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[Petrae]

I understand that it's not possible to "flip the switch" in order to ramp up production after what's been a busy sales time for the PS3, but it's going to be flat-out embarrassing if Sony winds up finishing behind Microsoft in the March '10 NPD figures because there aren't enough consoles to meet demand.

Sony set the release window for God of War 3, which is arguably going to be their biggest title of the year. They knew that Final Fantasy XIII was coming (and, by at least some accounts, is superior on the PS3 hardware) in March. Microsoft has little to counter with. It should be an easy victory, and the PS3 could potentially compete with the Wii in that month if supplies are adequate to plentiful.

When you're talking 50+ miles to the nearest PS3 in some cases, or faced with having to pay an extra $50 just to get one (plus the $60 for GOW3), there's going to be a considerable amount of indifference.

 

[beast786]

There is plenty of GOW3 PR in my EBgames. Posters all over the front , back all round. But they have no PS3's :lol

 

[harriet the spy]

price drop the 250go, sony. do it !

 

[OldJadedGamer]

94110 closest gamestop:
ps3 120gb 50 miles away
ps3 250gb 6.8 miles away
360 arcade - 0.0 miles away

There are 70 gamestops for that zipcode where there is no ps3 120gb and are stocked with 360.

You keep pushing the same stuff over and over, as if it is good for Sony to be out of stock :lol.

70 Gamestops???? The city is only 7 by 7 miles!!!!! Again, like I said in my post... I checked the Best Buy website and the Target website and there are plenty in stock here. A 250 gig is less than 7 miles away at Gamestop if you can ONLY shop there so if you wanted a system it's yours. Again, check Targets's website. When I last posted, the 120gig was available in 9/10 stores and as of now it's 8/10 stores.

Wen did I ever say it's good for them to not have them in stock? I said they may be playing the same game they did at launch where they don't make the cheaper unit so they can sell you the more expensive one that they make more of a profit on. They are really screwing up their shipments of their units since while they may be available in the Bay Area very easily... they don't have the Bay Area stock in other locations.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

I worked retail in the winter holidays and the stores had a supply issue back then, manager said something about the reasoning given to them was harddrive issues or something. Sony still hasn't it sorted it out?

GoW3 and Final Fantasy XIII released in one month and there is an lack of supply. Of all the times to screw shipments....this is some horrid timing.

 

[Petrae]

price drop the 250go, sony. do it !

We have a better chance of seeing the return of the Virtual Boy than we do of a Sony price cut, especially right now. They've got major supply issues on the 120GB models, the demand seems to be there for the PS3 in general, and March is a beast for PS3 software.

Sony will simply expect you to pay the extra money for the 250GB model. After all, you'll want to work overtime just to afford one.

 

[spwolf]

70 Gamestops???? The city is only 7 by 7 miles!!!!!

let me put it this way... you have 70 gamestops within 50 mile radious of your city. All of them have 360, one at 49.5 miles has 120GB ps3.

Even 250gb is getting constrained at your location.

And it is a lot worse in SoCal, one of the biggest (if not the) markets in USA.

that making people buy 250gb crap does not fly anymore, since even 250GB's are not available everywhere anymore. Yes, you can drive around, get it online, ebay but still, when you make it hard for customers to buy your product, you are losing customers.

It is an epic failure on Sony's end. When someone comes in to buy system for FFXIII, and see 360 bundle and no PS3's in sight, i very much doubt they will order one online or over ebay.

 

[Kagari]

And that's why GS started letting people reserve the system.

 

[Petrae]

It is an epic failure on Sony's end. When someone comes in to buy system for FFXIII, and see 360 bundle and no PS3's in sight, i very much doubt they will order one online or over ebay.

At least consumers who haven't yet bought into this console generation and want to play Final Fantasy XIII will have a choice via the Xbox 360. Even if the PS3 version is the superior one, most people won't care about most differences... they just want to play the damned game.

What gets me is the advertising for God of War 3. Marketing is ramping up, and rightfully so given that the game is one of the biggest games of 2010 for Sony (if not the BIGGEST game).

"Wow. That God of War game looks great. What system is it for?"

"It's for the PlayStation 3. It plays games, Blu-Ray movies, and you can even surf the web!"

"That sounds great. I just got my tax return in. I see the sign says $300. I'd like to buy one."

"I am sorry, sir. We've been generally sold out for weeks. You can keep checking back..."

"Nah, that's OK. It was an impulse thing, and I'm probably better off. Thanks!"

 

[templeusox]

None available in the Philly either, via Gamestop, Target, or Best Buy. That's crazy.

 

[Cruzader]

This is the most pathetic thing this gen if Sony doesnt get their stuff right in a few days. PS3 finally getting GOW3 and FF13 and Sony has to shit those releases with this???

Wait maybe they are holding stock for the GT5 release! :lol

 

[Mulberry]

there are zero ps3's within 150 miles of Wichita at best buys

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

This is the most pathetic thing this gen if Sony doesnt get their stuff right in a few days. PS3 finally getting GOW3 and FF13 and Sony has to shit those releases with this???

