Analysis:
On Thursday March 25 Sony Corporation released a new hand held video game system in the U.S. market with an extensive advertising campaign. According to their own press releases, Sony is promising “The multi-million dollar integrated marketing effort including television, print, outdoor and online elements. Their press release goes on to say that "Consumers will have to look no further than buses, subway terminals, sidewalks and billboards to find Playstation Portable in larger than life form." Here in West Michigan we only had to look as far as the front page of the Grand Rapids Press to learn about the new Playstation Portable.
On their website, Sony has several of their press releases available for viewing. Interestingly, this Grand Rapids Press news article mirrors the message of several of the Sony Press releases. The main theme of the GR Press article is that this video game machine is in high demand by consumers. This message is basically the same as several of the Sony press releases, such as "Most Anticipated Consumer Product Launch of 2005, PSP, Ushers in a New Era in Portable Entertainment" and "Midnight sales on the East and West Coast Celebrate the the Launch of PSP".
Story:
Monday, March 21, 2005
By Troy Reimink
The Grand Rapids Press
Word to the wise: show up early.
Local stores are preparing for Thursday's launch of the $250 PlayStation Portable System (PSP), a handheld device touted as the next advance in gaming and personal media technology.
Primarily a video game machine, the gadget plays movies and music, allows for viewing of digital photos, can be connected to a computer and has wireless networking capability.
EB Games managers expect a rush. The chain's East Beltline location will open midnight Wednesday to distribute PSPs to eager fans, some of whom reserved copies months in advance.
"People are very excited about it, wanting to know the specs, what games come with it, anything about it," said Brian Edwards, manager of the EB Games store at 2107 E. Beltline Ave. NE.
He said everyone who has ordered a system will have a copy waiting. The store probably will get a handful of extra systems, which are likely to be spoken for by Thursday. He expected a three- to four-week waiting period for those who miss the first shipment.
Kevin Cook, assistant manager of the EB Games store at Woodland Shopping Center, said anyone who didn't put in an advance order probably would have to wait for a while.
"It is definitely a hot item," he said. "It will probably be a couple of months before they're commonly in stock."
Sony's first shipment of the hotly anticipated game system -- fewer than a million units -- is relatively small compared to its pre-release buzz.
Best Buy stores will open early Thursday morning -- at 8 a.m., two hours earlier than normal -- to accommodate shoppers on a first-come, first-serve basis. Each store will carry about 200 units, according to employees.
At Meijer stores, the system will hit shelves at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
Ray Gawel, an electronics merchandiser for Meijer, sampled the PSP earlier this year at a convention. "These things are awesome," he said. "I suspect we'll be out of them within a day."
Gawel played a game called "Ridge Racer," one of 24 titles launched with the PSP's introduction. He was impressed with the system's capabilities, not only for games, but for wireless networking, storage and playback of digital information.
"This thing acts as your iPod," he said. "It's a pretty amazing unit."
