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An exciting revelation came through this morning. A contact,
who wishes to remain unnamed, forwarded an image the hardware
manufacturers would have probably liked to remain under-wraps until
their presentation to UK retailers – of which SONY have already
booked theirs for 5th and 6th of September,
2006.
Nintendo are yet to reveal their plans for bringing Wii to UK
retail, with an announcement concerning the launch date and
quantities scheduled for 15th September, 2006, in the UK.
Obviously, communicating this information to retailers is vital for
a successful launch – something which Microsoft clearly need to
take more notice of – and Wii is looking to have one of the most
successful launches the industry has yet seen.
SONY’s PlayStation3 isn’t looking as rosy. With the
dual-package launch previously announced looking likely to be
limited to only the full-price model in the UK, and even then will
be greatly restricted. With no UK price having been announced,
anything and everything between £400 an £500 is being touted, SONY
clearly still have a few questions yet to be answered. Recent
rumours of issues with production – reportedly cutting the
originally suggested six million units in half – and falls in
their share price leave the launch of their Next-Generation machine
under much scrutiny.
But both these consoles will launch prior to 2007. Both
companies realise that not grabbing headlines over this years
Christmas period – even if maybe not grabbing too many sales, due
to stock restrictions – would be disastrous to their future plans
for the systems. Nintendo have been on the-back-burner for more
ten-years now, thanks in large to the late arrival of both the
Nintendo64 and GameCube, and SONY simply can’t overlook the
twelve-month head-start Microsoft have managed with the Xbox360 –
a head-start that’s put them in a very prominent position both in
the eyes of the public, and those of retailers.
So, alongside these consoles launches will be heavy marketing
campaigns, campaigns that won’t be made public until they’re
underway. So here, Electronic
Articles is now in the position to bring you an exclusive
peek at the beginnings of SONY and Nintendo’s aggressive marketing
– the Demo Kiosks. Both Nintendo and SONY have previously stated
their pain for bringing the new systems into the public’s hands,
and now we have evidence of their attempts to do so. The images that
follow below are merely technical designs – not the final print
– so the Demo Kiosks themselves may or may not end-up looking
anything like these below, however, it’s a fantastic insight into
exactly how the manufacturers intend on bringing their new machines
to us, in-store.
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