Sony launches huge campaign for Shadow of the Colossus

With the release of PS2 action adventure Shadow of the Colossus just weeks away, SCEE has kicked off a large scale marketing campaign to promote the highly anticipated title.

The PAL version of SotC will come in specialdesigned cardboard packaging, complete with four free postcards. The game disc will include exclusive content, such as video interviews with creative directors Fumito Ueda and Kenji Kaido, plus image galleries and trailers.

Sony has also launched a new website for the game at ShadowOfTheColossus.com, giving visitors a close-up look at the giant Colossi and the world they inhabit. Visitors can also submit interview questions for Ueda, with the chance to win a signed PS2 console.

PlayStation.com has also launched a competition inviting entrants to design a new Colossus. Ueda will choose the winner, who will be awarded with a trip for two to an as yet unnamed destination.

In addition, SCE UK plans to run a series of promotional events across the country, projecting the game onto buildings so that consumers can try it out on a 16 metre-wide screen.

Shadow of the Colossus is the follow-up to ICO, which was released in March 2002 to much less fanfare. Although ICO also came in special packaging which included postcards, a limited number of discs were produced - presumably because Sony doubted that the game would have widespread appeal for European gamers.

However, ICO went on to become a cult classic, with copies of the game changing hands for upwards of GBP 50 on eBay more than three years after its release.

Sony is clearly keen not to make the same mistake with Shadow of the Colossus, which has already received rave reviews in the press. The company is also taking the opportunity to re-release ICO, with both games hitting the shops on February 17.