Sony Style Store

Sony, like so many other manufacturers, has begun setting up show room floors across the USA. These experience centers are called 'Sony Style' stores. When I was in Japan a few years back, hitting up the Sony showroom in Ginza was a must. Now, Sony has come to my front door, setting up a Sony Style store in the Dallas Galleria. Once I found out, I dragged my fiancée there to try some of the latest Sony tech. With all the new technology emerging, it is actually one of the best ways for Sony to market all their new hardware. Showrooms like these are built around the idea of “try before you buy” and with so many choices this almost seems necessary. Take for example 3D TV’s; they come in all forms of size, shape and technologies. They are something so complex and expensive that I had no intention of buying day one, but here, they can be experienced for free. Better yet, they can be experienced while playing a Playstation 3, which is the first console outside of a PC that can do this. It may not be worth the $2000+, but having played some MLB the Show and Motorstorm I can say in confidence, it works. If you can combine this with “the Move” and a 7.1 sound system in a creative way, it may be the closest thing to Virtual Reality in your living room we have seen yet.

Speaking of “the Move”, this is another technology that I am not probably going to be adopting day one, but was happy to hear Sony will be having an event in the next month. Thereby, Sony is providing me another opportunity to “try before I buy”, in a retail space more comfortable than the local Wal-Mart or Best Buy. There are numerous other products, ranging from laptops to PSP’s, but I wouldn’t recommend actually buying anything there. I was looking through the shelf of games they had for sale and Lair was priced at almost $60!!! You look on Amazon.com and you can buy a new copy for $17, which is still overpriced since the game is shit. Other than that, I think as a marketing vehicle, this could be very profitable for Sony in the long run. Hey, it works for Apple!

Expect to see another post from the Sony Style Store @ the Playstation Move Event in early September.