When is Black Friday this year?
And why do they launch so late, it's just chaos filled with shortages, logistical issues all through the Christmas season with these November launches. It's launching in PAL territories also! C'mon
Nearly every November (and late October) launch is plagued with shortages and pipeline shipment problems:
PS2 10.26.00 NA & PAL launch simultaneously - failed to ship what was promised, massive shortages, chaos, anarchy, riots...everywhere [that's what I remember] 1.1m sold US; 1.5m promised
XB 11.15.01: SMOOTHE launch thanks to NA only release. 1.4m sold without much of a hitch, minor shortages.
GC 11.18.01 some shortages, due to sales surging in Japan thanks to SSB DX but shipments were good thanks to a September launch in Japan and holding off PAL til the following March. 1.2m sold
X360 11.22.05 Major shortages! Nearly simultaneous WW launch. A major disaster as only 610,000 sold in the US that holiday.
^looks the same for Xbone with a (nearly) worldwide launch, can they really do better this time?
PS3 11.17.06 no hitches that I'm aware of thanks to its 3DO-esque price range but then no PAL release til following March. 690,000 sold
Wii 11.19.06: Disaster, a nearly worldwide launch, shortages everywhere (and alas for the next three years also, the situation may not be comparable). NoA did well given this situation selling 1.0m by Christmas Day.
I do not understand why the September launch window has been abandoned for a WW black friday/late November release.
If we may compare with these smoother launches:
SNES Fall 1991 launch 9.9.91 [gaming outlets received their first systems a few weeks earlier) - no shortages at Christmas. 1.4m sold; NoA was able to ship 2.1m. PAL launch the following Spring. Smooth
PSX 9.9.95 we wont' compare for obvious reasons
N64 9.26.96 Heavy shortages at first but NoA was able to significantly ramp up their shipment goals from th original 1.5m planned to 2.2m. 2m were sold!!! In just over three months!
N64 still holds that record. PAL launch the following spring. Fairly smooth release despite EVERYONE wanting one.
DC 9.9.99 Record launch numbers, shipments were steady through the holiday with a PAL launch. 1.55m shipped and 1.48m sold. Smooth
I'm amazed today that the big three believe they can pull off these late-WW launches.
I may just be ranting to rant but these late-WW launches have been a b*tch to smoothly operate.
Let's go back to September (for US) and possibly Oct-Nov for PAL, and Dec for Japan.