GameTavern - PSP Japan Launch looking ugly

GameTavern (http://www.gametavern.net/forums/index.php)

- Video Gaming (http://www.gametavern.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=1)

- - PSP Japan Launch looking ugly (http://www.gametavern.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10159)

PSP Japan Launch looking ugly

Quote:

November 27, 2004 - Things aren't looking good for the PSP over in Japan. Well... maybe that's not exactly true. If you're Sony, and you want to generate lots of hype for your new portable system, things are looking very good. If, on the other hand, you're a game fanatic who wants to be among the first to own the PSP... not so good.

Getting a system on launch day may be tough -- and not just for consumers, but for retailers as well. Japan's ITMedia news service reports that SCE has already informed major retailers about the number of systems that they will be getting in time for launch. However, some smaller retailers may be out of luck. According to SCE spokesperson Yoshiko Furusawa, "On the first day, we plan on shipping 200,000 systems throughout the country. That's not a lot of systems. The allotment for each shop won't be very high, and it's possible that some low-scale shops may not get any."

Even pre-ordering a system has been tricky with the PSP. Unlike Nintendo, which had an official pre-order program in place for the Nintendo DS system, ensuring that anyone who walked into a major retailer on 11/3 could pre-order the system without hassle, there's been no such effort on SCE's part with the PSP. Numerous retailers actually started taking PSP pre-orders last week or the week before, but with little or no prior announcement, all available systems were quickly snapped up by the few who were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.

Some retailers, even those who took pre-orders for the DS, have decided to not even take pre-orders for the PSP. Others apparently aren't sure what they'll be doing. One example is Bic Camera, one of the largest electronics retailers in the nation who, as of 11/28, was still not sure if they'd take pre-orders for the system. A clerk promised that the store would let patrons know as soon as something has been decided -- let's just hope they let us know a few days in advance so we can get to the store early in order to put our money down.

Elsewhere, some retailers are having to go back on prior consumer promises. IGN has seen a few cases where people were able to preorder the PSP, only to later get a call from the retailer stating that their system may not arrive on launch day. Just today, Amazon.com, which had sent e-mails to its customers stating that pre-orders had started, had a change of heart, stating "Shipment numbers from the maker are extremely low, making it into a situation where we cannot take pre-orders."

Instead, Amazon.com will, like many other retailers, sell the system on a first-come-first-serve basis starting on 12/12, the launch day. Of course, this means that those who pre-order Online will not be able to get the system until 12/13 due to shipping. They won't be alone, though, as those who managed to sneak in on the short-lived pre-order campaigns from the Online versions of Bic Camera and Yodobashi Camera will also have to wait until 12/13 at the earliest for their system.

Perhaps getting a PSP on 12/13 will be better than the alternatives: either not getting one at all, or waiting in line on the morning of the 12/12 in the hopes that your retailer of choice will have enough systems to go around. Like the PS2 launch from four years back, this could get messy.

http://psp.ign.com/articles/569/569029p1.html

I figured Sony would learn from the US/Europe launch of the PS2 and supply with the upcoming demand. But it looks like its gonna be exactly like the US PS2 launch was. Not enough to go around, demand through the roof, people selling them for 4x the original price. Then a month later Sony produces more but demand is still through the roof.