With a steady rise in the spread of HDTVs and the phasing out of “standard” definition, it would seem that Nintendo would likely be considering updating its console with HD support.

Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo of America has come out with a definitive answer — no. Nintendo is certainly not planning to give the Wii HD graphics.

Oh well.

Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata explains:

“As you probably know, the current situation of Wii cannot be defined as healthy … It is our urgent mission to recover the momentum of Wii during the holidays utilizing Nintendo’s strength.”

The Wii still holds the lead in terms of total sales overall, and the price cut has done more to boost sales outside of Japan, but the past few months have seen a decline in sales, giving the competing Xbox 360 and PS3 to gain some ground.

Adding up its second-quarter results, Sony reports 3.2 million sales, a 1.1 million increase over the same quarter a year earlier. The same period also saw a signficant increase in game sales for the PS3 console.

Meanwhile, Sony’s little-engine-that-could, the PlayStation 2, is finally showing signs of decline. The system has been selling comparably to the PS3, as well as other current-generation competitors, the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii. Now, the PS2 has declined to 1.9 million in sales with only about half of the total games sold compared to the previous year.

The PSP also had a bit of a decline, dropping from 3.2 million to 3 million in sales, though game sales are up.

Sony bet heavily on the long-term adoption of its technically-superior PS3 console when it realased the device in November 2006. The console had to compete with the Xbox 360, which was out a year earlier, and Nintendo Wii–both of which had lower price-tags and comparable, or arguably superior, game libraries.

Adoption of the PS3 has been slower than Sony expected, but if sales continue to rise there’s hope for the PS3 yet.

Microsoft’s spokesperson also provided a reminder to Xbox Live users thinking of modding their own consoles:

All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE.

Although Microsoft has been especially active in banning consoles in the past week, the company also points out that its policy is ongoing, and Xbox 360 consoles found to be modded or playing pirated games may be banned at any time.

The Internet Channel service was free as a beta version when the Wii console was first released.  Since then, the full version of the channel, which is powered by the Opera browser, became a paid service.

Those who have paid the 500 Wii points to purchase the channel will be rewarded with a free NES game on the Virtual Console in October.

The news means that recently-surfacing concept images of a new PSP model may be close to the handheld’s actual redesign.  The PSP-4000 may look a little like the Game Boy Advance SP when the controls are exposed during gameplay and may, presumably, be closed for video playback.

Sony has been adamant that it isn’t working on a PSP2 console yet, and the news that the next PSP model will be a drastic redesign explains that statement — Sony wants to focus on the updated model (and its sales) before marketing the next big handheld.

The new PSP model is rumoured to be due out sometime in 2009, although Sony has yet to make any official announcement about the model’s design or release.

The announcement comes alongside news that Sony plans to take on Latin America by releasing its PS3, PS2 and PSP systems there.

The company’s phased approach involves eventual expansion to thirteen countries in the area, beginning with Argentina, Chile, Columbia and Peru in the first phase.  Sony also plans to set up a localized PlayStation Network in the area.

Ian Jackson, VP of sales at SCEA, has high hopes for the region.  “Long-term it has a very good opportunity to be bigger for SCEA than the Canadian market was,” he says.

The Nintendo DSi is 12% smaller than the DS Lite, but features slightly larger screens.  The new package also boasts dual cameras — inside and out — as well as an SD memory card slot and new music playback features.

The Japanese market has been enjoying the DSi since November.

Naturally, no other details are known, but many wonder if the game falls under Bethesda properties like the recently revived Fallout or their famous The Elder Scrolls series.

The news is certainly good for Apple, whose iPhone and similar iPod Touch have  been pushing their way into the gaming market.  The device already has many casual games available, but has the capability to present more to gamers.  Big name developers like Square Enix (who have released a Final Fantasy Tactics spin-off Crystal Defenders to the device) and now Bethesda paying attention to the iPhone certainly lends it some credibility.

The bundle includes the branded 160 GB PS3, as well as the new Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete movie set.  The Advent Children Complete set also contians a PS3 demo of the upcoming Final Fantasy XIII.

The Final Fantasy PS3 bundle goes on sale on April 16, 2009 in Japan for 49,980 yen, about $550 U.S.  There are no known plans to release the bundle outside of Japan.  The Advent Children Complete set goes on sale the same day, also containing the FF13 demo.