EB/GameStop PS3 pre-order bonanza
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 10th 2006 1:50PM
posted Oct 10th 2006 1:50PM
If hadn't already heard, today's the day to get on with your PS3 pre-order badself at your local EB Games or GameStop location. That is, if you haven't already done your pre-order somewhere else, or haven't decided to forgo the PS3 entirely for that attractive "Wii60" alternative. Unfortunately, the console looks to be in quite limited supply, so you had best get over there on the double if you don't want to be playing with your sister's Barbie dolls come this November. Reports vary, but from the sound of things, most stores are getting 16 units, with 2 of those available to store employees, which should give a pretty good indication of the scarcity of the PS3 headed into the holidays -- GameSpot and EB can't even guarantee those numbers to pre-order customers, who will be required to put down a $100 for this quasi-assurance. Oh well, you and your sister can always "B who U wanna B" this fall while you wait for those elusive blue lasers to stockpile.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
i just got an email from them about it. too bad i dont want one thier pretty dumb..
They're pretty dumb you mean? Oh, the Irony!
Just called all the Gamestops here in Riverside, CA and they all said that yes today was the day but all the spots are LONG gone.
I have a PS3 for $600.00. The 60 GB one. Call me at my home phone in Riverside (951) 742-7488
I have a PS3 60 GB for $600.00. Call me at 951-742-7488. Ask 4 Steve
darn i could not get my hands on a preorder.... it took them 5mins this morning on ALL local stores to give them all...
Got in on spot #2 today at my local Gamestop. There were definitely not 16 at the store I went to. I read the memo and the store I went to only had an allocation of 8.
Got a #2 spot at local EB in Scottsdale this morning. Store only had 3 golden tickets.
Wii60? Didn't you know that Wii60 is dead? $299 X360 + $249 Wii > $499 PS3.
The whole Wii60 joke only worked because people thought you would be able to buy both for less then the cost of a PS3.
i missed by about 6 people. My Gamestop only gave 15 orders.
Well looks like people will start selling their presales
OK, honestly, I normally I don't complain about this kind of stuff, but I just had to vent.
COmmence Venting...
So I get to GameStop early, and am the first(!) in line. I stand there, and when 10 comes, the door opens and a dude comes out to ask if I am waiting to pre-order a PS3. So I says, yes young man, I am! TO which he replies "unfortuantely ALL of the PS3's we were alloted are already gone. THose who pre-ordered games were the first to pre-order a PS3" But, I ask, isn't today the first day to take pre-orders? To which he doth reply "yes, but they got to pre-order early because they ordered a PS3 game".
So WTF!? Apparently there was a PRE-Pre-order? How is that remotely fair? What was the point of making a corporate-wide national announcement that your chain is STARTING to take pre-orders today if they have already been taking pre-orders!?!?
So NO stores do not have 16 units, in some cases they have ZERO!!
oh my god they pissed off wolvereen
the bastages
bah, I learned my lesson. Got one of the very first ps2's and paid almost $500 for it. Ridiculous! I will wait, thank you very much. I will snap up a Wii though, much much better qulaity/fun/price ratio. I also don't like sony's attitude towards it's user base, they have been very arrogant, and self entitled, like we should be kneeling down to them, when it's we, the gamers who should be pandered to. So, screw you sony!
You damm right! Sony is full of it. I hope Nintendo gets back on top in the gaming industry. Sony, I will never be yout puppet!
I happened to be taking a "boondoggle" from work this morning when I wandered into the local GameStop to see if they had a copy of Dark Crusade. First thing the clerk behind the counter said, as soon as I walked in the door, was to the effect of Dude, youve got to preorder a PS3, NOW. I just couldnt resist, it was like Id wandered into the gravitational pull of that massive black box of death that is the PS3. To be honest, I didnt want a PS3, heck I still dont ( Im a WII man), but Im getting one anyway. Well theres always ebay.
