Sony is waking up to a fact that Nintendo realized scant years after their beginning: video game characters can sell more than just more video games. For years Nintendo released cereals, backpacks and even television shows based around their popular characters. Sony has just announced that they’ve signed a licensing deal with Target Entertainment to release “exciting ranges of PlayStation apparel and accessories, colourful toys and plush, stationery and gifts, housewares and food, and plenty of fun-filled promotions.”

The cute Sackboy of LittleBigPlanet will undoubtedly be one of the first items to hit the shelves after fans got excited over the knitting pattern released online and though the only other characters mentioned in the press release are the family friendly Rachet and Clank there’s no doubt that more adult oriented games will get their time in the sun. After all the epic adventures of Kratos and all his various foes are practically begging to be made into the high-detail action figure format for hardcore fans to keep on their shelves, sealed tightly inside their plastic cases in order to keep their collectible value high.

“We really want our consumers to have the ability to interact with our brands and characters in ways other than just on screen,” said Stephanie Freeman, Sony Europe’s licensing and peripherals manager. Of course, by “interact with” she really meant “spend more money on”.