SCEE confirms UK PSP Go games giveaway

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe today confirmed that adults in Europe and the Middle East who buy a new PSP Go will be able to download 10 full games after June 9 from the PlayStation Network at no extra cost. The games are a mix of both first- and third-party titles. The offer will be available "for a limited time" and open to those who have purchased a PSP Go after April 1. Eligible users will receive e-mail vouchers from Sony when they register their PSP Gos on the PlayStation Network for the first time.

The offered titles range from GTA: Vice City Stories and Little Big Planet to Assassin's Creed Bloodlines and James Cameron's Avatar: The Game. Also included are Gran Turismo PSP, Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Need for Speed: Shift, Wipeout Pure and Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice. The offer is only open to those over the age of 18, according to the publisher.

The PSP Go, which was officially unveiled at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo, is the first of Sony's PlayStation Portable family to eschew UMD-based software delivery for an entirely digital option. Sales, however, have not been boosted by the new hardware; PSP sales in total were down 30 percent year-on-year in 2009, with a mere 9.9 million units sold across the globe.

SCEA, the firm's American publishing arm, recently suggested that piracy was to blame for its lackluster performance abroad, with lack of support from US publishers also to blame. The system is performing better in Japan, with the PSP repeatedly topping the weekly hardware sales charts.

Full details on the promotion (including the countries where Sony is running it) are available from the company's Web site. SCEA had not responded to calls for comment as to a possible stateside extension of the offer as of press time.