Lots of people are wondering what the deal is with the pre-orders for both Wii and PS3, no one so far is taking them.
If you go back to last year, physical stores were taking pre-orders for the Xbox360 in June. So what's going on this time around with Wii and PS3? Well the short answer is that the Xbox360 launch was perceived as a huge disaster and everyone wants to avoid a repeat of what happened last year.
Sony has announced quantity shortages in producing the PS3, the BluRay laser diode and the Cell processor are both key components that are in short supply. Sony has said their launch supply for the USA will be a mere 400,000 units on Nov 17th. Nintendo on the other had has increased their launch quantity to be around 2 million units on Nov 19th.
So what's the deal with pre-orders?
Well you probably don't need to pre-order the Wii, even if the launch units sell out, there's another 7-9 million being delivered by year end. But the PS3 you're definitely going to want to pre-order either that or bust out the camping gear and get in line a day or two ahead of time. One troubling thing about the PS3 launch is it's short supply and Friday launch, that means having to take some time off work to camp further increasing the price of the console.
A GameStop manager in the 1UP forums has spilled the beans of their in-store launch plans. On October 12th you MAY be able to place a pre-order for the Wii or PS3. You will need to put down $50 to get on the list and they will not be accepting any trade-ins for the new systems. However, not all stores may take pre-orders. GameStop corporate has given stores the option to do pre-orders or sell on a first come first served basis. So you'll want to call your local GameStop/EBGames store and confirm what their plans are. If you don't feel like camping, find the closest one taking pre-orders and make sure you're there when they open on the 10th with $50 in hand.
If you go back to last year, physical stores were taking pre-orders for the Xbox360 in June. So what's going on this time around with Wii and PS3? Well the short answer is that the Xbox360 launch was perceived as a huge disaster and everyone wants to avoid a repeat of what happened last year.
Sony has announced quantity shortages in producing the PS3, the BluRay laser diode and the Cell processor are both key components that are in short supply. Sony has said their launch supply for the USA will be a mere 400,000 units on Nov 17th. Nintendo on the other had has increased their launch quantity to be around 2 million units on Nov 19th.
So what's the deal with pre-orders?
Well you probably don't need to pre-order the Wii, even if the launch units sell out, there's another 7-9 million being delivered by year end. But the PS3 you're definitely going to want to pre-order either that or bust out the camping gear and get in line a day or two ahead of time. One troubling thing about the PS3 launch is it's short supply and Friday launch, that means having to take some time off work to camp further increasing the price of the console.A GameStop manager in the 1UP forums has spilled the beans of their in-store launch plans. On October 12th you MAY be able to place a pre-order for the Wii or PS3. You will need to put down $50 to get on the list and they will not be accepting any trade-ins for the new systems. However, not all stores may take pre-orders. GameStop corporate has given stores the option to do pre-orders or sell on a first come first served basis. So you'll want to call your local GameStop/EBGames store and confirm what their plans are. If you don't feel like camping, find the closest one taking pre-orders and make sure you're there when they open on the 10th with $50 in hand.
