(PS3) Sony sez "Shortage of PS3's to be over soon..."

[SirFozzie]

Shit like this makes me think they built a whole script prior to the PS3's release and can't believe there isn't world wide riots and chaos trying to get one of their precious PS3's.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/8800.cfm

Jack Tretton, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America has told Reuters that Sony is working to resolve PS3 shortages by May and that the company is on track to have shipped 2 million PS3 consoles to North America by the end of March. "April or May is when we feel like we're going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there," Tretton said.

When asked about claims that PS3s are sitting on shelves in some area's in North America, Tretton said, "Our goal is to fill shelves across the United States. Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it's to have full shelves. If we have empty shelves, that's one less consumer who could have bought a PlayStation 3."

When asked about PS3 shipment goals, he said, "We're in pretty good shape to do that. The early returns are quite favorable," he said. Sony set of a goal of shipping 6 million PS3 consoles worldwide by March 2007

[KWhit]

To his point, I was in a Wallgreen's yesterday and they didn't have any PS3s.

[14ers]

What shortages is this guy talking about? There are PS3s at every Wal~Mart I have been in since Christmas.

I remember a week after Christmas seeing my local Wal~MArt just loaded with PS3s and thinking WTF? Now, every single Wal~Mart I have been in since then has been stocked full of PS3s.

Funny, I was wondering if these PS3s were all returns from people who bought them before Christmas and then tried to sale them for huge profits. I remember seeing on ebay where all the PS3s were being advertised as still sealed. I guess this was so people could return them later.


Also, I still can not find a Wii anywhere.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by 14ers

What shortages is this guy talking about? There are PS3s at every Wal~Mart I have been in since Christmas.

I remember a week after Christmas seeing my local Wal~MArt just loaded with PS3s and thinking WTF? Now, every single Wal~Mart I have been in since then has been stocked full of PS3s.

Funny, I was wondering if these PS3s were all returns from people who bought them before Christmas and then tried to sale them for huge profits. I remember seeing on ebay where all the PS3s were being advertised as still sealed. I guess this was so people could return them later.


Also, I still can not find a Wii anywhere.

Pretty much mirror my thoughts. I've never seen a wii anywhere, but have see quite a few ps3's. I sort of want a ps3 too, but not at 600 bucks.

[albionmoonlight]

Queue up Iraqi Information Minister picture.

[Travis]

We haven't had PS3's on the shelves around here aside from a few times I hti stores as they were being put out. Granted, I haven't looked in the last two weeks, but at least at the Futureshop/BestBuy/Wal-Marts around where I work and live, it's been pretty bare.

[TroyF]

Over 80% of the stores in this area have PS3's and most of them have a ton of em.

Hate to break the news to Sony, but for most people $600 isn't an impulse buy. It's a thought out process. And if you think it out, you'll be more than happy to go to a second store.

I've seen one Wii on the shelves ever, the one I bought.

[14ers]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

Queue up Iraqi Information Minister picture.

LOL. I am assuming you are refering to how the guy from Sony answered the question about PS3s just sitting on shelves.

When asked about claims that PS3s are sitting on shelves in some area's in North America, Tretton said, "Our goal is to fill shelves across the United States. Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it's to have full shelves. If we have empty shelves, that's one less consumer who could have bought a PlayStation 3."

Maybe they should of just reasked the question again?

When asked about claims that PS3s are sitting on shelves in some area's in North America???

So, Sony's goal for the PS3 was to build a product that just sits on the shelf. "Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it's to have full shelves."

[SackAttack]

the last time we were sold out of PS3's was, I believe, the first week of January. Right after our pre-New Year's shipment.

Since then, we've gotten low on shipments, but haven't actually completely sold out of any. So it's selling, it's moving, and if not for the Wii acting as a comparison, I don't know if there would be a discussion of its ready availability as a dismissal of sorts.

But, you know, it's still also a distant second choice to the Wii when it comes to people asking about one of the two new systems. The Wii is always first when someone asks, and when they get the inevitable reply, some of them move on, some of them think and kind of cautiously say "Well...what about the PS3?"

That said, I have yet to sell a PS3 to anybody who asks about Wii first.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I have yet to see either system on any store shelf at any time.

