Is the Playstation 3 as rare/unavailable as people expected?

Factual Questions
1

When they first hit the market, idiots were waiting in line for days to get one. Are they actually as hard to come by as people thought they would be? There is a local store here with almost 2 dozen of them. I dont go shopping often, so maybe that’s just a fluke. Is that normal? A quick check on eBay shows that they’re only selling for like 100 dollars or so over retail–not the multi thousands of dollas people predicted.

Are these things all over the place now? Are they going to be avaialable everywhere in the next couple weeks? Would buying a couple with the intent to resell be a worthwhile investment?

2

That seems really unlikely – are you sure that you weren’t seeing empty boxes set out for display purposes?

I haven’t been looking specifically for a PS3, but I have been looking for a Wii, and I can say that the general word is that while Wii’s are rare, PS3s are even more rare. None of the stores I visited (Circuit City, Target, Best Buy) had any of either in stock. In September, Sony announced that it would ship fewer units during the Christmas season than it had previously anticipated. You might get a good feel for prices and availability if you poke around http://ps3seeker.com.

3

Truth is, the PS3 is not actually ready for primetime. They won’t really be “realeased” for several more months. However, the marketeers wanted it out for “Christmas,” even if it meant not actually having a serious release package ready. At least some of the games are ready to go.

NIntendo did actually have a good-size release package. However, it sold out eventually as well.

4

I think this is the likely case. All the stores I’ve been to have had empty boxes on display, but no actual game systems available for sale - this is true of the Wii as well.

5

Empty boxes on display? That’s pretty freakin stupid. I assume the idea is to get a customer in the store only to say “Sorry, those are just empty boxes that we stacked up in the window with price tags on them”
What a bunch of assholes if that’s the case.

6

CompUsa pulls this shit. I remember when I tried buying one of the brand spanking new x800 video cards and was surprised to see that the box on display was empty and I had to wait til I could buy one.

7

I believe it’s anti-theft.

8

Empty boxes on display is anti-theft only if there’s something to steal. If the store doesn’t actually have any of those items it’s misleading advertising.