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Sony Sells Metreon, SF

B

Barry Lightning

Banned
the sony metreon is a key sony real estate property and amusement center located in san francisco. didn't see this mentioned, so i figured i post: sony has sold the metreon:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/02/24/BUGSVHDITS1.DTL&feed=rss.business

"For the last 6 1/2 years, we have been committed to the successful operation of Metreon," she said, adding that Sony has decided to refocus on "our core businesses of electronics, entertainment and games."
 
Metreon was a cool place, but it was very under-utilized. It didn't help that stuff there was actually more expensive.
 
I wish I knew about this place when I went to San Fran this past summer, just to check it out.
 
aww man that sucks, I wanted to go there as well, I missed it on my last (and only ever) trip to San Francisco and promised myself I'd go there just to check it out if i ever visited again.
 
ugh the metreon was always filled with annoying brats and high schoolers. i remember when DDR was all the rage and the arcade was overcrowded by Ai-Zee-eNs. the movie theatre is pretty good but the lack of (cheap) parking kinda sucks. and the top floor which they use for kids entertainment is always nearly empty.
 
I've been there once... It really wasn't anything special, although the movie theatre was pretty big and nice (saw the 40 Year Old Virgin :lol ). The PlayStation store was massively overpriced, but the Bandai store had some pretty good deals. Love Hina DVD set for like $35 was a pretty good deal. So I guess I'll miss the Bandai store, and nothing else.
 
not a big metreon fan but they have the best IMAX theater ive been too. and i dont go to non-imax movies anymore.

but yeh the sony store and stuff is sorta bleh. but they did have a GT2 launch event years ago and i won a bunch of stuff. :)
 
They had to ditch it.

The Walk of Game was being overtaken by Nintendo franchises :)

And Halo, for that matter.
 
I walk by there every day on my way to/from work. I wonder if they'll keep the Playstation store, that was always the best place to get hard-to-find accessories. Honestly though the Playstation and Sony Style stores are the only thing really Sony-related. Plus they've had a lot of turnover in the retail space, especially that huge spot where the Discovery Channel store used to be.

I do think they should keep both of the Sony stores though, there's no other consumer electronics places in the area except for CompUSA and they could make a big Blu-Ray impression in those stores. All the big box places are totally ghetto. For those who don't know this building is right on the edge of the biggest shopping area in Northern California. It's a great spot but it must be insanely expensive to run.
 
Yeah, it sounds like those 2 stores are staying (hopefully they'll be around for the PS3 launch, or the launch will be a nightmare in the area :/)

At this point, the only Metreon tenant that's declared an intention to stay is Sony, which says its PlayStation and Sony Style stores won't go anywhere.
Click to expand...
 
antipode said:
(hopefully they'll be around for the PS3 launch, or the launch will be a nightmare in the area :/)
Click to expand...
The PS3 launch will be a nightmare no matter what. Too many rich nerds around here
 
The Loews moviehouse is the only thing making money there, and it's not owned by Sony. Sony said they'll keep their Sony Style and Sony Playstation Store open, but that craptactular arcade has got to go. There's no point in playing a $1.50 Street Fighter game when you can just play free demos in the PS Store. I figure the bar, Warhammer store, and Chron books kiosks will probably go, too.
 
said to my guide: "So the mall ... "

"It's not a mall," she interrupted. "It's an urban entertainment destination."

"Sorry?"

"It's an urban entertainment destination."
Click to expand...
Heh. The Metreon was always super boring to me, but I guess that's because I grew up in the Bay Area. Whatever.
 
dot-Nick said:
Heh. The Metreon was always super boring to me, but I guess that's because I grew up in the Bay Area. Whatever.
Click to expand...
Nah, I found it boring before I even moved here. Its outdoor lawn area is nice during warm weather, though.
 
Also being a Bay Area native, there was nothing really ever exicting at the Metreon. Only thing I went there was for the movie theather, but it's too much of a hassle.
 
I think the Metreon would have been cool if they designed it with the Apple method in mind. I was more impressed with the much smaller Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo than I ever was with the Metreon.
 
You'd figure that Metreon would have a really good arcade......

The only thing that can save them is the Playstation store games, but they fail even at that because most Sony 1st party games suck.
 
People, people, people:

The Metreon is just being sold, it's not going anywhere. Hell, Sony's going to be keeping their electronics store and Playstation store right where they are. But after reading the article, the sale did seem inevitable. For all the "It's an urban entertainment destination," nonsense that Sony continually pushed on people who'd ask about the place, at the end of the day it was simply a shopping mall. A weird, tiny one, but a mall nonetheless.

And yeah, the Metreon arcade does, largely, suck. About the only thing it's got going for it is the healthy collection of retro cabinets from the 80s.
 
There's this really good Italian place in the food court in the Metreon... one of the best "fast food" type Italian places I've ever eaten at.

Mmmmmmmm.....
 
It was a good idea in concept, but the place was just poorly designed from the get-go. Too much space taken up by long, confusing hallways and escalators, while the stores are all tucked away in little corners with bad visibility.
 