Works out pretty well since I have no interest in either of them at their current prices (or hell, even at half their current prices for that matter), but I thought it was interesting to contrast that with people posting here that they've seen either.

I wonder if being in a college town makes them harder to keep stocked, or if being in a smaller town means fewer are being shipped?

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I wonder if being in a college town makes them harder to keep stocked, or if being in a smaller town means fewer are being shipped?

Jon, to a certain degree, yes to both questions.

Bumfuck, GA is going to get far fewer systems than New York City, because there's just a certain level of saturation you can reach in Bumfuck even in the best of scenarios.

At the same time, a smaller town means less competition for the units a store DOES get, so the level of demand is still going to be what dictates stocking levels, but you could easily see a smaller town take longer to get replenished than the larger town.

Wii's price point is such that that becomes less of an issue. Everybody who wants one can afford one, just about - it's a matter of finding one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Jon, to a certain degree, yes to both questions.

Bumfuck, GA is going to get far fewer systems than New York City, because there's just a certain level of saturation you can reach in Bumfuck even in the best of scenarios.

Well, it isn't quite that bad since we moved to Athens last year. Current estimate is 104,000 in the county (and Athens is the only notable city in the county). But I wonder how the distribution decision is broken down -- does the manufacturer say "here's 100 for Target, 100 for Wal-Mart, 50 for EB" etc, or do they possibly micromanage the distribution more strictly "here's 10 for store X, 5 for store Y, 1 for store Z"

I would assume the former is the case, but figured the latter was at least possible because of the leverage the manuf. has on a product like this.

[SirFozzie]

From what I understand, the manufacturer agrees to sell Company X so many units, and then Company X decides how they will apportion the systems

[Blade6119]

I havent seen any PS3s out here in scottsdale...no matter when im there, there are none.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Well, it isn't quite that bad since we moved to Athens last year. Current estimate is 104,000 in the county (and Athens is the only notable city in the county). But I wonder how the distribution decision is broken down -- does the manufacturer say "here's 100 for Target, 100 for Wal-Mart, 50 for EB" etc, or do they possibly micromanage the distribution more strictly "here's 10 for store X, 5 for store Y, 1 for store Z"

I would assume the former is the case, but figured the latter was at least possible because of the leverage the manuf. has on a product like this.

Sony doesn't get that specific.

They'll sell an allocation to each company, and then that company will in turn determine the best usage of that allocation. So for Best Buy, considering they lave like eleventy-billion stores in New York City, they'll send more of the product they have to the stores in that city than they would a store in north Kansas.

[Mustang]

REMAIN CALM, ALL IS WELL!!!





Actually, almost all the stores in my area have PS3's.. haven't seen a Wii though (although, haven't been looking too hard)

[Atocep]

I've seen PS3s in just about every place I've checked in both San Antonio and here in Tacoma. I have yet to see a Wii in any store. This is probably a marketing ploy by Sony to make people think they're rare and when they see one they'll get excited and maybe get a few impulse buys.

I think SackAttack is right, if Wii wasn't selling so well we'd wouldn't think too much about it, we'd probably be talking about 360 taking some of the marketshare from Sony, but I doubt the PS3 would be seen as the failure its being made out to be.

However, that doesn't change the fact that Sony has to be disappointed in sales. I'm sure Sony and Microsoft had written off Nintendo, as many of had, when we read about the Wii's features. Now Sony is sitting in 3rd place in the console wars and if Blu-Ray doesn't catch on, Sony could be headed down the same path Sega took to irrevelancy.

[Ryche]

I went looking in a couple of Targets locally for Wiis yesterday, didn't find any of course. Did see at least one PS3 though. Don't think I bothered checking to see if they have any at the other store I went to since I have no interest in it.

Looks like I'm going to be in line to get a Wii Sunday morning. Sounds like most of the Targets in the Twin Cities are getting a shipment in.

[KWhit]

I was at a Waffle House earlier and they didn't have any PS3s either.

[spleen1015]

Someone posted the numbers last week, I think.

The telling sign to me about all of this is that the 360 is selling more than the PS3 and we're seeing PS3's on store shelves.

It has to be the price.

[Kodos]

I've seen PS3s at various stores since early January, but have yet to see a Wii anywhere.

[DanGarion]

Dude I walk the streets at night and all the homeless people got their PS3s plugged in using them as heaters!

