Sony Plans PlayStation 3 Kiosk Blitz

Officials from Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) have announced that the company intends to use five times the number of North American demonstration booth to promote the PlayStation 3 compared to that used for the PlayStation 2. The company is to spend $30 million placing 15,000 consoles in U.S. and Canadian stores this Christmas. This compares to just 3,000 demonstration booths for the launch of the PlayStation 2. The number of booths demonstrating PlayStation 3 consoles seems especially high given that only 400,000 consoles will be available for launch in North America. It is unclear when booths will begin to appear in Europe, in which the PlayStation 3 is not due to launch until March of next year. "Once the consumers get their hands on a PS3 and understand what's under the hood, I think price will not be a factor in the decision-making process," said SCEA co-chief operating officer Jack Tretton, as quoted by the Bloomberg news agency.