Sony has announced a new line-up of PSP games, including handheld versions of LittleBigPlanet, Assasin's Creed, Motorstorm and Rockband

The PSP version of LittleBigPlanet is being developed by Media Molecule and, according to Sony's press release, offers "new SackBoy adventures with the same play, create, share experience for gamers on-the-go, in addition to brand new levels and environments specifically created for the platform." Whereas Motorstorm Artic Edge is being handeld by Sony's recently acquired Bibig studios, which was behind the Pursuit Force series.

"MotorStorm Arctic Edge sees the music, the festival and the brutal off-road racing arrive in the breathtaking yet lethal and unpredictable setting of Alaska," read the press release.

Not much information is available on Assasin's Creed's PSP outing, but Sony did say that it will form part of a special Assasin's Creed bundle, set for release later in the year.

More intriguing is the announcement of a portable Rock Band game - Rock Band Unplugged - which looks like a spiritual successor to Harmonix's peripheral-less Amplitude, and uses the PSP's WiFi feature. "Rock Band Unplugged will take center stage as it leverages the PSP system’s Wi-Fi capabilities and becomes the first PSP game to include a fully-featured in-game store for downloadable content in the North American and Europeans markets."

Of course, this wave of new PSP announcements comes after sustained criticism over the lack of PSP software, despite the platforms strong performance in the hardware charts.

"There are a lot of big claims in the gaming industry but we’re confident when we say that 2009 is going to be an exciting year for PSP,” said Mark Hardy, european marketing director, SCEE. “Our fans have demanded big PSP titles and this year, we’re going to deliver again and again. With Resistance: Retribution™, already on its way to stores, PSP gamers are going to get one big franchise after another.”

LittleBigPlanet and Motorstorm Artic Edge are both scheduled for a "fall 2009" release, with the remainding titles coming out sometime this year.