The long awaited Microsoft Xbox arrived onto New Zealand store shelves with a bang on Thursday morning. The release was kicked off the night before at the official launch party held at the Staircase Nightclub in Auckland. Media, retailers and special V.I.P guests gathered to celebrate the NZ arrival of the most powerful console ever made. Microsoft sure know how to throw a party, and at 9:45pm the doors were opened to the public to check out hot New Zealand bands Rhombus, PanAm, King Kapisi and Blindspot. The Xbox console went on sale at the party at 10pm, which was also ‘gatecrashed’ by the Lion Red Sports Café team, and had a live radio broadcast from alternative music station Channel Z.
With Sony so dominant in the New Zealand console market over the last 7 years, many people in the industry are happy that a new "serious" player has entered the fray. Unlike other companies, Microsoft have the muscle to have a real presence in games retail stores -- go into any games store and you will not be able to miss the merchandising or the Xbox display units showcasing the Xbox exclusive titles. It is not just the instore presence either. Microsoft have a massive advertising campaign (across all major media) planned that has started now and runs through the Xmas period. Already the excellent 'only on Xbox' game advertisements are running on primetime TV.
Wilf Robinson, marketing manager of Xbox in New Zealand, says that the arrival of Xbox, which is Microsoft’s biggest ever consumer launch here, was the culmination of a huge team effort by the company, it’s retail partners, business partners and the world’s leading games developers.
“We really feel this is a fantastic product. It is easily the most powerful, versatile, technologically advanced game system ever – the future of gaming starts with its launch. While we know the Xbox development and sales project is a marathon, not a sprint, we have had huge interest here already. Kiwis are big gamers and this is the country’s biggest event in gaming terms,” he said. Mr Robinson says New Zealand is a very important market for Xbox and Kiwis have a well-earned reputation of being among the fastest to take on new technology.
[i]“The Xbox is the next generation video game system and will change the face of home entertainment, we are confident it will be a big hit here in New Zealand.”
A key part of a successful console launch is having the machine available in rental during the launch period (Dreamcast especially suffered because of a lack of exposure). On this front, Microsoft have done very well. They have been able to get full support and partner with key rental chains including nationwide powerhouse Video Ezy. With rental stores offering up Xbox for hire the awareness for the system will rise rapidly, especially among more casual gamers. With so many games available for the Xbox already, the rental option is a great way for people to check out all the titles on offer.
Speaking of titles, retailers we have spoken to say that customers most anticipated games leading up to the Xbox launch had been the exceptional Halo, Buffy the Vampire Slayer from EA, Dead or Alive 3 and Project Gotham Racing. We expect that along with the above titles Munch's Oddysee, WWE Raw and Rallisport Challenge will be the big sellers over the coming 2 weeks. (Check back for Gameplanet's reviews of these titles starting early next week)
Key titles to look out for leading up to Xmas include The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, Blinx: The Time Sweeper and NFS: Hot Pursuit 2. Splinter Cell especially we can tell you looks and plays fantastic.
Is Xbox going to be around for the long haul? We'd have to say yes. The general opinion from industry insiders is that in the short term Sony have nothing to worry about. A little while down the track however, and with a few more big name exclusive titles behind it (Perfect Dark 2 anyone?), the Xbox could have some serious console market share here in New Zealand. As Wilf Robinson said, it is a marathon, not a sprint. At the very least this Xmas people are going to be talking about the Xbox as a viable gaming alternative to the Playstation 2. Gameplanet can see more than a few people walking out of games stores over the coming months with a console different to the one they were intending to purchase. We'd have to say it can only be good for the NZ games industry...
