YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Gamers stationed overseas will be able to get their next-generation video game systems at roughly the same time as those living stateside, according to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service and the Navy Exchange.
The Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii will be released in North America on Nov. 17 and 19, respectively.
“As in the past, the rollout of new launches overseas has mirrored those in the continental United States within a day or so,” said Kristine M. Sturkie, a NEX command spokeswoman.
“Delivery of merchandise overseas takes a bit longer due to transit times and unexpected delays,” she added.
AAFES expects delivery of the consoles in a similar fashion.
“We do expect to have them for sale at the same time as stores stateside,” said Master Sgt. Donovan Potter, an AAFES Pacific Region spokesman.
How many consoles will be available at stores remains to be seen.
“We (AAFES) are well aware of the release of the two consoles and are working with the respective companies to procure as many machines as possible,” Potter said.
When Microsoft’s Xbox 360 was launched last November, AAFES obtained a larger number of systems than many retailers in the States, Potter said.
The Nintendo is suggesting a retail price of $249.99 for its Wii, which features a wireless, motion-sensing, remote controller that tracks a players’ movements, allowing them to swing the controller like a sword or tennis racquet or aim it like a gun.
The system also will let owners buy and download classic games from original Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super NES, Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis and Hudson’s TurboGrafix-16.
The Sony PlayStation 3 features such next-generation technology as the new Cell processor, wireless Bluetooth controllers and a Blu-ray optical disc drive. The PS3 can read games from previous PlayStation systems as well as DVDs and music CDs.
Sony will release two versions of the PS3: The base model, expected to retail for $499, has a 20-gigabyte hard drive. A $599.00 version of the PS3 has a 60GB hard drive, is Wi-Fi capable and has a high definition multimedia interface (HDMI).