Wait maybe they are holding stock for the GT5 release! :lol

Move to Canada... We have loads of them here!

 

[templeusox]

there are zero ps3's within 150 miles of Wichita at best buys

There is zero anything within 150 miles of Wichita.

 

[Calcaneus]

This is the most pathetic thing this gen if Sony doesnt get their stuff right in a few days. PS3 finally getting GOW3 and FF13 and Sony has to shit those releases with this???

Wait maybe they are holding stock for the GT5 release! :lol

Seriously. What the hell?

 

[Snaku]

Glad I snatched up a 120gb PS3 from Best Buy last week. Thanks tax refund!

 

[Dr. Acid Avatar]

And that's why GS started letting people reserve the system.

Yup! I'm 4th in line at the store near me. FML.

 

[2real4tv]

Wow you guys aren't joking. What going on parts issue? A fix for their YLOD problem?

 

[makingmusic476]

Zero 120gb ps3s within 100 miles my zip code (70001), which covers all of the Baton Rouge and New Orleans area. Only one store within that radius has the 250gb.

45 stores have 360 Elites.

I work at GameStop, and we've actually allowed people to start reserving both Wiis and ps3s because of the shortages. What little stock corporate gets, they ship out to whichever stores have reserves. Every single console we've gotten of either system in the past three weeks was sent specifically to fulfill a reserve.

 

[Petrae]

How sad would it be if Dante's Inferno-- a God of War clone-- actually winds up outselling a genuine God of War game because there aren't any consoles to play it on?

Sure, there's the installed userbase... but for any other interested party, it's a shrug and a "You should've bought one when you had the chance."

 

[Kagari]

How sad would it be if Dante's Inferno-- a God of War clone-- actually winds up outselling a genuine God of War game because there aren't any consoles to play it on?

Sure, there's the installed userbase... but for any other interested party, it's a shrug and a "You should've bought one when you had the chance."

:lol :lol

 

[RobertM]

The nearest GameStop that has a PS3 is 72 miles away...and we have 2 GameStops at one small ass mall, and even a Best Buy. This is madness.

 

[2real4tv]

I wonder if this has anything to do with it:

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2010/02/15/sony-passes-two-new-playstation-3-slims-through-the-fcc/

 

[a Master Ninja]

No PS3s, Wiis, or Wii Fits at any Best Buys, Targets, or Wal-Marts in the Chicagoland area. This shit is out of control.

 

[HomerSimpson-Man]

Is this right?

On Amazon's site it says "Usually ships from 1-2 months" for the PS3 120, seriously? Best Buy's site says soldout online, can't even check stores for it.

 

[Dolla Dolla]

Edition: 120 GB

Usually ships within 1 to 2 months.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

What the ...

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

lol F U.

I didn't even post here until late 2008 when there were no Wii shortages.

Nice try tho

Of course, I've got you figured alllll wrong.

Anyway, at this point I think it's safe to say (thanks to all those terrible human beings checking on stock) that the PS3 is indeed in short supply in North America. This is not a good thing for Sony unless they're holding some stock back for GoW3/FF13. Especially in the case of FF13, if someone really wants to play it, they're not likely to wait for a restock on the PS3 when they can buy a 360 and play the game that day.

Of course we can all sit here and armchair general that they should've done this or they should've done that, but really, before the Slim launched, the PS3 was *not* a product in demand, and no relaunch has done for a flagging system before what Slim has done for the PS3, so it's easy to see how difficult it may have been to predict demand. Given Sony's financial troubles, it's also easy to see why they may have erred on producing too few rather than too many. It's just really unfortunate is all.

 

[CadetMahoney]

70 Gamestops???? The city is only 7 by 7 miles!

:lol

"Wow. That God of War game looks great. What system is it for?"

"It's for the PlayStation 3. It plays games, Blu-Ray movies, and you can even surf the web!"

"That sounds great. I just got my tax return in. I see the sign says $300. I'd like to buy one."

"I am sorry, sir. We've been generally sold out for weeks. You can keep checking back..."

"Nah, that's OK. It was an impulse thing, and I'm probably better off. Thanks!"

he could've bought the 250gig tho if i'm reading the thread correctly heh/

 

[pseudocaesar]

Anyway, at this point I think it's safe to say (thanks to all those terrible human beings checking on stock) that the PS3 is indeed in short supply in North America. This is not a good thing for Sony unless they're holding some stock back for GoW3/FF13. Especially in the case of FF13, if someone really wants to play it, they're not likely to wait for a restock on the PS3 when they can buy a 360 and play the game that day.
.

Thats something I considered aswell. They know that they are tight, so they might well be holding onto stock for the inevitable impulse buys on FFXIII/GOW III.

 

[Faxanadu]

Tight like a tiger?

 

[Loudninja]

This is the most pathetic thing this gen if Sony doesnt get their stuff right in a few days. PS3 finally getting GOW3 and FF13 and Sony has to shit those releases with this???

Wait maybe they are holding stock for the GT5 release! :lol

I doubt they are holding back anything they stated this might be a problem months ago.

 

[2real4tv]

They are clearing out the channels but why? I think they have a parts issue.

