PS3 Hitting The Road In Japan

Up to this point, things have been quiet on the Sony PR front in terms of Japan. Well, what better way to liven things up than by taking your new product on a tour of the country? It's a full-on marketing campaign for Japan, and although it may be starting a touch late, it's still coming strong.

In the latest Famitsu, SCE's Masatsuka Saeki revealed that Sony will be launching a nationwide retail tour for the PS3. The cornerstone of the program involves the company putting playable PS3 units in over 1,000 retail stores all across Japan. Sony intends to kick things off the first part of November.

Additionally, the PS3 will be getting an official Sony-endorsed advertisement program, which is likely to include television commercials and hotspot ads in magazines. Saeki wouldn't go into details, but he did imply that these ads would give the nod to developers who displayed PS3 titles at last month's Tokyo Game Show.

Famitsu took things a step further by suggesting ideas for Sony's campaign. They believe Sony should continue the tradition of closing out ads with catchy slogans; the original PS1 ads (around 1994) ended with, "All games are collected here." In 2003, Sony promoted a PS2 price drop with "Sorry to have kept you waiting." And when the PSP launched in 2004, it hit shelves to the tune of "Take all your games with you." Will Sony take a similar route with the PS3? That remains to be seen.

For now, we'll assume Famitsu is on-target with this report, but we'll be looking for official details from Sony in the coming weeks.