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Tecmo announces new game announcement
Tecmo recently invited us to its upcoming new game announcement, taking place on March 24th. According to the invite, this will be the greatest "_____" game ever. Logic tells us that the new game announcement will be a continuation of one of Tecmo's franchises. Could this be the greatest Dead or Alive game ever? Maybe it's the greatest Ninja Gaiden game ever? Better yet, it might be the best Rygar game ever, dethroning the recently released Wii version.We may not know what Tecmo is planning to announce, but we're confident the game will be for either the PS3 or PSP. Why? Tecmo's announcement will take place at the PlayStation Store in San Francisco. If the company's upcoming game is a PlayStation exclusive, it continues Tecmo's newly-found love affair with Sony -- the company is currently working on Undead Knights and Quantum Theory as PlayStation exclusives.
PlayStation 'flagship store' no more
Just as Microsoft is changing your "device-buying experience" across the United States and opening a slew of stores, Sony is closing their main spot. Infamous for hosting PS2, PSP and PS3 launch events in the past, the Metreon Shopping Complex has hosted America's only Sony Playstation Store as well as a Sony Style store for nearly 10 years. The complex was sold to the Westfield Group and real estate company Forest City Enterprises in 2006, though Sony kept it's flagship Sony Style Store and only PlayStation branded store in the nation in operation ... until now. Speaking with GameSpot, a Sony rep said, "Our lease with the Metreon for the PlayStation Store will expire this summer and we have chosen not to renew it." (A rep for the Metreon told GameSpot that the Sony Style Store's lease will expire on March 31st.) So where will the company throw all those launch parties now? "While we are always looking at new avenues for additional retail exposure and space, we felt it best not to continue with a dedicated PlayStation Store at the Metreon at this time." Looks like if you want to attend a launch party these days and you're on the West Coast, you'd better be ready to lp+lk+down.[UPDATE]: Edited the headline to clarify information. Our apologies for any confusion that was caused. [image]
Microsoft investigating retail options, hires former Walmart exec
Microsoft is giving retail stores another try, even after closing its only store at the Metreon in 2001. It plans a "small number" of stores, but did not mention locations or size. The company is hiring Walmart veteran David Porter -- an expert at negotiating deals between the movie industry and the big-box retailer's expansive DVD sales division. Porter most recently worked at Dreamworks Animation, managing worldwide product distribution for their games and movies. The stores apparently will be geared for sales and education about Microsoft's product line. Porter said, "I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases, and we'll share learnings [sic] from our stores with our existing retail and OEM partners that are critical to our success." If Microsoft is aiming to compete with Apple on a retail level, they seem to be omitting a key part of Apple's retail success: Service. The Genius Bar is arguably the most crowded area in Apple retail stores, with every store booking appointments well in advance. A Microsoft service bar for both PCs and Zunes could be a very popular destination. If Microsoft stores can offer a competent service experience for the vast diversity of PC hardware, they might have something. Microsoft has a 20,000 square-foot "Retail Experience Center" in Redmond, on the company's corporate campus. The Center is designed to show how Microsoft products can be used in every corner of a business' operations: from the loading dock to the reception desk. It's unclear if it will serve as the model for Microsoft's new retail initiative. [Via ifoAppleStore.]
Live in LA? You could join an Insomniac Games studio tour
Lucky Californians. Looks like you'll be able to attend not one, but two Insomniac-sponsored Resistance 2 events. First is the now-standard midnight launch party. The real-world PlayStation Store at the San Francisco Metreon will feature Ted Price and the Insomniac gang giving away swag, autographs, and photo opportunities. This event will happen on November 4th, at midnight. Obviously, you'll want to get there a bit early. You should also mark November 7th on your calendars. If you are at least 17 years old and live/plan to be in the Los Angeles area on November 7, you can e-mail RSVP@insomniacgames.com to get details on a "community day," which will open the studio's doors to the public. There, you'll be able to see the house of Ratchet and hang out with the Insomniac gang. If you've never been to a development studio before, this may be your chance!
Valkyria Chronicles event in San Francisco this Friday
Sega and Sony will be holding a pre-release event for Valkyria Chronicles this Friday, Sept. 26, in San Francisco. The shindig will take place in the PlayStation Store at the Metreon between 5-9PM. Attendees will be able to play a demo of the strategy-action RPG a month before that same demo is made available to the general public. There will also be a raffle and the game's Japanese producer will attend and sign autographs -- hopefully they'll have something for him to sign other than cocktail napkins.The PlayStation Blog also gives an open invitation to Valkyria Chronicles fans who can't attend to leave questions on the site for the game's producer to answer in a future post. The actual game is expected to release in November of this year.%Gallery-30124%
Valkyria Chronicles coming to San Francisco this Friday
Although the game doesn't officially release until November, Sega is throwing a Valkyria Chronicles party in San Francisco's Metreon store. The venue, made famous for its real-world PlayStation Store, will be host to Sega producer Ryutaro Nonaka. An exclusive community Q&A will be held at the store, and signed posters will be given away at the event. You could win a free PS3, so if you're in the neighborhood, you may want to consider attending. Where: The Sony Metreon, 101 4th Street, San Francisco, CAWhen: 5 - 9 PM Pacific, Friday, Sept 26th [Thanks, Aaron W.!]