 

[Faxanadu]

Are sales up that much? Anyone have any cool graphs?

 

[DeadGzuz]

Besides low supply, there must be some demand. Amazon has them at #3 and #6. I'm not sure how demand is elsewhere.

 

[makingmusic476]

No PS3s, Wiis, or Wii Fits at any Best Buys, Targets, or Wal-Marts in the Chicagoland area. This shit is out of control.

Wii Fit is especially odd. Last I checked, only two GameStops in the ENTIRE COUNTRY have the Wii Fit + bundles, and the closest store with leftover vanilla Wii Fit bundles is in Mississippi.

It's like Nintendo completely stopped manufacturing them.

 

[Firewire]

I smell a new sku/bundle coming, its the only reasonable explanation.

 

[th3dude]

This weekend my brother was unable to find a 120gb slim but was able to get a 250 so he's happy. It was news to me that the 120s are so hard to find. Very strange.

 

[Kintaro]

Still no PS3s, Wiis or Wii Fits in the Southwest. I'm not going to go into hyperbole. It's not like games will vanish before Sony gets things settled. The games will sell fine. Demand is finally going up and it's not going to just go away.

Things will work out. It's not like they're fighting for number one or anything. :lol

 

[OldJadedGamer]

let me put it this way... you have 70 gamestops within 50 mile radious of your city. All of them have 360, one at 49.5 miles has 120GB ps3.

Even 250gb is getting constrained at your location.

And it is a lot worse in SoCal, one of the biggest (if not the) markets in USA.

that making people buy 250gb crap does not fly anymore, since even 250GB's are not available everywhere anymore. Yes, you can drive around, get it online, ebay but still, when you make it hard for customers to buy your product, you are losing customers.

It is an epic failure on Sony's end. When someone comes in to buy system for FFXIII, and see 360 bundle and no PS3's in sight, i very much doubt they will order one online or over ebay.

Best Buy's website says that the 250gigs are in stock in every single store location and Target has the 120gig unit in 8/10 of the stores in the Bay Area. I can physically walk to a Best Buy or take a 5 minute bus ride if I'm feeling lazy or drive 15 minutes to Target and pick one up too. Seems like the Bay Area is the easiest spot to get a PS3 right now... unless you only shop at Gamestop and refuse to go anywhere else.

Yes, outside of the Bay Area... this is an epic failure on Sony's end.

Is this right?

On Amazon's site it says "Usually ships from 1-2 months" for the PS3 120, seriously? Best Buy's site says soldout online, can't even check stores for it.

But the 250 is in stock at Amazon.com and will ship out tomorrow morning.

 

[blindrocket]

My local Target has been out of PS3's for weeks now.

 

[makingmusic476]

I suppose they could be hoarding some systems for a God of War bundle or something.

A mix of that and higher than expected demand would explain why the shortages are happening primarily in North America.

 

[CancerBullet]

My local BB only had 3 of the 120's. They were each a part of the BB Bundle with the xtra controller, hdmi cable, and blue ray remote. They also had zero wii's and plenty of 360's.

I should probably add that i live in SoCal for those of u interested in the logistics of my anecdotal evidence.

 

[templeusox]

I suppose they could be hoarding some systems for a God of War bundle or something.

A mix of that and higher than expected demand would explain why the shortages are happening primarily in North America.

It's possible, I guess. We might hear about that at Destination Playstation, which is taking place soon.

 

[vicissitudes]

120GB is in stock at Amazon right now! Gogogo!

Spoiler

Sony: It's working...*laughs*

 

[Firewire]

I'm most likely way late. but this is kind of interesting.

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2010/02/15/sony-passes-two-new-playstation-3-slims-through-the-fcc/

 

[2real4tv]

I'm most likely way late. but this is kind of interesting.

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2010/02/15/sony-passes-two-new-playstation-3-slims-through-the-fcc/

I posted this a couple of post up but no one seemed to look at it.

 

[DeadGzuz]

But the 250 is in stock at Amazon.com and will ship out tomorrow morning.

Which is why it is #6, it was in the > #30 when the 120GB was in stock. Are you doing this right?

 

[Squadron]

the ps3 has been sold out at my gamestop for a few weeks now...weve actually started taking preorders on it again and we get about 6 a week which is usually just enough to fill those preorders...

sony has defiantly taken note to Nintendo's strategy for after Christmas to build up a surge of customers and with games like god of war 3 im sure people are going to be seeing alot more ps3s available.

 

[1stStrike]

Walked into the BX on base here in Kunsan, South Korea and they had at least 20 PS3's stacked up in the gaming section just chilling there. Looks like they got a fresh shipment in.

 

[DMeisterJ]

I'm most likely way late. but this is kind of interesting.

http://www.wirelessgoodness.com/2010/02/15/sony-passes-two-new-playstation-3-slims-through-the-fcc/

Now this is a reason for a low supply. If they changed components or manufacturers or something like that, it could have easily affected supply levels as there would have been a time it wasn't being made.

idk why they'd do that during such a crucial period, but it's definitely a more viable excuse than 'lolz, Sony is lying/doing it on purpose'.