[Greyroofoo]

I hear the Raiders were looking pretty good this pre-season

[gstelmack]

No comment yet on the fact that they are pulling the PS2 hardware out for the European launch and switching to software emulation?

[Daimyo]

Every time I go into a store like Best Buy, or Wal-Mart I look at the consoles because I want a Wii. I still haven't seen a Wii, but I've seen PS3s in every store I've checked since the week after Christmas. I was in a Cosco last weekend that must have had 50 PS3s.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

No comment yet on the fact that they are pulling the PS2 hardware out for the European launch and switching to software emulation?

I didn't want to pile on

There will be books written about the humbling of Sony as it pertains to the video console industry in 5-10 years. And they will be just as harsh as the ones that were written a few years back about Nintendo.

[14ers]

I find it funny that the PS2 is currently outselling both the xbox360 and the PS3.



January 2007 Sales
1) Wii 436,000 units
2) PS2 299,000 units
3) xbox360 294,000 units
4) PS3 244,000 units


Now, try to tell me price does not figure into this equation when an older PS2 system is beating both the xbox360 and PS3 in total sales.

[twothree]

Sony executives should have played more "Capitalism Plus".

[Subby]

Originally Posted by 14ers

I find it funny that the PS2 is currently outselling both the xbox360 and the PS3.

January 2007 Sales
1) Wii 436,000 units
2) PS2 299,000 units
3) xbox360 294,000 units
4) PS3 244,000 units

I'll admit that I don't know much about the industry, but isn't the PS2 priced to move? I would think that a lot of families are opting for the less expensive device in lieu of one of the new systems. So I'm not sure it's all that surprising.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Subby

I'll admit that I don't know much about the industry, but isn't the PS2 priced to move? I would think that a lot of families are opting for the less expensive device in lieu of one of the new systems. So I'm not sure it's all that surprising.

Exactly. The PS2 is an incredibly strong system with a library of titles that makes any next gen system weep right now. If I was only a casual video game player, I'd probably get the PS2 and not bother with any of the other systems.

Heck, if my PS2 broke down today, I'd probably pick another one up rather than spend any money on the PS3. It isn't surprising to me that the PS2 is still a big seller.

I said in another thread, it's the console that defines gaming IMHO. I know the original Nintendo and Super Nintendo were huge, but nothing compares to the PS2.

[14ers]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Heck, if my PS2 broke down today, I'd probably pick another one up rather than spend any money on the PS3. It isn't surprising to me that the PS2 is still a big seller.

Knowing that the next wave of PS3s to hit the market will NOT be able to play PS2 games make anyone nervous?

[Pumpy Tudors]

I was at the mall last night, and while EB and Gamestop both had a couple of PS3s in stock, Mrs. Fields Cookies was ALL OUT!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by 14ers

Knowing that the next wave of PS3s to hit the market will NOT be able to play PS2 games make anyone nervous?

I thought they just wouldn't be able to play certain PS2 games?

[stevew]

What about the new wave of Elmo Knows your Name dolls? How will those work?

[Pumpy Tudors]

what better PS3 or elmo

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I thought they just wouldn't be able to play certain PS2 games?

They are switching to software emulation (like Microsoft is doing with the 360), so the correct answer is more like they will only be able to play certain games (whichever ones Sony chooses to support).

[st.cronin]

What's a PS3?

[Hoya1]

I picked one up yesterday. I heard of this website consolewatch.ca for Canadians. Yesterday Bestbuy had about 10, and today had put another 10 on their website

[stevew]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

They are switching to software emulation (like Microsoft is doing with the 360), so the correct answer is more like they will only be able to play certain games (whichever ones Sony chooses to support).

Gah, that sucks.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by 14ers

Knowing that the next wave of PS3s to hit the market will NOT be able to play PS2 games make anyone nervous?

Originally Posted by gstelmack

They are switching to software emulation (like Microsoft is doing with the 360), so the correct answer is more like they will only be able to play certain games (whichever ones Sony chooses to support).

Am I the only one that finds this a non-issue? When we got our ps2 at launch I can honestly say I never had the desire to load another ps1 game again. Switching from the ps2 to ps3\360 leaves me feeling the same. I bought a next gen to play next gen games going back to me is not even remotely desirable.

