PopCap and Sony Bring Bejeweled to the PSN

Sony Online Entertainment and PopCap Games have announced having entered into a publishing agreement set to deliver five new casual titles to the PlayStation Network. Bejeweled 2 should be downloadable right now and Sony says that classics like Zuma, Heavy Weapon Peggle and Feeding Frenzy will be released in the coming weeks as part of regular PlayStation Network content updates.

John Smedley, who is the president of Sony Online Entertainment, commented that “As leaders in their genre, PopCap is to casual games what SOE is to MMOs. Being the second largest publisher on the PlayStation Network, SOE is excited that this partnership will expand the PlayStation®Network catalog with awesome casual titles that players of all types can enjoy.”

It's nice to see Sony Online Entertainment positioning itself as the leader of the MMO genre, but it should really try and Google a little company called Blizzard, which publishes a MMO called World of Warcraft. EverQuest, EverQuest II, Champions of Norrath, Untold Legends or PlanetSide cannot really compare, as far as the number of players goes, with WoW.

Bejeweled 2 is now available for download for all PlayStation 3 users, who can go to the PlayStation Store and get it for 9.99 dollars. The match-3 gameplay has been enhanced through the addition of PlayStation Trophies and the possibility to play the game remotely through the PlayStation Portable. The title features four game modes, called Classic, Action, Puzzle and Endless modes, and there are some secret modes added for players to discover.

PopCap has just reported having managed to see an impressive rise in sales during 2008, even as the economic crisis hit the videogame industry pretty hard. Its line up of easy to play, easy to understand casual games, which are less expensive than AAA titles from premium publishers, have the potential to attract gamers that see their finances shrinking.