Here’s something I thought all you Vita fans might like to have a look at!
Given to (the remaining) store managers at GAME Retail (i.e. the GAME and Gamestation stores that survived the collapse of GAME Group in early 2012), this little bundle of goodies was a thank you from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe for driving the Vita sales even as the retailer was beginning to collapse.
Each manager had been supplied with a 3G Vita console at the beginning of 2012 along with a 16GB memory card and download codes for many of the first party (i.e. Sony/SCEE) launch games, and FIFA, specifically to demonstrate them in store and secure pre-orders for the fantastic piece of kit.
I am pleased to say that in my store at the time we punched well above our weight, and I even designed and supplied the Vita pre-order menu sheet that you may have found in GAME and Gamestation stores in the West Midlands leading up to launch.
Even with the rumours (at the time) of the potential insolvency of the retail group, the advantage of the demo consoles and the enthusiasm of the store managers and store teams, over 50% of all the PlayStation Vitas sold in the UK in launch week were sold by GAME and Gamestation, despite many of the launch titles not being supplied by the likes of Ubisoft.
Unfortunately, as most people know, little more than a month after the Vita launch GAME Group went into administration with over 270 stores closing within 4 hours of the administration announcement. The profitable stores remained, but during the summer unrealistic rent demands from landlords meant another handful of stores, all profitable at the time, and in some cases leading their regions, closed.
The remaining store managers attended the usual pre-Christmas conference at the end of last summer, though it was a much smaller and muted affair than the past events, where the death knell was sounded for the Gamestation brand.
However as a thank you from Sony, each attendee at the conference received a small bundle of Vita branded goodies. A promotional Vita pen accompanied a rather nicely produced PlayStation Vita notebook. Also included, which is rather cool, was a PlayStation Vita styled 8GB USB memory stick/pen drive.
As you can imagine, with less than 300 store managers at the event, and it this little promotional set not having been seen “in the wild,” these are probably the rarest of the Vita promotional items.
A big thank you to the friend who let me have his set.
I’ll be blogging again soon once everything from Gamescom is a little clearer (like those new memory card RRPs) and I stop wondering quite how the Commodore Amiga range of computers seems to have been forgotten so much by the industry that Shadow Of The Beast was referred to in several places as an “Omega” game… grrr. Oh and Lemmings Touch looks interesting!
Please note that my blog is my opinion and may not be those of Vita Player as an entity or the other contributors.
The friend says “You have no idea how close this came to being binned by his wife!!” oh and there was a code for LBP too, but he may have used that himself 😉