From now until March 21st, purchasing a new Sony PSP Go will come with one of two free games: Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines or LittleBigPlanet. Joystiq discovered that the free title requires registration of a free PlayStation Network account and the choice of which game a buyer gets is then determined by their age as entered when creating that new account.

Gamers under 17 will receive LittleBigPlanet (arguably the better game) and those 17 and older get Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines. That creates a problem for the gamer over 17 who prefers to receive LittleBigPlanet. He or she must create an account flagged as under 17, locking out other adult-rated content.

As a test, after creating a new account set to age 13, I was only able to find M-rated PS1 Classics. Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines was no where to be seen, along with any other M-rated PSP games. Similarly, R-rated films and TV-MA shows are hidden.

It makes sense to hide this content from minors, but forcing customers to lie about their age to receive their choice in an either/or promotion highlights the challenges of enforcing these systems. A potential workaround is creating a under-17 account to receive the code for LittleBigPlanet, but redeeming that code on an over-17 account.

I've reached out to Sony for comment, but no statement was available at press time. As soon as I hear back I'll update this story with any new developments.

Update: Sony has confirmed to me that:

Yes, under-17 accounts do not have access to M-rated content on PSN.