Sony today confirmed that SOCOM Confrontation’s upcoming retail release will include a Bluetooth headset. Similar to the Jabra headset packaged with Warhawk, the SOCOM headset seems to be superior in design and is PlayStation-branded. It also features a prominent Mute button, USB charging cradle and extended battery life.

The company has not yet put a price tag on the headset, but the SOCOM bundle is rumored to be about $80. No standalone model was announced either.

Harmonix has announced that it will allow customers to take advantage of its warranty program for Rock Band without providing a sales receipt within 60 days, effective June 30. The loosened restrictions will let customers send in their faulty peripherals without having to search their homes for that infernal receipt.

The company additionally admitted that its earlier peripherals were of low quality due to manufacturing issues, promising that it will replace broken or unresponsive hardware now. They outlined several reasons for the enforcement of their warranty program: “(1) we have a great deal of confidence in our peripherals, (2) we believe we have a great warranty program in place and (3) we found that a large number of the reported problems–especially those after the 60 day period–were due to mistreatment of the equipment.”

The restrictions will last until October 1, 2008, after which the company will once again require customers to show their receipt to be eligible for warranty coverage.

Sony sure has some big plans for the PS3, as the company recently announced plans to bring movie rentals and downloads to the console, among other things. Earlier this week, the company showed off Life with PlayStation, a weather forecast and news service.

While the Wii also features the same thing, SCE CEO Kaz Hirai pointed out that it had prettier graphics and used the power of the Cell processor to render a very nice-looking Earth on your glorious high-definition television. Oh, and it offers location-based news service.

“It’s only the PS3 that can provide such a unique experience,” Hirai explained. “Life with PlayStation proposes a new lifestyle for PS3. As many people turn on their TVs in the morning when they wake up, users can use their PS3 to download worldwide news in real-time or check weather and temperature of travel destinations.”

Hirai also revealed that the software will let users view pictures on the world globe, according to where and when they were taken.

“In the future, we’ll build a system that can virtually present stored photos or movies according to recorded time and place, allowing users with their friends and family to enjoy them visually in chronological order.”

No release date or price was mentioned.

Ignition Entertainment today announced that it plans to release Metal Slug 7 for the DS in North America this Fall. The game, exclusively developed for the DS, marks the first non-arcade debut of a new Metal Slug title since the series’ 1996 debut. It features six playable characters and seven levels.

The game also offers several new weapons and vehicles, as well as new gameplay modes.

Crytek has been very vocal about rampant piracy on the PC, blaming it for them abandoning their PC-exclusive motif. Chief executive Cevat Yerli, speaking to IGN, revealed that he believes for one original copy sold, there are 15 to 20 pirated versions.

“It’s crazy how the ratio between sales to piracy is probably 1 to 15 to 1 to 20 right now,” he said. “For one sale there are 15 to 20 pirates and pirate versions, and that’s a big shame for the PC industry.”

He added that he hoped to see some change with the release of Crysis Warhead. Yerli, when asked if it would include the anti-piracy measures integrated into Mass Effect and Spore, he wouldn’t directly specify anything, but hinted at new ideas.

“Effectively, if the game isn’t an online game or multiplayer game—there are challenges regardless of what you do—the game can be cracked. The effort is to make it more difficult to crack, and certainly we’re going to make it more difficult this time with Warhead.”

Crysis Warhead is set for release this year, and will offer a different perspective of the story presented in the original title.

A report on Variety reveals that Sony Computer Entertainment has not yet solidified agreements to bring films to its recently announced PS3 video download service, as the company is still courting major movie studios.

It is currently believes that Sony Pictures is the only studio confirmed for the upcoming service, which is slated to hit the PS3 sometime this Summer. Sony is yet to reach any agreement with other movie studios, mostly due to the fact that it plans to offer more in its service than what’s available on Xbox Live Marketplace or any other video store for that matter. For example, the company may offer the ability to transfer downloads from the PS3 to the PSP for on-the-go viewing.

It has to be noted that Microsoft had only been able to offer content from Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures when it debuted the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. The service has now gained support of MGM, Lionsgate and Walt Disney.

Joystiq was tipped by an anonymous source that a $50 price cut for the Xbox 360 premium console will be made next month. This comes from a full-page shot of a K-Mart flier that basically confirms earlier rumors about the price cut.

The flier will be distributed on July 13, the week of the E3 Media and Business Summit. It wasn’t indicated whether there will also be price-cuts for the Arcade and Elite units as well.

Speaking to EuroGamer, Funcom game director Gaute Godager addressed concerns of a lack of end-game content for Age of Conan, stressing that more quests are on the way for fans.

“What we chose to do at launch was to play it safe–to pick areas and zones and regions and hold them back, then finish them post-launch,” he explained. “That was to be able to polish the areas that we did for launch to a higher degree. So on the content side, the big zones that we’re giving out this Autumn like Ymir’s Pass and others–those are definitely pre-launch stuff that was cut or put on hold.”

He additionally noted that about 60 quests were added to the game in the past few weeks, with further fully-voiced missions to be added soon.

Next week’s roster of downloadable music for Rock Band includes three songs from bands performing at Cruefest, as well as a free song by fictional ‘80s hair-metal band.

The Cruefest pack will feature “Down at the Whisky” by Motley Crue, “Time is Running Out” by Papa Roach and “Who’s Going Home With You Tonight” by Trapt. These songs will be available for 80 Microsoft points (99 cents). The free song will be “Promised Land” by the fictional ‘80s hair metal band Vesuvius appearing in the upcoming comedy film The Rocker.

These songs will hit Xbox Live Marketplace on July 1, with PlayStation Network getting it on July 3.

The DS version of the upcoming reboot of the Prince of Persia has been announced by Ubisoft. Dubbed Prince of Persia: The Fallen King, the game will feature an art style similar to the illustrative look used in the upcoming console title; it will make use of stylus controls for combat.

There will be a second playable character called the Magus, with the player getting to switch between the two characters to utilize their unique abilities and progress through the various stages in the game.

The game is expected alongside the console title this Holiday season.