"Wii60? Didn't you know that Wii60 is dead? $299 X360 + $249 Wii > $499 PS3.
The whole Wii60 joke only worked because people thought you would be able to buy both for less then the cost of a PS3. "
I would still rather spend $650 for Wii60, ie TWO consoles, for $50 more than the expensive PS3. It is a better deal all around. With a few exceptions you can already play most PS3 launch window titles on the 360, with more to come prior to PS3 launch.
Frankly the titles they will have do nothing to excite me currently. I may buy a PS3 when the price drops to under $300, so I'm waiting awhile.
While I wholeheartedly agree that you should buy what you want, the Wii60 is a propaganda move on Microsoft's part. Don't be fooled.
If HD matters to you, the Wii60 is a bad move. Almost nobody thinks HD-DVD will win the movie format wars except for HD-DVD patent holders and Microsoft. The Wii is a GameCube with a carpal-tunnel inducing controller.
I'll take my HDTV and plug it into my PS3 to watch movies and play games. It's the major advantage a PS3 has over other consoles. While it may not matter to everyone, it will matter to most in the long run. The analysts may be right to think that the PS3 will come out on top. It has good games and the best resistance to technological advances. The Wii is the must susceptible. The 360 will have a dizzying support matrix just like MS has with Vista. It'll confuse people.
Sorry to hear about the horror stories. I got in to the store and got the 15th one and was promptly followed by a guy who snatched up the 16th. My brother got his at another location and we are thinking of camping out at another chain just in case the GameStop reservation doesn't pan out.
it was first come first serve. if they did not let you preorder and you were first in line, call their corporate office and DM and complain.
#2 on the list at my local Gamestop.
Unlike most, the Wii will be the system I wait on, I bought the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube on release day while they were fun, I played my PS1 and PS2 1,000 times more. I really got burned on the gamecube aside from Nintendo's first party titles (Mario, metroid...) I was really disappointed in the system and wound up giving it away. No way I'm gonna pay for Gamecube 1.5 with a new controller after that experience.
I got #1 spot at gamespot in South Bend, IN. I arrived 2 hours before the store opened.
Try Sears. Really. I did the whole Halo 2 midnight release foolishness. Went to Sears the next day and they had copies lying around. Skip the specialty shops and order from a general department store.
Hey, Jansen, about what u said about Sears, do u know where I might be able to find out which locations of the Sears chain might have the PS3 units during the midnight releases? If so, when? If u have any info, please send it to the following email address:
brent00720032000@yahoo.com
Seriously, what does the PS3 do that is so awesome that everybody has to have one the instant they are available?
Maybe I am an old guy, and I don't get it, but seriously, relax. Besides, has anyone really ever had a good experience with first generation, bleeding edge tech? Macbook Pro, and Xbox 360 come to mind.
M. Rod Von Hugenstein : "Besides, has anyone really ever had a good experience with first generation, bleeding edge tech?"
Yes, with my Dreamcast, and it still gets play. I didn't have the terrible experience (lack of available systems, hardware problems, and crappy visuals (no anti-aliasing for example)) most people had with their PS2's during launch, and will probably have again at the PS3 launch.
Looks like I'll be camping at my local Wal*Mart when they come out.
There are 5 Gamestops near my college (half an hour outside of Minneapolis), all within a 2 mile radius of each other. After extensive guesswork as per which would be the least crowded, population research of the individual cities, and a 6:45am wake-up, I secured the #7 spot at a store that is supposedly getting 16 PS3s-- so, 14 minus the employees.
I can't wait to hawk that puppy on eBay during the Christmas season-- at this point, I'd much rather have a Wii and a wad of spare cash than a PS3.
stopped by a gamestop before i went to work
i must've been 17/19th cause there were two people ahead of me when they said "sorry we have no more"
guess i'll have to find it elsewhere
I got #9 of 16. I think the mall stores are getting more, cause the stand alone near my house only had 6 and I was number 7 so I went to the mall and they had 16 available.
