what paragraph 15 of the PSN terms of service states:

If you are a member of Sony's PlayStation Network, chances are you were greeted with an email from the company this morning telling you that that the terms of service for the network are about to change. The big change, in case you haven't received that email yet, relates to your ability to sue them. From section 15 comes this wonderful new clause:

Sony is claiming that it may have a solution for PSP UMD game owners as it relates to using them on your spiffy new PlayStation Vita when it is released sometime in March of next year. Sony is considering some kind of special program to offer special download versions of games consumers own on UMD as replacements, according to Destructoid.

Sony Computer Entertainment Asia has extended its partnership with Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore for five more years. The partnership gives final-year students of the school's game design courses access to Sony development kits to create projects. The extension of the deal allows students to also create code for the PlayStation Vita. The partnership began in 2009, and helped to create the NYP Games Resource Centre - the only PlayStation development and educational facility in South East Asia.

Sony has hired a heavyweight in its ongoing fight to protect its online game services from hackers. The company has hired Philip Reitinger, former director of the U.S. National Cyber Security Center, as its new chief information security officer.

An interesting story on Bitmob contends that we could see the PlayStation 4 (or whatever Sony plans on calling it) in about 18 months. Citing an anonymous source, who claims to be privy to information from a recent "high-level meeting" at Sony, Bitmob is reporting that the PlayStation 4 will be released in 18 months. Sony gave the usual stock response to the story: "We don't comment on rumors or speculation."

Sony Computer Entertainment announced that it will cut the price of its PlayStation 3 console by $50. The company, who made the announcement at Gamescom in cologne, Germany, said that the 160 GB model will now sell for $249, while the 320 GB model would sell for $299. The price cut is global and takes effect immediately.