Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

[Malacite]

GameStop Cuts Off PlayStation 4 Preorders - News - www.GameInformer.com

GameStop has stopped taking store pre-orders for the PlayStation 4 due to high demand.Late last month, GameTrailers published an internal GameStop memo telling employees that the company would be taking unlimited pre-orders for PS4 systems until further notice. Apparently that time has come. A spokesperson for GameStop has issued the following statement to us:
"Due to high demand for the system, GameStop is not currently taking additional store reservations for the PlayStation 4."
The spokesperson also stated that online reservations would be available "while supplies last," but since then GameStop's website has been updated to say that the console is currently sold out. Interested users can submit their email addresses to learn when reservations are available again.
[Source: GameStop via PlayStation Lifestyle]
Our Take
While the demand for PlayStation 4s is bad for gamers who haven't pre-ordered yet, it is certainly good news for Sony. The leaked memo from last month stated that Sony made the call for taking unlimited pre-orders, so clearly the company felt confident in its ability to provide a high volume of systems for launch. That the demand is even greater than the company anticipated is the best kind of problem Sony could hope for at this point, and one that Microsoft surely hopes to replicate.
Full Disclosure: Game Informer is owned by GameStop

[Icemage]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

My take-away from this is that GameInformer would know best what GameStop's status is for pre-orders.

Even in my area, where the Xbox 360 dominates the PS3 about 2 to 1, the PS4 pre-orders are ahead of Xbox One at about 75 PS4 vs. 50 XB1 at my local GameStop (I asked, and the staff there like me enough to tell me real numbers).

It's anecdotal, but if anything, the ratios I'm hearing from other locations are much more in favor of PS4. November sales data is going to be very interesting this year, that's for sure.


Icemage

[ItazuraNhomango]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

My take away is that Amazon.com is still taking pre-orders; maybe GameStop just wasn't able to get Sony to commit all that many PS4 to it?

[Firewind]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

It's similar in Europe. According to a friend I have that manages a GAME they are taking nearly three times as many PS4 pre-orders as XBox One orders in the UK (which is hilarious since half of his employees are hardcore Microsoft fans and I constantly see them trying to find any reason to dismiss the PS4 and Wii U). Given the dominance of the PS3 in mainland Europe over the 360, and how few countries in Europe that the XBox One will work in, I would expect the numbers to be heavily skewed in the PS4's direction.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

Just worth pointing out, but maxing out pre-orders does not ensure your platform is a wild success. I believe 3DS, Vita and Wii U also all maxed out pre-orders and two of those are still floundering about. Another common problem they've shared in this floundering is pushing out a "big launch lineup" and then having nothing behind them for months, a hypetrain PS4 and Xbox One seem to still be on board for because it sounds nice.

That said, Xbox One is already going to be floundering in Japan, even more than 360 did. MS Japan doesn't even know how they're going to market it. The way people consume media over there now isn't centered on the living room now and it really wasn't even before smartphones and tablets came along, but that addition strengthened the focus away from the living room.

The West is slowly moving away from its love of the idea of watching things on a big TV in the living room, too, and focusing on the media-hub angle still doesn't seem to be doing it any favors. PS4 is doing all that media stuff, too, but they wisely haven't marketed it that way. Gamers want games - imagine that.

[Malacite]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

Considering Xbox One isn't even available in Japan at launch yeah, I's say so

[Firewind]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

One of the main problems with going with the "Less games at launch, more in the current months" is that is doesn't really solve the issue of quality of games in general at release. You can be releasing a game every 6 weeks or so but if they are being rushed out then it is as bad as them being ruhed out for a huge launch library. Plus you run into the "Hit and Miss" syndrome which does seem to be going on with Nintendo at the moment where for every great game that comes out, it tends to be followed with some mediocre to average at best game clearly rushed out to fill in the open slot.