Pictures from the Crisis Core launch event
Ryoga Vee was kind enough to take pictures during the Crisis Core launch event in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the cosplayers stayed home, with nary an over-dramatic hairdo to be seen. Thanks to these two for dressing up and making us proud. According to Ryoga, the premiere was an "inflated event just to buy the game. No frills, no glam like the other events in the past." You can check out the no-frills event yourself by checking out Ryoga's Flickr here.
Square Enix to hold Crisis Core launch event at Metreon
San Francisco's Metreon store will host the official Crisis Core launch event next Tuesday. Expect legions of Square Enix fans to cosplay as their favorite Final Fantasy VII character as they line up to purchase this hotly anticipated PSP exclusive.The Metreon is located at 101 4th St in San Francisco. The event will last from 6 to 9PM on March 25th. The first 100 customers in line will receive a free commemorative t-shirt. In addition, there will be raffle prizes, including a limited edition lithograph and other Final Fantasy merchandise. Shinra Company identification cards, with attendee's names and photographs will also be created on site -- this is sure to incite nerdgasms everywhere.If you plan on attending the event, please contact us -- we'd love to see your pictures!
Star Wars Battlefront launch party in SF next week
If you're in the San Francisco metro area, you may want to head to the Sony Metreon for the Star Wars Battlefront launch party. The festivities start next Tuesday at 6PM. LucasArts is promising tons of prizes, such as the Han Solo carbonite case -- free for the first 200 people that purchase the new PSP bundle. If you come in costume, you'll get a chance at winning a Darth Vader lightsaber replica. Of course, with tons of people expected to show up, there'll undoubtedly be tons of opportunities for some local wi-fi multiplayer as well.For the complete details, check out the game's IGN blog.
Join the Final Fantasy 20th anniversary party
Get your cosplay gear ready, folks. A Final Fantasy party is heading to the PlayStation Store at the Metreon in San Francisco. The date? Tuesday, June 26th. The time? 6PM. According to the press release, "the event will commemorate 20 years of devotion, dedication and passion from the greatest fans in the gaming industry."Attendees of the party will be able to purchase the newly remade PSP version of Final Fantasy, in addition to get a hands-on experience with the upcoming Final Fantasy II. The first one hundred fans to arrive will receive items exclusive to the event. Considering how rabidly devoted Final Fantasy fans are, we recommend you get there early.If any PSP Fanboy readers are planning on attending, let us know: we'd love to see pictures from the event!%Gallery-3237%
Sony's Blu-ray player demoed in the wild
So here I am in San Francisco for a work conference, and I take some downtime to check out the Metreon mall downtown. I notice a Sony Style store, so I naturally stopped in to see what was there. Across the hall from the PS2s and video cameras, I discovered a Blu-ray demo setup -- complete with Sony's unreleased BDP-S1 player, hooked up via their DA7100ES receiver to the 60" SXRD A2000 model. The demo was sadly short and sweet, but the quality was very good, despite the TV being set on "vivid" mode, which I quickly fixed to standard mode *cough* It was obvious no one had really tuned the setup to its maximum performance, at least it was using HDMI cabling and was hooked up to a 5.1-channel amp.
Console launch lines and "shortages," explained
During a recent class in Operations and Information Management (taught in first year of the Wharton MBA program), professor Senthil Veeraraghavan dove into a mini case study on Sony's PlayStation and PSP products in order to demonstrate best practices in production capacity management around the launch of new products The fundamental dilemma for companies launching new products is that initial demand for hot new products often exceeds initial capacity to produce that product. Sure, companies could invest heavily in production capacity, but if they overinvest, they'll never make any money with the venture once the spike of launch demand is fulfilled and demand levels off to a more predictable rate. But such heavy investment would saddle companies with high-cost factories that do nothing but sit idle and cost money. Stockpiling products in preparation for a big launch is also impractical, as this (a) delays launch (and therefore recoupment of development costs), and (b) greatly increases investment in inventory. Storing money in the form of inventory is a very bad idea. What's the solution? One possible way out of the problem, according to Veeraraghavan: "You are able to underinvest in capacity a bit if you're able to manage customer perceptions." In other words, if you can convince customers that the long launch lines are a result of unforeseen strong demand, you can make sure that they'll keep trying to obtain your product until it's finally on store shelves. To put it another way, long lines at launch are inevitable, especially in the games industry where customers are wont to use the presence (or lack) of a line as a measure of product quality. [Image credit: PSP launch lineup at the Sony Metreon, from FloatingMonkeys.com]
