PS3 'training days' planned for UK retail

Official Sony distributor CentreSoft is to hold training days for UK retail in early September to present the features and capabilities of PlayStation 3 ahead of launch, GamesIndustry.biz has learned.

Two events are planned, the first booked for September 5th at the Odeon West End in London's Leicester Square, with the second on September 6th at the Odeon Birmingham.

UK retailers confirmed to GI.biz that invitations were received in the post earlier this week, which described the events as an opportunity for the sector to familiarise itself with the many facets of the next-generation system before its proposed European launch date of November 17th.

Sources added that CentreSoft made it clear that no official pre-order or marketing information would be released in the sessions.

CentreSoft recently held a meeting specifically for independents to gauge views on a number of hypothetical launch scenarios as the trade awaits formal word from SCE UK on its PS3 roll-out strategy. CentreSoft was unavailable for comment at the time of writing

GI.biz revealed last week that SCE UK does not intend to finalise launch plans in the UK until September at the earliest. Among the initiatives known to be on the table is a controversial GBP150 pre-order scheme, thought to be an attempt to combat rogue eBay trading in the event of expected hardware shortages.