This is going to be even bigger than I imagined. Read this article. 1.5M copies of "racer" @ $70.00 in the next three months is huge.
============================================
Monday May 17 12:09 AM ET
'Star Wars' Force Infuses Video Game Gathering
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
By Scott Hillis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - May the Force be with you. The marketing force, that is.
The month of May is usually a slow time for the video game industry, but this year George Lucas' video game company can expect to see light-speed sales of fast-paced games based on his upcoming ''Star Wars'' prequel.
While ''Star Wars'' fans everywhere have been panting to get a sneak peak of ''The Phantom Menace,'' which opens Wednesday, attendees of the video game industry's annual expo this week were eager to catch a glimpse of new ''Star Wars'' game titles.
Nintendo and Sony, the only winners of coveted ''Star Wars'' video game distribution licenses from LucasArts Entertainment Co., proudly showed off the one title each has so far been granted at Electronic Entertainment Expo, or E3, show here.
As of Monday, players of the Nintendo 64 game system can take part in the film's most adrenaline-filled scene and tear around an other-worldly race tracks in a rocket-powered pod, while Sony PlayStation owners can try their hand at ''Phantom Menace'', an adventure based on the movie's plot.
As part of its marketing blitz for the new title, Nintendo even managed to enlist Jake Lloyd, the 10-year-old who played Anakin Skywalker, who races his pod in the movie.
''On the set, as much moving as I did was nothing. I sat in a pod and pretended to race, but this time I actually get to race,'' Lloyd said.
George Harrison, vice president of marketing for Nintendo of America, said he expected the ''Racer'' title to sell 1.5 million units in the first three months. And that is at a retail price of nearly $70.
Nintendo also is bundling the racer game in specially branded ''Star Wars'' game machines priced at about $150 in a campaign it expects will lead to half a million console sales in two months, Harrison said.
''This will help kickstart our hardware sales and change the market dynamics,'' Harrison said.
While movie studios have scrambled to get their films out of the way of the ''Star Wars'' path, video game industry observers said the games would not challenge those by other companies, which traditionally focus on the end-of-the-year holiday season.
''Having a May release is sort of weird,'' said Andy Eddy, West Coast editor of GameWEEK, a magazine devoted to the $6 billion-a-year U.S. video game market.
'''Star Wars' the movie, and therefore the games, come at a good time for the industry,'' Eddy said.
LucasArts looks set to hit holiday shoppers, too. Sony and Nintendo will be able to release the other title for their systems later in the year.
LucasArts also gave a sneak peek at an upcoming title, ''Obi Wan'', in which players star as the legendary Jedi knight.
EOM
============================================
From the sound of it...the force will certainly be with ELBO over the next several months.
Good luck,
RBL |