BenT said:
Nah, I found it boring before I even moved here. Its outdoor lawn area is nice during warm weather, though.
Click to expand...
That's not part of Metreon though, that's a city park.
The Take Out Bandit said:
Tomorrow. . . Microsoft announces Xbox Cafe SF! :P
Click to expand...
Ironically enough when it opened there was a Microsoft store in it where the "bunch of random unrelated shit" store is now.
 
xsarien said:
And yeah, the Metreon arcade does, largely, suck. About the only thing it's got going for it is the healthy collection of retro cabinets from the 80s.
Click to expand...

Agreed, but I'm in contact with the management these days and they're actually just moving a few blocks away, though I'm not 100% certain where. I was just told it won't be far.

And I'm pretty sure they're getting rid of those super retarded cabinets they use for everything.

The Metreon is a nice place to stroll through, and the area outside is nice, but you never go to the Metreon to do anything. Go pick up lunch at Buckhorn every now and then, or a quick DDR fix, but other than that you wouldn't actually go to the Metreon with the intent of buying anything.
 
Yay, in the article it says the theater will remain. That was the only thing worth going to the metreon for, aside from the arcade OCCASIONALLLYYYY.

The theater has been awesome though, nicest place for midnight showings + imax
 
The theater has been awesome though, nicest place for midnight showings + imax
Click to expand...

Agreed. Everything else at that place is just so useless. What's up with that Lost in Space robot by ticket sales? Why?
 
I'm going to miss that Warhammer store. I used to buy my paints there and the guys that work there were always so friendly to me. I doubt that stays intact if they are going to be turning it into a real mall.
 
ah man, now where are they going to put any horribly awkward stealth stages in their games in the future?
B000099T2G.01._PE75_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Never Forget.
 
ps - good looking out to kotaku for the straight jackin head-nod.

also, my broader point in posting this was to show sony's consolidation, globally, which i'm sure needed not be pointed out. but i'll do so anyway. cause i'm raw like that.
 
KDups said:
Agreed. Everything else at that place is just so useless. What's up with that Lost in Space robot by ticket sales? Why?
Click to expand...
Not to be too big of a nerd, but that's not the Lost in Space robot. It's Robby the Robot from Forbidden Planet.

robbie.jpg

"I'm at the Metreon."

B0000DC3VM.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

"I'm not."
 
I spent the better part of the day there once. It was really pretty neat and well-kept, but probably a waste of money and not a great advertisement of Sony's goods. Definitely not on par with what you'd expect from a big-city Apple store. Beyond that it's really just real estate. Jelly Belly store, movie theater, etc.

Pretty cool, but Sony needs to consolidate. A lot. Good move.
 
I saw an Imax movie there a few years back. Some asian kid on a space station, the screen was so crisp and huge I couldent help but stare at her moustache the entire time. :lol

Can't help but wonder why it's closed down, it was great publicity for all things Sony.
 
meltpotato said:
not a big metreon fan but they have the best IMAX theater ive been too. and i dont go to non-imax movies anymore.

but yeh the sony store and stuff is sorta bleh. but they did have a GT2 launch event years ago and i won a bunch of stuff. :)
Click to expand...

Shit, you're from SF? Who are you?
 
bah, the metreon was all hype. i remember when it first opened it was the talk of the bay area. when i actually got around to going, there wasn't much to see. it just felt like another mall with a nice movie theatre.
 
so does this mean there won't be a sony store there any more, or a playstation store?


I really liked that place. I actually went there 5 days ago!
 
I wonder if Microsoft will put their store back in there. They were "kicked out" in 2001 a month or two before the Xbox launched. The Metreon claimed it was because their lease was up, but they got the boot as soon as they put up Xbox pre-order signs on the counters.
 
ManaByte said:
I wonder if Microsoft will put their store back in there. They were "kicked out" in 2001 a month or two before the Xbox launched. The Metreon claimed it was because their lease was up, but they got the boot as soon as they put up Xbox pre-order signs on the counters.
Click to expand...

I think that space will now be used as a warehouse for all the unsold copies of 'Stealth' and 'Rent' on UMD. :lol :lol :lol Hua
 
Barnaby Jones said:
I think the real question is, what's next? I don't really see this as a good move, more of a neccessity at this point.
Click to expand...
Even if it is a necessity, it's still a good move. Even the Sony and PSX stores failed to really push the Sony brand in the way that Apple stores do. The rest of the building is maze-like and vacant-feeling.

Now the following is based on the last time I was there (macworld 04, or whenever the Shuffle was announced), so the stores might not be correct now, but:

The Sony "stuff" store was bland and sterile.
The Games Workshop store was too small and looked like a squatter store.
The movie theater was absurdly overpriced.
The PSX store was ok, but nothing special and the games cost more than MSRP.
The comic/movie store was ok, but Amazon prices have pretty much eliminated the need for a store that only sells TPBs.
The arcade was pitiful. Worse than a nickel arcade (I've only seen these in SoCal), but at regular price.
The building had escalators going to floors where you had to walk by a lot of blank space to get to the two stores on that side/floor.
Why was Jelly Belly in there? If you need jelly beans that badly just go to the factory tour 40 minutes away in... Fairfield? Vallejo?
qirex said:
For those who don't know this building is right on the edge of the biggest shopping area in Northern California.
Click to expand...
WRONG

http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=24
 
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