Sony's been having some financial issues lately and they need to perk up their ailing PlayStation 3 to reverse the trend. As a way to drum up more interest in the PlayStation brand Sony has just announced the expansion of their “Official License Program”. This will allow more peripheral manufacturers from all around the world to make addons for the platform.

Manufacturers who sign onto this license will be able to access documentation to help the design and build products for the PlayStations. You can find out more information about Sony's 'Official License Program' at their website here. It's too early to tell what new peripherals this arrangement will spawn. Hopefully we'll see something more creative than just a new generation of light guns.

Expanding their peripheral line-up is a good way for Sony to increase interest in their consoles. They're pretty much getting hammered across the board though, and more peripherals alone aren't going to fix what's wrong with Sony. They need to drop their prices and hit a few games out to the low seats. Casual gamers are a key part of the market now, and no console maker can afford to ignore them.