Sony Europe confirms PSP line-up

Sony's first party PSP software line-up for Europe has been confirmed today, with nine games scheduled for a spring release.

Although no formal announcement has been released from Sony's London HQ, the company today updated the release schedule on its press extranet which lists nine titles for a spring release on its forthcoming handheld: Ape Escape, Everybody's Golf, Fired Up, Football (working title), Formula One, MediEvil, Ridge Racer, WipEout Pure and World Rally Championship.

Current third party titles have yet to be confirmed, but Metal Gear Acid, Puzzle Bobble, Dark Stalker Chronicles: The Chaos Tower, FIFA 2005, Tiger Woods, Need For Speed Underground Rivals, Spider-Man 2, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Dynasty Warriors, Armoured Core Formula Front and Archer Maclean's Mercury are almost certain to figure among the early releases for the format.

The expected release date for the unit is thought to be March 25th, although Sony has yet to set that in stone. Pricing details are also unconfirmed at present, but the smart money is on the unit costing around £129.99 - the same expected SRP as the Nintendo DS, which is set to launch at the same time.

Meanwhile, on the PS2 front, Sony has confirmed EyeToy: Chat for February 11th, Ace Combat 5 for February 18th, Gran Turismo 4 for February 25th, Death By Degrees for March 11th, Eye Toy: Monkey Mania for 18th March, Moto GP 4 for 'spring', Tekken 5 for 'summer' and Eye Toy: Kinetic for 'autumn'.