The full PlayStation downloads list for April – as opposed to the sneak peek we got thanks to Pulse earlier this month, where the list is not segregated by platform – has been released and Ubisoft's I Am Alive was indeed the top download. On the PS3 and PSN list, thatgamecompany's Journey followed Ubisoft's long-awaited title. Reverge Labs' debut Skullgirls managed to snag the third spot.

On the PS Vita side, Escape Plan continued to dominate – no surprise since there's not much else for the PS Vita right now, though that changes today. Modern Warfare 3's Content Collection #1 drop on PSN also did well, topping out the PS3 add-on category. Finally, Final Fantasy VII was the top PSOne Classic, but then again you already knew that because it's always Final Fantasy VII.

Grandma sure did like playing Rainbow Six: Vegas on that old PSP when you'd make your weekly homage for family dinner, didn't she? "Blap! Blap! Blap!" she'd shout. And things really haven't been the same since you traded up to a Vita, what with its lack of support for many PSP titles. We understand.

Thankfully, so does Sony. This morning, the US PlayStation blog announced today's launch of several PSP games on the Vita (including Grandma's fave), as well as a variety of PSP Minis (full list after the break). As usual, if you already own the games digitally for your PSP, all you'll have to do is re-download the files to your PSN-tied Vita. If not, well, you'll have to pony up some virtual cash.

Interestingly, Sony also mentioned "improved playability" for some titles beyond the up-res'd graphics – we're checking to see what exactly that means. The line has since been removed from Sony's blog post.

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GameStop is going to stop selling PSP titles at the smallest 25 percent of stores, Kotaku reports. A GameStop representative called this move a "consolidation" and used phrases such as "maximize the merchandising space" to justify the dropped titles, Kotaku says.

GameStop will continue to sell PSP titles at its larger stores and online -- where it's also selling the PlayStation Vita. Just saying.

Sega's earnings are down in the year ended March 31, 2012, which shouldn't come as a surprise given the company's recent extreme restructuring measures. Sega reported net sales of 395.5 billion yen ($5 billion), down 0.3 percent from 2011; net income dropped 47.4 percent to 21 billion yen.

In the "consumer business" division (the one that deals with home video games), Sega reported a year-over-year drop in unit sales. Its best-performing game was Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, of course, at 3.28 million copies. Sonic Generations followed at 1.85 million; Virtua Tennis 4 sold 1.04 million across five platforms. Sega listed sales for Football Manager 2012 (710,000) and Yakuza: Dead Souls (550,000), but nothing else -- so we don't know how well Binary Domain did, except to guess that it probably didn't do very well.

Shares of Sony stock have dipped to their lowest number in 31 years in Japan and to a 19-year low in the US, following a dismal earnings report for the previous fiscal year. Sony shares dropped 7 percent in Japan, to 1,135 Yen ($14), and 2 percent in the US, closing at $15.37.

Sony CEO Kaz Hirai plans to lose 10,000 employees in a company-wide reorganization effort. Sony reported a net revenue loss of 9.6 percent for fiscal year 2012, dropping from $89 billion to $79.1 billion year-over-year.

Sony's financial results for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2012 are in, with the Japanese giant reporting year-over-year losses in revenue and operating losses that it attributes to "the unfavorable impact of foreign exchange rates, the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake and the floods in Thailand, and deterioration in market conditions in developed countries."

Sony's fiscal 2012 ran from April 1, 2011 through March 31, 2012, with the company reporting net revenue of ¥6.49 trillion ($79.1 billion), down 9.6 percent year-over-year from the ¥7.18 trillion (approx. $89 billion) reported at the end of fiscal 2010. After expenses, Sony reports an operating loss of ¥67.3 billion ($820 million), which is actually a smaller loss than that reported at the end of fiscal 2011 (¥199.8 billion/approx $2 billion).

Year-over-year sales decreases were primarily due to Sony's Consumer Products & Services (CPS) and Professional, Device & Solutions (PDS) divisions, with CPS sales down 18.5 percent at ¥3.13 trillion ($38.2 billion) in 2012 vs. ¥3.84 trillion (approx. $48 billion) in 2011, resulting in an operating loss of ¥229.8 billion ($2.8 billion) – more than a 2,000 percent decrease from 2011's operating income of ¥10.8 billion (approx. $135 million). CPS encompasses Sony's consumer electronics sectors, including LCD TVs, PCs, photography solutions and, of course, gaming.

