kanda
11-16-2006, 03:33 PM
Found this in my local paper and thought id post the online version of it
"Electronics retailers are bracing for protests from consumers unable to get their thumbs on a new PlayStation 3 or Wii game system for Christmas.
Analysts have long predicted shortages of both Sony Corp's PS3 and Nintendo Inc.'s Wii (pronounced Wee) heading into the Christmas season.
The PS3, which retails for $550 to $660, will be launched Friday in Canada, while the Wii, priced at about $280, is expected to hit store shelves Sunday.
Best Buy spokesperson Lori Decou said only a handful of PS3s will be made available at each store for launch day, and many consumers will be disappointed.
"We will post a sign at each store detailing the amount of product that store will have. . . . We will run out of product," she said, adding Best Buy did not take advance orders for the systems.
Decou did not say how many PS3 and Wii consoles Best Buy will get. She said the company expects more supplies of both machines between now and Christmas, and said potential customers can sign up at BestBuy.ca to be notifi ed of new shipments.
Edzel Pereira, a manager at Future Shop in Saskatoon, was told to expect between 50 and 90 players, give or take a few.
"I can't disclose exactly how many we're getting," he said in an interview.
"We're an A store, so we're getting more than normal." While the store won't open until Friday at 8 a.m., Pereira has heard some people plan to line up as early as four in the morning.
"We're going to hand out tickets to people in line," said Pereira.
"There will be a limit of one ticket per person." The Saskatoon store has received a couple of thousand telephone calls recently from people wanting to know when the game system, which the store will sell for $649, will be available and how first shipment will be sold.
"PS3 is awesome. It's new technology with unbelievable quality.
It's going to be very graphic," said Pereira.
Reports from the gaming industry suggest Sony is having diffi culties producing its cutting-edge gaming machine, and will ship fewer units than originally predicted -- analysts had expected the company to ship as many as 900,000 units for all of North America by the end of this year.
Nintendo expects to have more than one million Wii's ready for North American consumers on Sunday.
In Japan, Sony sold more than 88,000 PS3 consoles in less than two days last weekend.
Video game websites, including News.com, report that the shortage of PS3s has hit game retailer GameStop -- the company behind video game retailer Electronics Boutique -- particularly hard because many people who pre-ordered the consoles will not get their machine on Friday. Some reports suggest as many as 40 per cent of all pre-orders will not be fi lled.
Alexis Madrigal, analyst with research fi rm DFC Intelligence, said shortages are inevitable in the early stages of rolling out a new video game console.
"It's really hard to produce these machines," he said. "A lot of them are being produced in China, and then they have to put them on a boat and ship them. It's not a publicity thing. The shortages help with the buzz, but it restricts sales." By restricting sales heading into Christmas, Madrigal said Sony and Nintendo could be opening the door for Microsoft Corp. to further increase sales of its Xbox 360 gaming console."
Wow and I just live in a small city in Canada and that many phone calls about the ps3.
"Electronics retailers are bracing for protests from consumers unable to get their thumbs on a new PlayStation 3 or Wii game system for Christmas.
Analysts have long predicted shortages of both Sony Corp's PS3 and Nintendo Inc.'s Wii (pronounced Wee) heading into the Christmas season.
The PS3, which retails for $550 to $660, will be launched Friday in Canada, while the Wii, priced at about $280, is expected to hit store shelves Sunday.
Best Buy spokesperson Lori Decou said only a handful of PS3s will be made available at each store for launch day, and many consumers will be disappointed.
"We will post a sign at each store detailing the amount of product that store will have. . . . We will run out of product," she said, adding Best Buy did not take advance orders for the systems.
Decou did not say how many PS3 and Wii consoles Best Buy will get. She said the company expects more supplies of both machines between now and Christmas, and said potential customers can sign up at BestBuy.ca to be notifi ed of new shipments.
Edzel Pereira, a manager at Future Shop in Saskatoon, was told to expect between 50 and 90 players, give or take a few.
"I can't disclose exactly how many we're getting," he said in an interview.
"We're an A store, so we're getting more than normal." While the store won't open until Friday at 8 a.m., Pereira has heard some people plan to line up as early as four in the morning.
"We're going to hand out tickets to people in line," said Pereira.
"There will be a limit of one ticket per person." The Saskatoon store has received a couple of thousand telephone calls recently from people wanting to know when the game system, which the store will sell for $649, will be available and how first shipment will be sold.
"PS3 is awesome. It's new technology with unbelievable quality.
It's going to be very graphic," said Pereira.
Reports from the gaming industry suggest Sony is having diffi culties producing its cutting-edge gaming machine, and will ship fewer units than originally predicted -- analysts had expected the company to ship as many as 900,000 units for all of North America by the end of this year.
Nintendo expects to have more than one million Wii's ready for North American consumers on Sunday.
In Japan, Sony sold more than 88,000 PS3 consoles in less than two days last weekend.
Video game websites, including News.com, report that the shortage of PS3s has hit game retailer GameStop -- the company behind video game retailer Electronics Boutique -- particularly hard because many people who pre-ordered the consoles will not get their machine on Friday. Some reports suggest as many as 40 per cent of all pre-orders will not be fi lled.
Alexis Madrigal, analyst with research fi rm DFC Intelligence, said shortages are inevitable in the early stages of rolling out a new video game console.
"It's really hard to produce these machines," he said. "A lot of them are being produced in China, and then they have to put them on a boat and ship them. It's not a publicity thing. The shortages help with the buzz, but it restricts sales." By restricting sales heading into Christmas, Madrigal said Sony and Nintendo could be opening the door for Microsoft Corp. to further increase sales of its Xbox 360 gaming console."
Wow and I just live in a small city in Canada and that many phone calls about the ps3.