Sat, Mar 20, 2010 | 05:29 GMT
GameStop: PS3, Wii shortages won’t end “for months”
You haven’t eaten lunch for a whole year. You’ve sold organs you didn’t even know you had. On the rare occasion that you venture out to a restaurant, your meals are more spit than food because you’ve become notorious for never-ever tipping.
But all of that’s ok! Because now you can afford a fancy-shmancy “next-generation” game console. Your life’s back on track, it’s all uphill from here, and… hold on. “Sold out”?!
This is bad. Real bad. But don’t panic. Everything will be all right. Just ask GameStop’s Executive VP of Merchandising Tony Bartel. Tell ‘em, Tony!
“Obviously it’s a question we ask the platform holders constantly,” Bartel said of recent PS3 and Wii shortages. “I can tell you that we do anticipate we will be in this situation, at least with the PlayStation 3, for another couple months unfortunately because we could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both the PS3 and Wii platform.”
“We do believe the Wii will come into stock quicker than the PS3, so we do anticipate that those shortages should abate sometime before the next couple months,” he added. “But I don’t have clarity as to why there is a shortage other than because of the unprecedented hardware demand in December, and I think we are still scrambling to catch up from the surge that occurred.”
Wait a minute. That’s not reassuring at all! Tony, why can’t you be more like SCEA comms boss Patrick Seybold, who told us the PS3 shortages would only last a just-vague-enough-to-be-reassuring “bit longer”?
Really, the nerve of some people. Telling the truth? It’s sickening, is what it is.
Thanks, IGN.
11 comments
#1
jnms
20/03/10, 9:10 am
Makes me wonder if Sony and Nintendo have enough money to keep up with production.
Are PS3′s and Wii’s selling many more units than this time last year? If not – then something is seriously up…
#2
Kaufer
20/03/10, 10:05 am
@1
Wii’s are always selling well. And PS3 already sold more in 9 months than it has the whole last year.
http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps3_sale_e.html
#3
Mike Honcho
20/03/10, 10:06 am
Production of most electronic gadgets normally taper of during the 1st quarter …. due to surges during the previous Holidays.
For Sony’s case, I’m thinking they may have underestimated sales of some recent games like Heavy Rain (system seller for those who enjoy the genre) or even FF (being multiplat & all) – hence some shortages …. just a thought.
#4
itsucks
20/03/10, 10:24 am
loving the pre-emptive excuse of shitty sales for low popularity they hit again, with shortages.
Atleast numbers talk.
#5
frod
20/03/10, 10:32 am
Real system sellers don’t need to be qualified in brackets, else any game is a system seller (my system seller was MotorStorm, my friends was… Genji!).
Also, although it’s slightly more difficult, it doesn’t seem to be impossible to get one. There are so many retail sources now, and these devices are hardly in impulse purchase territory. I know for sure if I wanted one I wouldn’t let a couple of sold out signs stop me.
#6
KillerDD
20/03/10, 11:11 am
I’m telling ya, they’re doing it on purpose! Something really, really important will happen to the consoles.
#7
sennasnit
20/03/10, 12:09 pm
itsucks=wanker
#8
Hunam
20/03/10, 12:18 pm
Tipping? Pfft.
#9
DeSpiritusBellum
20/03/10, 12:35 pm
If what #2 is saying is true, then it’s a little strange that Sony can’t stock their consoles better than that. They knew they were trying for a push, so why on earth would they rely on the same volume sold?
Personally I think they’ve been dropping the ball every chance they get this gen, and relying on their favored developers to try and even the score.
#10
Psychotext
20/03/10, 12:42 pm
What I find strange is that Sony are pretty much dead on target to hit their predicted 13m shipped for the financial year… so why couldn’t they ramp up production a little in the last 3-4 months?
It’s all very well saying that they’re selling more than they expected to, but their forecasts say they expected something very much like this.
#11
The Hindle
20/03/10, 1:34 pm
Pat seriously your site is going to shit, you have people spoiling games now we need an ignore button.