Sony boom
UK sales of Sony PlayStation 2 games consoles tripled to about 62,000 units after the price was slashed to £199.99 two weeks ago, according to trade reports. Sales were helped by the arrival of games such as This Is Football 2002 (Sony) and Alex Ferguson's Player Manager (3DO/Anco). The price cut was expected. As CTW (Computer Trade Weekly) pointed out, the price of the original Play Station was cut from £300 to £200 eight months after its launch: PS2 buyers had to wait 10. The cut should help Sony build market share before the arrival of Nintendo's Gamecube and Microsoft's Xbox. Both will be launched in the UK next year.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Toysrus.com Inc sold out of its pre-order allotment of Gamecubes in four minutes on Monday: selling out its ration of Xbox consoles in September took 30 minutes.
Castles in air
Kids who grew up building castles at school using Acorn BBC microcomputer printouts could form a ready market for Stronghold, a medieval castle simulation to be released for the PC next week. You can build your own castle or attack or defend one of 15 historically accurate pre-built models. See www.stronghold-game.com
Smoke screen
Sold Out is backing the government's Smoke Screen anti-smoking campaign, being launched this month. The company is putting information and competition leaflets in with 400,000 budget-priced games. The company says it is the first time the government has turned to their industry for help. Trouble TV will show five short films about smoking next month. See www.givingupsmoking.co.uk/smokescreen
Third strike
Sid Meier's Civilization III has been finished by Firaxis and will ship to US retailers on October 30. The standard version will cost $49.99, and the special limited edition $59.99. The first version of Civ was published by Microprose in 1991 and was often described as the best strategy game. Civ 2 followed in 1996. The success of Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri (1999) suggests this type of game still appeals.
