Midnight PS3 madness in Japan Options

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From GameSpot: Thousands gather outside various Tokyo retailers for the chance to obtain one of Sony's scarce next-gen consoles. Getting a preorder for the PlayStation 3 has been nothing but hardship for many gamers in Japan, since it was expected that trying to buy a unit without one would be next to impossible. However, it may turn out that lining up to buy on launch day isn't going to be as difficult as it once seemed.

Around the time of the 2006 Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced that its day-one shipment of PS3s in Japan on November 11 will only be 100,000 units. In 2004, the company shipped double that number of PlayStation Portables, which sold out in a matter of minutes. To make things worse, recent industry reports have been saying that the actual shipment could be as low as 80,000 units.

Most retailers have kept their expected PS3 inventories secret, but a few places disclosed figures that brought a chill to gamers without preorders. Laox announced that they would be receiving only 10 to 20 units for each of their stores in Nakano, Toyosu, and Atsugi, though it kept its Akihabara branch figures undisclosed. Best Denki's Shinjuku branch and GEO's Ishikawa branch revealed that they will be getting only five units each, despite both of them being nationwide chains.

Finding a PS3 preorder on the Internet seemed equally unlikely. Amazon Japan closed its preorder offer just 20 minutes after it opened last month. The online shop for national chain Tsutaya overloaded, closing down in just five minutes. Gamers praying that Sony would offer a massive number of preorders at its official shopping site were also disappointed. Two weeks ago, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan announced that it won't sell the console at all online.

Many national chain stores announced weeks ago that they wouldn't be taking preorders at launch due to a lack of units. Established chains including Sofmap, Kojima Electronics (no relation to the Metal Gear Solid producer), and most Bic Camera stores opted to hold raffles on launch day and sell units to the lucky winners.

View: Full Article (GameSpot)