Now that we are releasing our second roundup you can actually start calling this a regular feature. This week's summary includes such gems as the updated backwards compatability on Xbox 360, yet another PS3 firmware update, more Linux support for PS3, a survey about Japanese Wii buyers, Valve being hacked yet again and, of course, the release of the March US sales data from the NPD sales tracking service.

Evidently Nintendo DS sales are still going strong in both territories, while PS2 still enjoys great sales in the US, even overtaking Wii sales during March. However, Wii might still be strongly supply limited.

Earlier this week a hacker compromised the security system of Valve's Steam program. Although Steam's security itself was not breached, as Valve was quick to point out, the hacker gained access to the Cybercafe billing system, which is not connected to Steam. Meanwhile the hacker - much to the dismay of Cybercafe owners - is apparently threatening further disclosure of the data he obtained.

Earlier this week MS released an April update to the backward compatibility of the Xbox 360 that adds an additional 37 games to the list of Xbox games playable on Xbox 360. Notable additions to the list are Sega's Jet Set Radio Future and Panzer Dragoon Orta, as well as the console version of Call of Duty, Big Red one and part 3 and Day 1: Studios' Mechassault 2. Unfortunately a few highly rated titles such as Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher's Bay are still missing from that list.

In other news Llama.com managed to a get hold of an Xbox 360 Elite model prior to its official release date on April 29th. In contrast to earlier rumours, both Xenos (GPU) and Xenon (CPU) remain on a 90nm process. The motherboard layout underwent only minor changes: The ANA scaler chip of the HDMI-less version made room for the HANA chip on the new board. Apart from that a few capacitors have been placed differently. Llama also claims that epoxy glue surrounding the CPU and the GPU is Microsoft's answer to the dreaded red lights of death.

Following last weeks bullish sales projections by Nintendo the stock price climbed to an all time high last Monday. In addition to that Enterbrain, the owner of the renowned Famitsu magazine, published a survey on Wii owners in Japan. According to their findings 46% of Wii's Japanese user base haven't used a game console in the last 3 years or are completely new to console gaming. Apparently the share of users playing together with their family is also 2-3 times higher than on competing consoles. Enterbrain attributes part of Wii's success with new gamers to increased spending on advertising in Japan.

Last week we reported that development of Wii's Opera web browser has finally been completed. However, as this McAfee Avert Labs web blog suggests, Wii users should update their Internet Channel to the newest version (April 12th) because of a JPEG security exploit.

Sony's week was off to a bad start after the announcement of the "streamlining" of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) confirmed last week's rumour. Our own Farid managed to get an exclusive breakdown of the lay-offs in Sony's studios and subsidiaries. Moreover, it seems there was confusion whether or not Sony would be looking at cutting prices. After Ryoji Chubachi, Sony's president, was cited saying "Sales assumptions change and the market is competitive. We are in the midst of revisiting our strategy for the PS3" in an Financial Times article, a company spokeswoman was quick to respond via Bloomberg: "Sony currently doesn't have any specific plan to cut the PlayStation 3's price".

On the bright side, however, support of the Linux community for the PS3 is gradually increasing. Earlier this week, Ubuntu launched a help site geared towards easing the installation process of its distribution on Sony's PS3.

Last but not least, Sony made firmware v1.7 available for its Playstation3. It adds rumble and forcefeedback support for PS1 and PS2 titles in addition to other minor fixes.