Good evening friends, today, I have a PS2 Retailer Squeeze Play, One Million DCs sold in one year in Europe, and Indianpolis gets to enforce its law.
PS2 Retailer Squeeze: Due to the shortage of PS2s being available at launch, Sony is forcing retail stores to buy several games and peripherals per console. We’ve heard reports that up to twenty games have to be bought per console by stores. As a result, some stores will be forcing consumers to buy a game or two with the PS2, or charge a premium on the console itself, up to $100 more. We’ll see how this plays out come October 26th.
One Million in One: Sega of Europe has announced that in exactly one year, one million Dreamcast consoles have been sold. October 14th, 1999 was the magic date for the European DC launch, and 100,000 consoles were sold on that day alone. While sales have been on the downward trend for SOE, particularly with software, the company has high hopes for the year ahead, especially since they are teaming up with Gem Distribution to offer a DC with a DVD player for 299 GBP.
Indianpolis Wins…For Now: A federal judge sided with the US city this week, and now, arcades in the metropolis will have to start enforcing the controversial ordinance passed late in the Summer. Here’s the breakdown: Arcades have to hide so-called ‘violent’ video games, and attach warning labels to them. Gamers under 16 can not play these games without a parent’s permission. Violators of the rule are subject to a $200 fine per violation per day. The AAMA and the AMOA plan to appeal.
And that’s it for now, I will return next week.