NEWS - Wednesday, September 26, 2001
Xbox Invade Retail Stores
American gamers have been waiting for Nintendo and Microsoft to start going head-to-head with their marketing promotions for the fall launches of the GameCube and Xbox, and now things are finally kicking into gear. Today, retailers started to set up promotional areas to give consumers an idea of what is coming down the line for both machines when they arrive in November. Contrary to reports, it does not seem that most stores will be receiving playable GameCube kiosks; from a conversation I overheard between employees at a local Toys ‘R Us, they had been expecting playable kiosks up until today, but Nintendo pulled out at the last minute, stating there would instead only be a video tape of game footage. This could only apply to certain stores and may only be until Nintendo can allocate more GameCube machines, however - only time will tell.At this Toys ‘R Us, the GameCube area was the one that you saw first; it was stationed right outside the video games area. Unfortunately, it wasn’t completely set up yet (or Nintendo hadn’t sent all the pieces), so it looks a bit drab and incomplete in my pictures. The Xbox setup, on the other hand, filled an entire row where games would normally be with cardboard Xbox games, mock-up boxes and more. It’s a very in-your-face approach to getting consumer’s attention, but that might be just what Microsoft needs.
Thanks goes out to the Toys ’R Us of Arlington Heights, Illinois for allowing us to take pictures of their setups.
