Round-Up: HK PSP Price Drop, Majesco's Holidays, SOE Cancels Japanese Galaxies

Today's round-up includes news of a regional price cut for Sony's PSP handheld, publisher Majesco Entertainment's holiday line-up, and a relatively swift cancellation for one of Sony Online's MMOs in Japan, as well as today's product news and Gamasutra job postings. - Sony's PlayStation Portable has seen its first price cut, in the territories of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Originally released at $1,980 HKD ($222.8 USD) in Hong Kong, the price has fallen to $1,780 HKD ($200.3 USD); while in Taiwan, the system originated at $8,800 NT ($250.5 USD) and has dropped to $7,480 NT ($212.9 USD). The standard PSP price in the US remains at $250, and Sony has given no indication of a price cut since its March release -- the system is likely to remain at its present price point at least through the 2005 holiday season. - Majesco has announced its holiday lineup for the remainder of 2005, with several previously-announced titles on the roster as well as one budget game that's extraordinarily coincidentally timed. The company will release Infected for PSP, Aeon Flux for PS2 and Xbox, Teen Titans for Game Boy Advance, and a host of lesser-known budget titles. One of these is Kong: King of Atlantis for GBA, which bears the official license … of the relatively low profile Kong animated series, which had one earlier GBA game released in 2002 by bam!. - Sony Online Entertainment has pulled the plug on the Japanese edition of Star Wars: Galaxies just after its one-year anniversary. Affected players will have the option to transfer the remainder of their paid-for time to a US or European server, should they not opt for the refund. In retrospect, the end of the game may have been foreshadowed in comments made by SOE exec John Needham at the Austin Games Conference, when he warned developers against pursuing "futuristic" themes in Asian-market MMORPGs. - Also updated today: product news including Secret Lair's adoption of BigWorld's MMO technology, as well as today's Gamasutra job postings, including positions from Big Huge Games, Blue Fang Games, Buzz Monkey Software , Demiurge Studios, Insomniac Games, and Relic Entertainment.