convenience stores. The companies launched a promotional campaign: consumers who pre-ordered the game at one of the 7-Eleven's retail outlets would receive stylized bookmarks whose designs incorporated artwork from Shadow of the Colossus. On October 7, 2005, several weeks before the game was demonstrated at the 2005 Akihabara Entertainment Festival in Tokyo, Dengeki PlayStations online news service reported that custom copies of the game bundled with thematic memorabilia would be available for purchase at the event. Branded merchandise, such as calendars, posters and T-shirts, was also sold in the Akihabara district on the occasion, and a promotional image featuring a colossus was placed on a billboard in the area. Unlike Ico, Shadow of the Colossus received far more exposure, in part because of Sony's willingness to leverage its resources for a massive advertising campaign. It was advertised in game magazines, on television and via online resources such as SCEI's affiliated websites: for instance, in November 2004 the game's soundtrack was partially made available for listening on the game's official webpage. Shadow of the Colossus was released in Japan on October 27, 2005 at a list price of 7,140 yen. The limited edition of Shadow of the Colossus distributed through pre-ordering contained a different packaging from the standard edition, promotional videos that had been screened at the game's initial September 2004 unveiling, E3 2005 and the 2005 Tokyo Game Show, and production footage of NICO. The edition's content also consisted of unpublished screenhots, storyboards and video materials from various periods of the game's development. Prior to its domestic launch, Shadow of the Colossus had been released in North America on October 18, 2005, accompanied by a nationwide advertising campaign that ran across multiple mediums. The PAL version of the game was released in February 2006. Much like the PAL release for Ico, the game came in cardboard packaging displaying various pieces of artwork from the game, and contained four art cards. The game also came with a "making of" documentary, a trailer for Ico and a gallery of concept art, accessible from the game's main menu. Sony Computer Entertainment also re-released Ico in PAL territories at the time of Shadow of the Colossuss release, both to promote the game through Icos reputation, and to allow players who did not buy Ico during its original limited release to "complete their collections". Reception Shadow of the Colossuss commercial reception was positive, with sales