Play It plans extensive £9.99 PS2 range by Christmas

Ambitious new UK publisher Play It has announced details of its release schedule between now and Christmas, revealing that at least 15 more £9.99 priced PlayStation 2 games are planned by the end of the year.

Play It recently launched the first four titles in its range, namely Road Trip Adventure, Play It Pinball, Cel Damage Overdrive (Eurogamer review) and Seek and Destroy, all of which are available at the £9.99 price point. Next month sees them joined by futuristic action and racing titles Motorsiege and High Speed Extreme Street Racer, as well as Play It Chess and World International Pool Championship.

The release schedule for the rest of the year features a number of classic titles converted to the PS2 - 1945 & 1949 Arcade Versions, Blocks (a Breakout clone), International Karate and Putty Squad - as well as simulations such as Play It Casino, Play It Golf, and ports or original titles like Constructor (strategy), Dinosaur Hunter (FPS) and Mob Rule (gangster sim).

All of these titles will be released at £9.99, putting them well into the "impulse purchase" price range, and leaving them priced at half as much as the official Platinum budget range.

"The Play It range is a radical concept for modern console owners," according to Play It president Mark Cale. "Whilst lower-priced or re-published titles have been around on PlayStation 2 for some time, no range has been able to offer original, never-seen-before titles for such a ambitious price. Indeed, most 'budget' labels are offering regurgitated games at, on average, twice the price of the Play It games."

The concept is certainly radical in Europe, and we're not aware of any similar label in the USA, but it's not an entirely original one - Sony itself has been promoting a super-budget label for the PS2 in Japan, which features a range of classic board games (such as Mah-jongg and Go) and arcade titles priced at around 2000 yen (c. £10). In the absence of such a promotion from Sony outside Japan, however, Play It may indeed fill a wide gap in the PS2 market.