I think the PS3 is released in Japan this spring, and in the US sometime in the fall of '06.

I have been hearing Fall, but when I read Spring in the other thread, I kinda got excited, thinking I could easily make it 3-4 months, but now it sounds like it would be more around 8-10.

Maybe Sony will do a worldwide launch in the Spring, after seeing how much constant publicity MS has gotten with theirs...

IGN lists in its 10 reasons to wait for PS3 article though, that it has a release date just under a year away. So, late fall could be very likely.

If they go Fall it could be a 360 launch all over again. Maybe not.

I'm just lucky I ended up getting a 360 the day after launch.

The only reason I'm looking for another is because my brother desperately wants one and he's in a small town with no chances of getting one. Hope I get one for him next week, sounds like that weekly shipment might be rolling in a little late.

Wow, you're sure a dedicated brother to be so persistent!

Like I said, I also enjoy the hunt.

I picked mine up out of pure luck from Amazon.com. It was a spendy bundle but I've pawned off what I didn't need and it turned out fine.

If they go fall they need to follow the previous PS and do a Spetember release. MS would have done better to release in Spetember than Black Friday week, but I guess they were not ready and wanted to release by Christmas.

Major Nelson has a new blogcast about 360 availablity: http://www.majornelson.com/2005/12/0...x-availabilty/

He doesn't talk too much about it, just encourages people to be patient and says they're getting them out as fast as they can.

I got one on release day and am still looking for one for my brother as well. The hunt is good. I'm a seasoned vet though having hunted down star wars figures since the early 90's. I just wish employees were more friendly about it.

I just cannot believe that. There is no way they are sending the kinds of shipments they should be sending. I've yet to see one of these things on the shelf, and I've gone out many times to many different places at many different times of the day. I'm not a newbie to getting the "hot" Xmas gift, but this is just ridiculous.

I'm getting really tired of looking. I'll just wait for my provantage.com backorder to come in whenever...

He did say "I know one store got some. I saw a receipt online dated last Saturday. I think it was in Burbank... So they are out there!"

Well what about the thousands of other stores that didn't get any?

My problem is if stores do get some they'll probably be in small quantities such as 10 unit, which will then be gobbled up in a matter of minutes. So because no one at the store can give you a clue of when to try back, the chances of walking in at the right moment are slim and none... so at this point I'm just going to give up and try on the 18th and see how it goes.

I checked Wal Mart tonight and I think they may be expecting a shipment soon. For the past 2 weeks they have had 3 rows of regular Xboxes on the bottom of the case. Tonight they had 1 row of Xboxes and 2 empty spots with pricetags for $299.99 and $399.99. Could there be a shipment tomorrow? I can only hope.

Yeah, my plan is to try again on the 18th as well, but my daughter is due on the 13th, so I may or may not be able to get out there for a night in the cold.

Well that would appear as though they're expecting some. Good luck!

Well either way, congratulations!

I'm also a veteran in these sorts of matters and I agree, this is beyond ridiculous.

I tend to agree. I'm theorizing a couple of different things here. As per usual my language is a little blue, you've been warned.

In the podcast above, he talks about someone in Burbank scanning their receipt. Someone in this forum from "Burbanka" (must be Burbank) posted that a few showed up at their Target and they almost got one. To me this says that obviously the city (or perhaps only one store) of Burbank received some of the shipments.

What does this mean? In the entire USA, this large country, one fucking City or store gets a small tiny shipment. This seems significant.

I think a couple of things might be to account for this:

1) My Major Dumbass isn't lying Theory. This Burbank store somehow accelerated the entire process it takes to move the system into their inventory onto the floor, possibly getting it from a distributor. Being that this city is close to LA which would be the area they come into from China, this somewhat makes sense. But why only fucking Burbank? Why not all over LA and Cali? If we believe Major Dumbass, he miscalculated the time it would take for these to get into the stores, somehow it trickled into this store first, and the rest should be coming early next week. This would make sense because someone posted today their Target said they are getting 20 more in soon. At this point, it would seem that each store would be getting 10-20 in as part of the replenishing. So next week, each store, or the majority of all stores will be getting 10-20 in. The week after that it should be the same. It was all just a miscalculation by Major Dumbass.

