|  Preordering PS3 and Nintendo Wii... -
17-10-2006, 12:50 PM
I'm no hardcore gamer, but I am pretty excited about the upcoming battle between Nintendo and Sony in the never-ending console wars. How about you?
The launch of the Sony Playstation 3 (announced for November 17) and the Nintendo Wii (set for November 19) has set off a torrent of Web chatter and speculation about preorders--who has consoles to sell, how many do they have, and how can I get one?
In the middle of all this I have to wonder: Do the console makers get in on this preorder action officially? If they don't, is it even safe to pay for a console in advance?
Well, I made a few phone calls, and what I have to say is: Buyer beware! Sony and Nintendo both tiptoed around questions regarding preorders. Sony says it has no official position on the practice. The decision to sell preorders, Sony says, is up to the individual retailer. So, if EBGames/GameStop or anyone else doesn't come through with those PS3s you got in line for at 3 a.m., Sony is not responsible.
Nintendo wouldn't even go that far. All it will say is: Buy your console through a reputable retailer. Thanks Nintendo.
Sony And Nintendo's Position
Either way, the console makers are nervous about preorders. Neither would go on the record--and Sony didn't even answer PC World phone calls until I told them Nintendo was commenting! Maybe that's because Sony is only planning to ship 400,000 consoles to the U.S. (while Nintendo says is sending 4 million worldwide--traditionally, the U.S. gets about half of such a shipment. If true, this time 2 million Wiis could be headed our way). Will that be enough to make everyone's holiday season happy?
Speaking of demand exceeding supply, we sent PC World staffer Amber Bouman out this morning to see if she could get in on the Wii preorder action at our local EBGames/GameStop store in Union Square in San Francisco. Here's what she had to say.
"There were 32 preorders passed out (this morning) but there were about 60 people in line.
"People I asked said they had heard about the preorder via EBGames/GameStop, friends, or through the industry. Some in line (at the store in San Francisco) mentioned dissatisfaction with the PS3 preorder process. Many grumbled that (the $499 to $599 that is the announced PlayStation 3 price range) is far too much to pay for a game system. And since a PS3 will cost about as much as rent for one month for me, I'm inclined to agree. But I also don't buy $45 T-shirts from The Gap either."
Everyone who did get a chance to preorder a Wii at EBGames/GameStop had to put a $50 deposit down but the company's e-mail announcing the procedure warns: "As we cannot control production and shipping issues by the manufacturer, a reservation deposit does not guarantee receipt of a system avilable to purchase at launch."
Great, so you preregister to preorder, get your self down to a store early in the morning, stand in line for hours, pay $50 as a deposit (which you would get back) and STILL not be guaranteed the hardware. Geez, Louise!
Another Sad Tale
David Cobb, another fellow PCW staffer and gamer, says he tried to get in on the Oct 10th preorder process for a PS3 from EBGames/GameStop. This was after he registered with the company some weeks ago to be notified about when he could come down to preorder the game console.
He did get an e-mail from EBGames/GameStop on Oct. 9th telling him that he could preorder in person, but David didn't recognize it as the trigger to hustle down to the store. He thought it was an e-mail newsletter and, by the time he really read it, it was too late to preorder.
"At this point I am planning to just order one online when I can, and I will just accept that it may be months before a PS3 arrives," he says."However, I will make enough effort to be sure NOT to order from EB Games/GameStop . . . since the pre-order process left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth."
Amazon, which is also collecting e-mail addresses to notify people when preorders can be placed, seems to be the most comfortable talking about preorders--and company officials were even willing to go on the record.
Sean Sundwall, senior PR manager, said customers should sign up at Amazon.com to be notified when the consoles are available for preorder. "We take preorders when we are cleared to do so by the manufacturer and when we know exactly what the allocation will be," he said. "Before we can offer a preorder, we need to be able to guarantee we're going to get it."
Guarantee. Now that's a word I like to hear. Good luck all you interested PCW readers with those preorders and make sure you know who you're buying from! Just for a lark, type "preorder ps3" or "preorder wii" into any search engine and see how many sites come up. Who ARE most of those guys?
Source: PC World | 
Preordering PS3 and Nintendo Wii...
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