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Topic: Why the mad rush on PS3 systems lately?

Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-12-2010 11:08 PM

The last few days I've been checking various stores locally for new Playstation 3 systems. Nothing in stock. Not at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sam's Club, Hastings, Game Stop, Game King, Game Crazy, etc. What the hell? Just a few weeks ago I'd usually see a few of those things in stock whenever I passed by the video game aisle.
[Confused]

I know the sales figures for Playstation 3 have been steadily improving, but all of the sudden (at least here locally) the damned thing is harder to come by than a Nintendo Wii. Seriously, some stores here in town have Wii systems in stock on their shelves. A staffer at Wal-Mart told me whenever they get any PS3 systems they sell out within a couple hours. Game Stop has a waiting list (and $25 reservation fee). A lady there told they might get a new shipment of PS3 consoles in 2 or 3 weeks. Ugh.

Buying online is an obvious alternative. I do that frequently when purchasing movies on Blu-ray. It makes me a little more nervous to buy electronics online. Then there's the wait for shipping. The upshot is not (usually) having to pay sales tax. Amazon has this notice on their website: "As you may know, the PlayStation 3 120 GB is in great demand. In an effort to provide as many customers as possible with the opportunity to purchase PlayStation 3 120 GB, we are limiting the total number of PlayStation 3 120 GB units that can be purchased. As a result, each household may only purchase one PlayStation 3 120 GB unit." The same notice applies to the 250GB version.

Anyway, what's the deal with the hard to come by nature of the PS3 lately?

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Mark J. Marshall
Film God

Posts: 3188
From: New Castle, DE, USA
Registered: Aug 2002

posted 02-13-2010 03:59 AM

It makes the perfect Valentines Day gift! [thumbsup]

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Michael Barry
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 584
From: Sydney, NSW, Australia
Registered: Nov 1999

posted 02-13-2010 05:28 AM

That seems a bit odd, Bobby, but at the same time it doesn't surprise me as the new slim model at the new price point offers incredible value. You get a top shelf game system as well as a top shelf Blu Ray player; very hard combo to beat.

I recently purchased the 250GB slim model to replace a failed launch model. I drove out to an independent games store about 20 miles from my place and they literally had what seemed like a palette load of PS3 in both 120 and 250GB configurations. This is going back a couple of months.

I much prefer the slim model over the original because it's smaller, quieter and more refined.

I hope stock levels stabilize over there soon!

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-13-2010 10:03 AM

I went ahead and ordered a 120GB slim PS3 unit from Amazon last night and spent $15 extra to have it arrive at my workplace by Monday. It would cost more than that $15 in fuel and tolls to buy a PS3 in Wichita Falls, Oklahoma City or Norman, not to mention the issue of sales tax.

I thought about the 250GB version, but as easy as it is to swap hard disc drives I figured it would be better to put that $50 toward a standard 2.5" SATA 500GB notebook hard disc and use that to increase capacity.

The PS3 slim does have some noticeable improvements over the "fat" version. It runs more quietly and uses less power. It's smaller and weighs less. It outputs native Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio.

Drawbacks: no backward compatibility with PS1/PS2 games. The slim version looks cheap. I thought the fat version looked better and things like the touch sensitive buttons added class to the device. My 80GB fat model had 4 USB ports, all of which were used. None of the slim PS3 models have any more than 2 USB ports. It's been a couple years since Sony put any flash card slots in the PS3. Same goes for SACD compatibility. It seems like Sony is doing more to eliminate features with each new PS3 release than add more to the system.

Nevertheless, no other Blu-ray disc player on the market can do all the things a PS3 can do even if you take away the factor of playing video games.

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Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 02-13-2010 01:12 PM

I HATE anything with touch sensitive buttons. You never know if they are sensing or not. I much prefer the tactile feel of real buttons. The PS3 Slim should play PS1 games out of the box. The Slim is a tad slower on disc access for games and Blu-Ray movies, but the difference is negligible and you likely won't notice. I didn't. As far as USB slots go, I usually have a keyboard and the chat headset plugged in. But when I am not using the headset I'll swap it out with a multi-card reader. I highly doubt that each USB slot on the PS3 has its own dedicated bandwidth. I am sure they are basically a hub. So you could buy a hub and accomplish the same thing.

Oh, and it sounds like you forgot to try Best Buy. [Smile]

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Bruce Hansen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 847
From: Stone Mountain, GA, USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 02-13-2010 01:15 PM

quote:
Why the mad rush on PS3 systems lately?

They must have come out with a new porn game.

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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."

Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 02-13-2010 02:46 PM

quote: Joe Redifer
Oh, and it sounds like you forgot to try Best Buy.

Unfortunately Lawton, OK doesn't have a Best Buy store yet. The nearest ones are an hour's drive away in Wichita Falls, TX or Norman, OK. Lawton might get a Best Buy in another year or two when a new shopping center is opened near downtown Lawton just off I-44. Right now 12 blocks worth of properties are being bought up and then demolished to make way for the re-development project. It's been a VERY SLOW process.

I might buy a USB hub for the new PS3 slim, but need to find one that doesn't look stupid as all hell poking out of the front of the machine.

quote: Bruce Hansen
They must have come out with a new porn game.

My guess was Sony might have been putting small quantities of crack in the machines.

Seriously, I could see porn gaming happen once the PS3 is updated for Blu-ray 3D and 3D gaming. Big breasts in 3D would be a strong selling point.

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Scott Jentsch
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1061
From: New Berlin, WI, USA
Registered: Apr 2003

posted 02-15-2010 10:52 AM

I remember reading something last week that Sony has put out a notice to retailers that supplies of PS3's were going to be tight for the next few months.

A quick search found an article from Joystiq dated Feb 12th:

quote:
Sony's senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold issued a statement after last night's NPD numbers for January, explaining that the company's flagship console may be a bit difficult to find at retail over the next few months. "We're working very hard with our retail partners to meet consumer interest, but the demand is tremendously high for the PS3 and we expect tight inventory in the coming months," Seybold notes in the statement.

As this is the first we've heard about any sort of PlayStation 3 hardware shortages, we followed up with Seybold to make sure he wasn't only warning about future supply issues, but also explaining January's sales of the console. He told us: "Yes. The strong demand carrying through the holidays was evident and early in the month we [knew] there was going to be limited supply of the PS3 at retail in January. We're working closely with the retail channel to meet this demand, but expect tight supply for the coming months."

The upcoming supply issues may also be a result of Sony's "upcoming line up of the industry's most anticipated games" -- games like Heavy Rain, God of War 3, and ModNation Racers. Seybold additionally points out that "this momentum is fueled by a stellar holiday" and the recent releases of games like MAG and BioShock 2.

I see that Amazon has a note on the PS3 pages that mentions the short supply of units and it caps purchases to one per customer.

The PS3 is a very good combination of Blu-ray player, gaming machine, and media player, so anyone interested in doing more than just playing movies should definitely check it out as an option. After trying a couple of other Blu-ray players, I've come to appreciate its handling of network/DLNA situations for playing media across a local network, even if its lack of an IR port hampers its ability to be integrated into a home theater with a universal remote.

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