Clear Cubes take form

One of Nintendo's GameCube launch promotions here in the UK involves seven-foot Perspex cubes showcasing a variety of contemporary artists, from the peculiar (contortionists, magicians) and the healthy (aerobics instructors and Tai Chi experts), to young musicians (Soil) and young offenders (Asher D). This week, for the first time, photographs emerged of the Clear Cubes campaign in action, outside HMV in Covent Garden, London. The first photograph is taken from some way away, and seems a mite innocuous, but the band in the second photograph is believed to be Soil, originally expected to take their turn in the Cube this afternoon. Oddly named pop group allSTARS will be appearing at noon tomorrow in the same Cube, and midnight openings are planned at HMV stores in London's Oxford Street, Glasgow and Birmingham. Virgin were heavily involved in the promotion of Microsoft's rival Xbox, opening a number of Megastores in the United Kingdom at the stroke midnight, 13th March. HMV may have banked on receiving greater returns from GameCube affiliation, but if the store plans to carry the console at £129.99 - and it would be an incredible blow to its relationship with Nintendo if it were to ignore the suggested retail price - it may make as little as £4 / €6.45 per unit sold. Related Feature - Nintendo fills the Cube