Sony partially attributes CPS' decline in sales to "lower sales of PlayStation®3 hardware due to a strategic price reduction and lower sales of PlayStation®2 due to platform migration," among other reasons like deteriorating conditions in North American and European TV markets.

The results for April are in, and things are looking a little rough out there in consumer video-game electronics land. As a whole, the gaming industry (which for our purposes includes all hardware, software and accessories sales between April 1 and April 28, 2012) brought in $630.4 million, a 32 percent decrease over the same period last year, where its various machinations resulted in collective sales of $930.9 million.

Breaking the industry down into its three major components, hardware sales accounted for $189.7 million (down 32 percent year over year), while software sales contributed $292.1 million to the cause – a 42 percent decrease year over year. Accessories, on the other hand, posted a 1 percent increase year-over-year at $148.6 million in 2012, as compared with $147.8 million in 2011.

The average amount of money spent on hardware increased year-over-year, however, due in part to the 360 Star Wars Kinect Bundle, according to NPD analyst Anita Frazier. Generally though, the period's lackluster performance is due to the month's release schedule: "Last April, the top seven titles outsold the top-selling title this year, and, simply stated, there were notably fewer new market introductions. I think it's a simple as that because when we see compelling content come into the market, the games are still selling as well as ever – we just saw a lot less this April as compared to last."

The list of April's top 10 best-selling titles can be found after the break as per usual, with newcomers Prototype 2 and Kinect Star Wars leading the charge ahead of Modern Warfare 3, Mario Party 9 and Mass Effect 3.

Update: According to Microsoft's Major Nelson, the Xbox 360 sold 236K units during April.

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Activision Blizzard has released its financial results for the first quarter of its fiscal 2012, posting total net revenue (pre-tax income) of $1.17 billion for the period ending on March 31, 2012. This is a 23 percent drop over the same period in 2011, where Activision Blizzard posted a net revenue of $1.44 billion. Net income (post-tax/expenses profit) was also down year over year, with the pub/dev reporting a remainder of $384 million for Q1 2012, as compared with $503 million in Q1 2011.

Breaking that down a little more specifically, Activision itself was responsible for 23 percent ($271 million) of segment net revenues, down 19 percent form the $323 million it was responsible for in 2011. Blizzard accounted for 21 percent ($251 million) of segmented net revenues, down 42 percent year-over-year vs. the $357 million it posted for Q1 2011.

Many of Activision and Blizzard's major releases are still pending, including Diablo 3, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Looking forward, Activision Blizzard expects to report a "record" non-GAAP Q2 net revenue of $805 million due to Prototype 2, Amazing Spider Man and Diablo 3. As for the rest of the year, the company expects to end fiscal 2012 to the tune of $4.2 billion in net revenue.

Namco Bandai saw a net income of 1.9 billion yen ($24 million) in its fiscal year 2012, with help from strong US sales of Dark Souls and Ace Combat Assault Horizon. Dark Souls sold 1.19 million units across the US and Europe, while Ace Combat Assault Horizon sold 1.07 million units in Japan, the US and Europe.

Across all platforms, Namco sold 23.3 million software units, led by 8.5 million for PS3, 4.2 million for PSP and 3.2 million for Xbox 360. Revenue from Namco's mobile sector increased, although number of paid subscribers dropped from 3.34 million to 2.15 million year-over-year. Sales of Namco's arcade game machines grew from 56 billion yen ($701.3 million) in FY 2011 to 73.4 billion yen ($919.2 million) in FY 2012.

If you like atmospheric adventure games starring a disembodied hand, you'd best swing by the PlayStation Store to see Datura. It leads Sony's weekly content dump today, and is joined by the PixelJunk series sale and full PS3 game trials for Saints Row: The Third and Need for Speed The Run.

And if you're a PS Plus member, don't forget to snag all of your May freebies. The full list of this week's content can be found over on the PlayStation Blog.

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XSEED Games announced late yesterday that it will not publish turn-based RPG Grand Knights History in North America as previously announced.

"Unfortunately, it was determined that development resources required to localize the game were not available, necessitating its cancellation," the official statement from XSEED sent to Joystiq reads. "We regret not being able to bring the game to our fans, but we are committed to our 2012 lineup and look forward to sharing more on these games in the coming weeks and months."

