Sonopress announced as Authorized Replicator for Xbox games
Gütersloh (ots)
Sonopress has been named as exclusive primary vendor for Microsoft Xbox games, including distribution of Xbox software and hardware, replication, packaging and distribution (through Bertelsmann Services) in Europe. Sonopress has also announced it is now a Microsoft authorized replicator for third-party games for the Xbox console, which the industry is eagerly anticipating this coming Autumn.
The deal has been agreed between Microsoft, Sonopress and the Bertelsmann Services Group. Quote from Herman Heemeyer, Vice President Sales and Marketing Europe at Sonopress: "We have been chosen as authorized replicators for Europe in view of our track record with Microsoft. We have very large production capacities and guaranteed short production times - both of which will prove essential for the success of the new console." Sonopress has about 4000 employees worldwide and is able to produce more than 72 million DVDs of all formats per year.
Microsoft states "Sonopress has already proven its competence as an authorized replicator for various other Microsoft products and business channels. Further, Sonopress has exhibited outstanding technical expertise, complete commitment to customer care and a strong focus on the protection of customer content."
Scheduled for release this coming autumn 2001, Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft's future-generation video game console that delivers superior graphics, better audio and the most intense, action-packed gaming experiences available. All this is possible because Xbox has at least three times the graphics performance of the newest generation of game consoles. Features will include a 733MHz CPU, a custom-designed graphics chip capable of processing more than 1 trillion operations per second, an 8GB hard drive, 64 MB of total memory, a 3-D audio processor with 64 audio channels, and broadband connectivity for online game play. Xbox uses familiar architecture and DirectX( development tools so game developers will be able to create better games faster.
Researchers estimate that people spend more than 20 billion dollars per year on videogame consoles and associated games.
Sonopress Background Sonopress, a Bertelsmann company headquartered in Gütersloh, is one of the world's leading service providers in the duplication of data and information carriers. Founded in 1958 as a press works for vinyl records, today Sonopress has the know-how to replicate all digital data carriers currently available on the market, such as CD, CD-ROM and DVD, DVDplus, SACD. It offers the entire process of content marketing from beginning to end - from pre-mastering down to distribution. Sonopress is Europe's leading games replicator, producing 7 out of the top ten titles in Europe last year. The company can draw on a worldwide network of more than 3,900 employees.
Further information: http://www.sonopress.de.
Contact:
Sonopress GmbH
Simone Schmitt
Tel: +49 (0) 52 41-80 19 38
Email: Simone.Schmitt@Bertelsmann.de