The ONLY exception is Guitar Hero because it's not available yet for ps3. But if I do get the urge to play I'll load it up with the old trusty ps2.

Maybe I'm in the minority?

[Blade6119]

Ya, once i get my ps3(which i will), i will not touch a PS2 game again. And if i wanted to(like to finish final fantasy 12), my ps2 is right there to plug in again..no biggie

[stevew]

I've never bought a ps2, so I would definitely want there to be backwards compatability, since there are so many games I want to play.

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Am I the only one that finds this a non-issue? When we got our ps2 at launch I can honestly say I never had the desire to load another ps1 game again.

We tried one game: Chocobo Racing, which was my wife's favorite game and which, under threat of torture, I would admit to really enjoying. It didn't work at all -- way too choppy.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Am I the only one that finds this a non-issue? When we got our ps2 at launch I can honestly say I never had the desire to load another ps1 game again. Switching from the ps2 to ps3\360 leaves me feeling the same. I bought a next gen to play next gen games going back to me is not even remotely desirable.

The ONLY exception is Guitar Hero because it's not available yet for ps3. But if I do get the urge to play I'll load it up with the old trusty ps2.

Maybe I'm in the minority?

It's one of those publicity things that gets everyone in a tizzy, even though few actually play much (although HALO 2 gets a lot of play on the 360, as it and several other titles also got some improvements like playing at 720P when they could do it without messing anything up). However, backwards compatibility with the original PS helped catapult the PS2 as it had a built-in library of titles just waiting for it, so it seems a bit more important to the Playstation crowd. Plus hardware compatibility with PS2 was a bullet point in PS3's favor, and the negative outcry about NOT having backwards compatibility pushed Microsoft into spending tons of money on their software solution.

What concerns the Europeans right now is that Sony is yanking things out of the console (i.e. theirs is less powerful than those released in Japan and North America) but no talk of a price cut to go with it.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by Sweed

Am I the only one that finds this a non-issue? When we got our ps2 at launch I can honestly say I never had the desire to load another ps1 game again.

The jump from PS1 to PS2 in terms of game quality was light years larger than the jump from PS2 to PS3 though. If you go back and play games from all of the past systems, PS1 games almost feel like the worst games of all time. The 3D stuff was just so new, no one knew how to properly utilize it, and the system couldn't really do justice to the ideas that were good. Frame rates were crappy, polygons were atrocious... it was a necessary leap in technology, and at the time it seemed great, but looking back a lot of those games (especially sports titles) feel almost unplayable.

PS2 games, I feel, will stand up to time much better.

[Raiders Army]

DVD is nice (and was for the PS2). The problem is that no games for the PS3 really take advantage of Blu-Ray.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Raiders Army

DVD is nice (and was for the PS2). The problem is that no games for the PS3 really take advantage of Blu-Ray.

Blu-Ray will have very little impact on the quality of games. No matter how much data you can store on the disk, there's only so much RAM in the system, i.e. how much information from the game is actually loaded at one time. And since streaming off a DVD isn't fast enough for seamless loading in a game, there's really very little advantage to be had there.

I guess a game company could add a bunch of hi-res, pre-rendered video to play off the disk, but I'm having a hard time thinking of situations where that storage advantage would translate into a significant difference in a gameplay experience...

[Marc Vaughan]

Backward compatibility is like network play for a PC game - without it a lot of people will generally gravitate towards whatever has it on the box .... however in reality only a very small percentage of people will actually use the option.

(it always amused me the people who purchase certain FPS's over another one because of the 'uber graphics' it has ... then play it on a 3 year old video card which would make all such games look pretty much the same )

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

(it always amused me the people who purchase certain FPS's over another one because of the 'uber graphics' it has ... then play it on a 3 year old video card which would make all such games look pretty much the same )

Especially when they are basing those decisions on static screenshots or highly-compressed videos that don't show what the game really looks like...

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

it was a necessary leap in technology, and at the time it seemed great, but looking back a lot of those games (especially sports titles) feel almost unplayable.

PS2 games, I feel, will stand up to time much better.

I played an NCAA game off the PS1 a couple years ago... and it was horrible. I'd rather play the Sega Genesis version than that unplayable mess. So, I agree.