2) Major Dumbass = Major Liar Theory. These things barely trickled into the stores this weekend. Major said they would be getting into stores this weekend. It's fair to guess that possible 10,000 shipped out over the weekend, no more than that. That would be 200 per state. I mean fuck, each store in the country had 20-40 at launch right? 400,000 launched. That means there was only 8,000 of these things per state. Now we hear that 10 are shipping up in hardly any places over the weekend? Yeah I could guess that 10,000 OR LESS shipped out last weekend. And that was the 1st stage of replenishment. Now I don't see how that could go up anytime soon, but let's pretend it goes up and each store gets 20 for the relaunch. That would mean they are going to be shipping out 200,000 or so between now and the 17th. That guy said what, they've been making these for 4 months now? So they made 400,000 in 4 months, how are they going to make 200,000 in a couple of weeks?

To me the 2nd theory is more likely. Wow... DiscoStu was right These things aren't going to show up anytime soon, only when the demand subsides. MS really fucked it up bigtime. It shows you what a rush job this was. Once Christmas is over, I don't see anyone but hardcore early adopter gamers buying these things. Right now they are the HOT TOY, everyone mainstream wants one. That will vanish QUICKLY after XMAS. Which sets the stage for SONY to SLAUGHTER MS with their launch assuming they can actually do it right. I still think the idea of BLURAY selling these things just like DVD did for PS2 is insane because of the tiny HDTV market, so Sony would be wise to play up the HOT TOY OF THE HOLIDAYS angle and then actually get them into people's hands versus fucking around with them.

If Major Dumbass actually had real numbers instead of vague encouragement to be patient, I might believe him, but now I see it's a lie. Sucks...

See my lengthy post on this above. I didn't even mention the insane Ebay Profiteer Market. Every idiot and his sister is on Ebay now, so yeah, if 10 show up, they'll be gone in seconds, and it'll be another week of waiting for 10 more.

LeechBoy and other East Coasters if you check your store tomorrow morning, could you please post the results here ASAP? It would help bigtime for those of us on later timezones. Thanks.

Thanks

I'm going to go with your second theory - I think Microsoft fucked up.

I was floored - FLOORED I TELL YOU that they did not have units on the shelves for Black Friday. I mean what. The. Fuck. They launched on Tuesday of that week. It would make PERFECT sense for the second wave to show up that Friday which is, oh I don't know, the BUSIEST FUCKING SHOPPING DAY OF THE YEAR! But nope, nada, zip, zilch.

I managed to get a PS2 on Black Friday right after they came out - it was tough, but they were at the stores that day.

The "buzz" in the lines on the morning of Black Friday was all about the 360s. From the hardcore gamers at Best Buy to the soccer moms at Target, everyone around me was talking about trying to get a 360.

It's impossible to have the "hot" Christmas item when no one can get it unless they camped outside on the launch day in MID-NOVEMBER, sold a child to pay for one on eBay or happened to wander in to the local Target at 2:36 on a Tuesday when they unloaded the two units (both Core systems, I'm sure) and put them out on the shelf.

I'm so annoyed...

I've gotten Furbies, Tickle Me Elmos, the aforementioned PS2...in fact, I can't think of one "hot" Xmas item I haven't managed to get when I wanted to get it. I guess we've got some time before the 25th, and I'll probably try again on the 18th, but since I'm sure the stores will only get a ridiculously small amount, it's going to be another exercise in frustration. Hey Microsoft, PROVE ME WRONG!

Its 1:40am now. I have no plans on sleeping tonight. I'll be at Target when they open at 8. I think Toys R Us opens at 9 so I will go there too. I will post the results when I get back.

I read something over at gamefaqs about a Toys R Us employee talking about a memo they got today about setting up the 360 table in the front of the department for this week. I know gamefaqs isn't very reliable but you never know.

I expect something the same or possibly even worse for PS3. I believe the PS3 will be more popular than the Xbox 360. It definately will be in Japan without a shadow of a doubt. I am not saying this as a fan (I preferred the Xbox over PS2). I am saying this as something I truly believe.

A worldwide launch again if it occurs can make getting the system a true hell.

It will be a big leap in technology from the PS2. It will be true to HDTV (supporting even 1080P), it will introduce a brand new dvd technology which allows playback of HDTV material, and the PS2 outranks the current systems it competed with in sales by a huge margin.

I expect production to be heavier, but I also expect the demand to be very strong. If it's a holiday launch, good luck. Even if not, good luck.

I believe Sony will also purposely create some sort of shortage just the way Microsoft did to gain hype for the product and make it that special item everyone wants this holiday season. If Microsoft had filled demand immediately, they would not be receiving anywhere near the coverage or free advertising they are receiving now.

If I was walking in a store, and happened to see one available, I'm not sure I'd buy it. I definitely can wait, but the thought of making 300% or more profit on eBay would be my deciding factor. I'd honestly probably just leave it.

The current rumor is August for PS3.

And yeah, that's exactly what Microsoft did. They weren't ready, but pushed it out for the holidays.