I arrived at gamestop this morning at 8:30am. I was number nine. The store owner stated that they were getting 14 units at launch. He stated as long as SONY has no set backs in the next 37 days, we would be guranteed to recieve one at lunch. I will also go to TOYSRUS because they have not sold their preorders yet. Hopefully, I could get a preorder there to. I plan on selling my PS3, assumming that I get the item of course.
I went to one as soon as I saw this online, and the manager told me they sold out within an hour of opening. Also, he said he knew of "no stores getting that many" when I mentioned the 16 number.
Well, I lucked out big time. Got to my local GameStop @ 6AM, nobody there. me and a buddy waited out till 10 AM and each got one of the 4 they had. Then Ran over to EB games down the street and each got another! We were the last ones in line to get one!
You can find my auctions on E-bay on launch day!
I agree, the GameStop I hit was a Standalone, but the EB was a mall store...
Not that it matters now, they are all gone by now...
Hey Jason L...
Send me your e-mail, and I'll tell ya when I post mine up on E-Bay :-)
#10 in line, and I went at noon... ha
Not that I personally care... I'll probably just wait til they are in stock and play with my PS2 til then... I only play Madden anyways. BUT, I just want to say...
I just love the irony on this website (or heck, many in the gaming community)...
The same people who are complaining about the price of a PS3 are snatching up all the PS3's to eBay them to the less fortunate... the people who actually want one and aren't dorky enough to get up at 6am and wait outside a video game store for 4 hours until they open.
Aaaah... the smell of young budding entrepreneurs. Probably less than 20 years away from their first SEC investigation.
You know, from everything I've heard so far, everyone wants to buy one to sell. So if no one actually wants one...
You do the math. At $600 a pop, it's looking doubtful how much more people are going to be willing to pay for one, even if it is scarce. Supply and demand, people. Basic econ.
Given that the PSP didn't so hot out the door either due to pricing and a lack of must have titles at launch (same situation with the PS3) I'm thinking it's going to be a risk buying a bunch of these and trying to pawn them off.
Too late where I live, gonna try another city.
What the hell kind of firm is this??? Any dumb businessman knows that if there is more demand for a product than they can account for, they should increase their supply or raise prices. Why the hell would those monkeys have only 16 per store and write that in stone? They ought to be flexible and tell people that they'll increase their quantity in stock if people purchase like mad. Stupid incompetent rats, I say...
They wouldn't do this for several reasons.
First, if they promise more than they can give, then it is a bad PR move and they will potentially drive people away from being future customers of the store. Look what happened during the Xbox 360 launch. They were finally giving the last pre-ordered units in March.
Second, it is not Gamestop that decides how much they can get. It is in fact Sony that delegates to the stores how much they will be able to produce and ship to that store. Gamestop just can't say to Sony, "Give me more, we are getting more requests". You don't think Sony realizes the excess demand?
Finally, it is Sony who decides what the price of these units will be, not the individual stores unless you are talking about the 60gb units in Japan, but that's an exception. Gamestop can have the option to bundle up the unit to benefit from the increased demand, but they cannot raise the price themselves.
Any idiot businessman would know that.
I got One I am first on the list at my store
I was #8 In Amherst Mass (Umass) ... I went like 15 mins before the store opened this morning , a line full of geeks and asians .. I felt right at home .. I also bought the Brand Spankin NEW Sony SXRD 60" XBR2 from crutchfield .. nothing like being $5000 in debt in one day
so ... no HD tv but insted you got yourself a projector??
you guys think is better than getting a 5k tv??
Game Stop will use this deposited cash to buy the consoles themselves perhaps:
calculate this: 4400 stores, 16 people pre-order quota, $100 each
now try to guess how much GS is paying Sony for each console; times 4 (units per store)
These 2 numbers are very close to each other. 7mil and change.