Vanillaware, the developer of eye candy like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, Odin Sphere and the upcoming Dragon's Crown; will still see Grand Knights History published on PSP later this year in Europe by Rising Star Games.

Nothing can prepare you for this week's nostalgic update on the PlayStation Store ... save for a succinct summary such as this one. Awesomenauts brings a faux-retro flair to the MOBA genre today (for free, if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber), while Mortal Kombat reduces its depraved fighting to more diminutive form on Vita.

PlayStation Plus subscribers receive some other freebies this week, including Trine 2, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania Chronicles. The PS One Classics lineup is bolstered with The Legend of Dragoon, and moving up a generation to PlayStation 2 gets you the original Max Payne.

Check the PlayStation Blog for a full list of new store items, if you please.

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Atlus stands right alongside MonkeyPaw in its overt devotion to obscure PSP role-playing games. Case in point: Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time, coming to both UMD and PSN in North America this summer. And to remind us of that impending release, Atlus sent out the opening video.

Be warned, it's the most "80s anime" thing ever. Memories of watching random movies on Sci-Fi Channel on Saturday mornings, and of playing every game ever released by Working Designs (including, but not limited to, previous Growlansers) will come flooding back.

EA Montreal is restructuring its workforce. Some individuals are being moved to digital projects, including mobile and social games, while others will be dismissed.

"These are routine changes which address the cyclical nature of the game industry," an EA spokesperson told GI.biz. "A very small number of employees will be impacted – many will be assigned to new projects at EA, others will leave the company."

Just last week, EA told Joystiq that it's growing and plans to hire hundreds this year. EA expects headcount to be up by the end of 2012.

This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.
It's gone largely unnoticed here in the U.S., but Namco Bandai is in the middle of a grand experiment with its Super Robot Taisen strategy RPG series (which has seen life stateside in the past thanks to Atlus USA). And if you like Japanese RPGs – or anything that's expensive to produce in general – you might want to pay attention, because this could be your future.

Namco Bandai's licensed strategy game series -- which teams mechs like Gundam with the likes of Voltron -- has been around for 20 years now, and in that time it's picked up a loyal audience. I know because I'm one of them. We were all excited because we wanted to see how the story would continue in the franchise's latest arc, which kicked off on the PS2.

But Namco Bandai, of course, had a curveball. Like the last two Harry Potter films, the SRT sequel would be split into two parts. It even released a boxed set that came with the first of the two games, a story digest recapping the event of the storyline so far, and a slot for the second game. The total price for just one of the games at launch was 7300 yen (about $90).

The rising prices go hand-in-hand with the decline of anime and domestic gaming in Japan, and the rise of piracy. Put simply, making a Super Robot Taisen game doesn't come cheap. The series has based its reputation on elaborate 2D animated sequences like this this one, which take time and money to create. And the robots touted in the title are all from well-known mecha series, which means ever higher licensing fees.

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As promised, Skype arrives on the Vita today in a free download. Tell your friends ... to download Skype so you can tell your friends. Other new PSN content arriving today includes Bejeweled 3, The Walking Dead, and retail-to-PSN releases Battlefield 3 and The Cursed Crusade, all on PS3. Demos are available for Ninja Gaiden 3, Dragon's Dogma, and The Walking Dead.

Old games available once again include PS2 Classic Red Faction (the first one) and Darkstalkers 3, and Future Cop LAPD on PSOne Classics. Find the full menu of downloadable PlayStation stuff on the PlayStation Blog.

PlayStation Plus members are going to be busy in May, frantically trying to play all of the free content that is being dumped on them. Awesomenauts, which hits PSN on May 1, will be free to PS+ users right away. It's accompanied by Trine 2 and Rock of Ages.

Two of the best PSOne Classics are being thrown in as well on May 1: Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Castlevania Chronicles, a remake of the original 'Vania. Saints Row: The Third ... isn't free, but it is 20% off for Plus users when it comes to PSN May 15.

For more, including free Minis and discounts on more upcoming PSN games, check the PlayStation Blog. For the answer to the tough question of whether relatively cheap access to all these games is worth an ongoing subscription, when you know you'll lose them when your subscription lapses, check your heart.