We got an interesting insider email (via the notoriously reliable third-party source of an anonymous friend of an also anonymous manager) of what went down at the recent Gamestop manager's conference. The details spilled, while all firmly in the rumor file, are pretty interesting as an inside glimpse into how the nation's biggest game store is reacting to next gen. Namely: the Wii kiosk will require a credit card to use in store, Zune won't be doing gaming in the near future and Gamestop hates Sony.
First of all, according to our insider, the managers were told that only GameStop would be receiving the Wii demo units. He said the reason for that was because GameStop is going to require customers to give over a credit card as collateral in order to play one of the Wii units. Nintendo apparently tried using various security methods for the Wiimote, but couldn't really find one that didn't hamper the experience." I'm not sure why they're not using the wired Wiimotes we all saw at E3 and GC06, but okay.
Another tipster emailed us to tell us that Gamestop was getting the only Wii kiosks as a thank you for selling the most Nintendo consoles, for what it's worth.
Microsoft also said at the conference there were no plans to do anything for Zune in regards to gaming, but that it might lie in wait in the future. This apparently explains why Gamestop will sell the Zune: "GameStop is just trying to get cozy with Microsoft, and selling the Zune is an easy way to do that."
Finally, which consoles are Gamestop's managers most excited about? According to our tipster, Nintendo and Microsoft both garnered standing ovations. However, everyone sat still and tight-lipped when Sony took the stage. To be fair to Sony, though, this largely seems to be an issue of them failing to buy off the managers: "They pretty much half-assed the conference, not really having anything playable and only giving the attendees a couple aging Greatest Hits games (Shadow of the Collosus? Really?). Microsoft, on the other hand, brought Gears of War for people to play and also told the managers that they'd be sending them the Gears Collector's Edition and Viva Pinata when they came out. Nintendo came with playable Wii units and told the attendees they'd be sending them 3 good upcoming DS games, the Wii Classic Controller, and 7500 Wii points. This obviously isn't anything big, but seems to be another example of Sony seemingly not really caring about anything other than Blu-Ray and silly rhetoric."
Yeah, more bribery, Sony! Anyway, we've asked Nintendo for a response, but they are still "looking into it." Florian Eckhardt
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