Seems like GameStop found this way to finance their console purchase without disturbing their cash flow.
An insult to end-user!
Yay. I got my preorder in.
I was first in line 3 hours before the store opened. My ticket says 004 by the date, meaning the gamestop employees took 3. (supposedly only supposed to take 2 per store?) Anyhow Im 004 on the list and I think they come in batches of 8 so I'm sure I'll get a launch one.
How nuts I didn't think that this time yesterday I would have my place locked in for a ps3. I am so happy.
Who cares about the price its a neat toy. I get every game system they are all so fun in their unique ways.
Thank you so much for this so I dont have to wait for 24 hours like a star wars geek to get one on Nov 16/17.
Joy oh happy day! PS3 is awesome! I like motorstorm, gthd, and heavenly sword. ROCK ON!
Normal people will hardly have any chance of pre-ording. Just assume any undignified position of your choice and prepare to get rap3 by the "bundle" Nazis.
If Sony could get away with it, they should sell the console for $1000 the first week, $900, the second week and so on until they drop down to their $600 price. That way they could take advantage of the demand for the new product that the Ebay resalers are capitalizing on.
Unfortunately their supply chain and accounting departments probably couldn't take the stress of a transitional pricing structure so all of the extra money will go to people with too much time on their hands.
Hmm.. I wonder if there are any patents on pricing new products like that? If someone was thinking of patenting something like this, consider this prior art!
Gamestop/EB stores are a plague on society. Screw them. For those of you saying its Sony's fault um no, they announced a huge launch, then they restated a small launch, and 400,000 units is 400,000 units.
Greedy Gamestop/EB franchises have been like this since the Monster3D II 3DFX Voodoo2 was allowed to be pre-ordered.
Luckily there will be enough wii's to satify people's appetite for new toys. I'll just wait til Jan to grab one, after the holiday rush, when prices and lines are normal again.
"Reports vary, but from the sound of things, most stores are getting 16 units, with 2 of those available to store employees, which should give a pretty good indication of the scarcity of the PS3 headed into the holidays"
Actually, no. That doesn't have a thing to do with holiday availability of PS3. ONE CHAIN is offering that many for the FIRST DAY of release. It in no way gives an idea of the ramp-up to the holiday buying season. There should be 2 million available by the end of the year. 400k in the US at launch. One store is offering 16 per store X 1,000's of stores.
I knew Engadget / Joystiq and company couldn't resist throwing a punch at PS3 given the chance.
#10 of 11 units available down here in Miami Gamestop
Was that at me ? It is a HDTV 60 SXRD (LCOS) rear projection tv .. the XBR1 was the top rated hdtv of all time on Cnet ( as well as almost ever HD mag ) .. plus i already had the SONY 34"XBR910 CRT HDTV .. best rated tv of its time but 34" is to small ..
Since when is capitalism a crime??? If people are willing (read: stupid) to buy these off ebay then why shouldn't people take some initiative, get to the store early, pay what sony is demanding and then try to make some cash. This is how capitalism works!!! If you don't want to buy off ebay...fine, but stop giving people a hard time about it. If you are so young that your parents won't allow you do it, then quit complaining, the rest of us adults will make a little cash off your folks!
I have a job. I preorderd my ps3 so i can play it.
Why don't these Ebay idiots play the stock market, gamble or invest in other things like crack rock?
It's so pathetic and the end result is kids and fans don't get to play on Christmas. What a stupid way to make a petty amount of money and ruin the whole mechanic of launh for game system.
I like Nintendos approach of making as many as they possibly can. Granted its much easier to make and no blu ray laser etc.
Ebay gougers are lame. If you are a fan you have to get in line before them.
Anyhow Ill be getting mine and I only had to wait 3 hours in line. Im cool with that!
LOL, Billy Bob, exactly! I wasn't about to wake up and go get in line with a bunch of kids to maybe get my pre-order in... but if you did, I certainly hope you did it to play it, or give it to someone for xmas or something.