On the other side of the coin, taking a "the games will be out when they are ready" approach will end up tarring the console with the "Got no games!" tag which is something that the Gamecube, PSP and Vita found hard to shake off and something that the Wii U is trying desperately to shed. YMMV on how much of a success abandoning the west to focus on japan is since it seems more like conceding defeat from an admitted member of the PC Master Race.

It is something that there is no easy solution for and is an underlying problem with the industry. The current situation is a classic example of Game Theory. In a three way duel you don't want to be the one to shoot first. Sure you can wait for the others to draw first or shoot into the air and hope the others shoot each other. The reason I bring this up is that as soon as someone announces a new console, you pretty much have to act otherwise you're eating a bullet. Developers need time with the new Dev Kits and they need time to actually put out games, but the console makers want those games out, and the publishers want to be in the launch lineup so it's a tricky situation.

I don't want to be naive and preach patience from all parties here but the industry needs to stat showig some common sense. Sadly nobody wants to be pinned with the label as the guy that shot last. After all, what gamers apparently want is the first console! No wait the console with most games! Or the most powerful one! Or was it the console that can connect to facebook? Or the one that watches you masturbate? Or was it the one that forces media options onto us? Or the one that forces the use of controllers that devs have no clue what to do with?

Or is it that gamers just care about quality games made with a reasonable budget that weren't rushed out and want the console that can most consistently deliver that? Well that might explain why less people are ordering the XBox One anyway?

[Icemage]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

I don't think you can encapsulate why people buy consoles with just one element. Everyone assigns a different weight to each feature: price, online connectivity, computational power, available software, future software potential, extra functions, ease of use, accessibility, attitude toward DRM, level of corporate respect, etc.

The sum of these elements is the value proposition to each consumer. Microsoft's problem in a nutshell is that they have never had a particularly strong brand image to begin with, and they start at the $500 price point, but that's just the tip of the iceberg for them. They're no longer headed for an iceberg the size of what sank the Titanic after their DRM reversal, but they're still in icy waters and are still way behind in a number of important factors.

Wii U's problems (and Vita's) are well-known. Both systems are struggling, and both have a couple of aces left in the hole, but I don't think anyone seriously believes they can seriously emerge out of their respective tailspins any time soon.

Vita has the problem of being very expensive, and lacking a worthwhile library for a lot of people. It doesn't have that Pokemon/Animal Crossing/Professor Layton/Monster Hunter-like killer app to justify the high price tag. The large procession of indie games is making Vita owners very happy (I'm pretty sure I don't just speak for myself when I say I'm surprised by how much use my Vita has gotten lately), but it still needs a few magical titles that resonate with people to buy the hardware in the first place.

Wii U's problem is almost the polar opposite. It too lacks software, and while Nintendo is finally getting around to firing some of their big guns, they're losing third party support even faster. Just yesterday, Ubisoft revealed that they failed to even break even on Zombie U, probably the best and most high profile 3rd party launch game for the Wii U. As such, it may not matter what Nintendo does this holiday; having great first party titles will certainly bring in Nintendo fans off the sidelines who absolutely must have Pikmin or Super Mario World or (eventually) Super Smash Brothers. What it doesn't do is appease people who are looking for 3rd party titles, nor does it convince anyone to buy 3rd party titles on a console that is significantly underpowered compared to the hardware coming this winter.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: Gamestop Maxed on PS4 Pre-Orders

And that's pretty much why while I'd like a Wii U, I'm going to wait until a price drop or I can find it on some kind of huge boxing day sale or something - I'd like to get my hands on Smash and a few others (curious about the next Zelda game) but I have zero interest in the system as far as 3rd party games go - Nintendo's online service continues to be a joke (and it doesn't look like things will ever change) and I'm still not a big fan of the Wii U pad. However, games like Smash (largely because of Mega Man) and "X" are just too good for me to pass up on entirely. I just hope I don't get stuck with another $300 paperweight.


Honestly at this point the only thing the PS4 is missing (for me) is full on BC :/

The launch line-up, while nothing super amazing thus far, looks solid enough - I'm looking forward to kicking off my streaming with BF4 and eventually Destiny.