The PlayStation Portable turns 5 today. Gamers have bought 17 million units of Sony's handheld console in the U.S. and 50 million worldwide. It's hard to believe that half a decade ago, I was playing Lumines in my college dorm until my eyes would start to burn...and then I played some more. 

The British government introduces tax breaks for video-game developers. Tiga, the association which represents gamemakers in the U.K., heavily lobbied for tax breaks for this year's budget talks. Tiga CEO Richard Wilson, feels that this is "good for the U.K. video-games industry, good for U.K. consumers, and good for the U.K. economy." Finally, someone challenges Canada's iron grip on developers. [VG Chartz]

 

The San Francisco Examiner reports that Crysis 2 writer Peter Watts has been found guilty of resisting a U.S. border-patrol officer. Watts, a Canadian who's also a noted sci-fi author, faces up to two years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on April 26. Apparently, he and the officer had some sort of argument during a random search at the Canadian-American border. Maybe the border patrol suspected Watts was smuggling Crysis 3. 

 

Microsoft fixes bug that mars launch of Game Room virtual-arcade service. Game Room, which debuted today on Xbox Live, would freeze during the loading screen. Joystiq offered a couple of work-around solutions suggested by their readers, though GamePro reports that Microsoft has resolved the issue. My solution: Go find an actual arcade. 

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