I wish they would turn around and release them to the K-Marts, Targets and Wal-marts of the US a week earlier, to screw all these EBgames/Gamestop Ebay re-selling tools over. lol... sure they could still resell it on Ebay, but it probably wouldn't be for as much!
"Why don't these Ebay idiots play the stock market, gamble or invest in other things like crack rock?"
Because buying something for $600 and selling it for $1200 the next day is a way better investment than the stock market. Good luck with your job at Burger King.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290038339842
it started :)
Haha, someone's already bid on it...
My store in Michigan only had 8 units, as did the other 4 in a 10 mile radius. I showed up at 11:45pm last night. #1. #2 showed up at 12:20am. By 10am all 8 slots were gone (they opened at 9:30 for pre-orders).
Erik
I have a pre order ... Did anyone ask how its even going to work ??? Are they doing a Midnight event for the huge # of 16 pre orders ??? or do we just go there the morning of Nov 17th .. cause nowhetre on my recipt does my Order # show up
I don't see why people see the Wii as such a great system, its a mid-grade system, compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360. I though gaming was when you sit back with a controller and play some RPG or some game with your friends not jumping around in your living room. I mean that you can do outside.
Almost everything on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 is superior to the Wii.
I've brought a Xbox 360 2 months ago and the graphics are stuning, the screen shots of NBA live 2k7 (or 8 I'm not sure) looks great on the PS3, so far the Wii hasn't really amazed me.
Got the last preorder slot at my gamespot!!! Good times ahead....
I got 2 as well :D
4 out of 8 at EBgames
7 out of 8 at Game Spot
Left work at 9:40 back at work by 10:20
Oh and yeah...Ebay here as well...sorry buy, why not? Too many rich people out there
I'm going to wai until they are $100 on ebay like I did for my PS2.
Ebay gougers are stupid.
If you can't make $1000 off the stock market your a complete moron. Buy some crack or go to your local white trash casino. Leave the consoles to kids and fans you white trash monkeys!
I have a job and am going to play my pre'd ps3. No I don't work at Burger King, they can't afford a ps3. They will probably get a Wii if anything at all. (In response to Jason)
My store of choice had 1 preorder slot left at 5:30 PM. How bout that? No camping out for this fella! I camped out for 12 hours during the xbox 360 launch.
As for the guy knocking on the idea of selling the PS3 on ebay...that's business, bro. The business world isn't about what's fair...it's about power and profit. Those who will have a PS3 in their possession on launch day have power. If they so desire, they will also have profit.
My plan is to preorder approx. 3 systems, sell 2 on ebay, keep the 3rd for myself. The profit from the other 2 should pay for my system and possibly some Christmas gifts for my family. Call me what you will, it's a solid plan and I'm about to do it.
Peace
You know after the whole 360 mess, i have decided not to sweat the PS3 grind. I have had a pre-deposit at Game Crazy since June and was told " dude you will never see your unit this year, and to find something else to keep me warm at night".I would have been offended, if it wasn't such a funny comment.
I have decided what will keep me warm at night, besides my wife of course is Gears of War.The mad dash for the PS3 will end just like it did for the 360 and i will saunder in and pick one up, just like the old joke about the two bulls on the hill, why run when you can walk.
well i have been pissed off since the beggining of November.
Im a thirteen year old kid ya see, and my birthday is the day after the launch.
i didnt know how long ago the preorders started but i can see probably on Oct. 10th.
i am not completely sure about it, but if Sony was smart enough they would have a huge wave of PS3's for the holidays. THEY BETTER.
because only the older people with money and a car can get up at five and get to the local store. i can not.
sorry...i mis-spelled your user name...i meant "Jasen"
I have a PS3 60GB for $600.00. Brand new, still in the box. Call me at 951-742-7488 if interested. Ask 4 Steve