Preorder PS3 at Gamestop/EB = no Wii

[Warlock]

TSA posted this on his site:
http://www.zhq2.com/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1160502365&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&

The important part:

So today I get up at 7am to go down to GameStop to pre-order the highly coveted PoS PS3 so I can take advantage of morons who will pay thousands for the device in high demand. I arrive, and there are 8 people ahead of me - all but one is in line to buy their system to sell online for profit. One mom was in line for her son (Note to Sony: Nobody is buying your system to play it - they're buying it to turn a huge profit.)

Anyway, so the manager comes out at 9:45am and says the following - read from a memo I read with my own eyes from GameStop corporate:

1) You are paying for a spot in line today. This means the 10 pre-orders this GameStop was accepting were not for the console, but to come back launch day and wait in line.
2) Only people who pay 100 dollars today get to wait in line.
3) There is no order of pre-orders. I was #8. If I got to GameStop and camped out Nov 16th, and was #1 in that line, the person today who was #1 - if they arrived last - may not even get a PS3.
4) The pre-order does not guaruntee a system. It's for a spot in line.
5) Our manager believed we'd only get 6 PS3s on launch day, but they're taking 10 pre-ordes because they will get 10 before Christmas.
6) IF YOU PRE-ORDERED A PS3, YOU CAN'T PRE-ORDER A WII AT ANY OTHER GAMESTOP OR EBX STORE.

Wow.. wtf.. I can only imagine the idea there is that they know 99% of the ppl preordering are doing it to sell on ebay, so they decided to screw those ppl out of the Wii system they apparently actually want, to leave the 6 systems they actually get in for crazy diehard Sony fanboys who masturbate to the thoughts of getting a PS3 on launch day and still refer to Gamecube as "Gaycube" :D

BTW, read the rest of that post on there.. That's pretty hilarious that everyone walked out when they heard that they couldn't get a Wii.

[lord_jamitossi]

All I can say is, What the hell are they thinking?

From the comments below the main post, it seems like this is just a local thing, but man, Sony is screwing up left, right and center! Between the absurd lauch price, the unavailibility, the not-so-strongness of the games availible at launch, delaying it in Europe, and any number of other things, this is looking more and more like a Comedy of Errors each day!

[AtmaWeapon]

I dropped by the local Gamestop today because I heard rumors that wii could be preordered today but was disappointed. However, a flustered manager told me to sign up for some mailing list because apparently he's been dealing with "WHERE DA PEE ES TREES AT" all day and he does not want to have to go through it with the Wii.

The "If you order a PS3 you don't get to preorder Wii" deal is pretty weird... one wonders if this is some manner of corporate sabotage.

[Grasshopper]

*scratches head*

I'll let know you guys know what the deal is next time I work.

Last time I worked, all I heard was that it would be 5-10 days before they even tell us what we're suppose to do for pre-ordering or not. They've been saying that to us for the last month. Bah. It definitely sounds like some crazy thing the manager of the store came up with. I don't see why they would be doing something like that unless perhaps each district in the company operates under it's own set of rules. :shrug:

I don't see how they can track you. I can not look up stuff about reservations and such that are in other stores, only in my store. I'm not sure how they plan to do this.

[punkonjunk1024]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha


Wooooooo Sony

[Warlock]

*scratches head*

I'll let know you guys know what the deal is next time I work.

Last time I worked, all I heard was that it would be 5-10 days before they even tell us what we're suppose to do for pre-ordering or not. They've been saying that to us for the last month. Bah. It definitely sounds like some crazy thing the manager of the store came up with. I don't see why they would be doing something like that unless perhaps each district in the company operates under it's own set of rules. :shrug:

I don't see how they can track you. I can not look up stuff about reservations and such that are in other stores, only in my store. I'm not sure how they plan to do this.

Maybe corporate has a record of all preorders that they can do this?

[Beldaran]

I refuse to buy a console until it's saturated the market, there are tons of games available, and it costs $100 less than launch. I completely fail to see the logic behind sucking some company's dick just to get the console a few months ahead of time. Patience is a virtue when it comes to gaming, in my opinion.

[Grasshopper]

Maybe corporate has a record of all preorders that they can do this?

I don't think they get ahold of those numbers until the end of the business day when all the registers are closed out.

[Warlock]

I don't think they get ahold of those numbers until the end of the business day when all the registers are closed out.

But they aren't taking Wii preorders yet, and surely every PS3 preorder is gone by now. So they'd have them.

I think at the very least, they could get the names/addresses of everyone who preordered a PS3 in that state and feed that to the computer (or even just give the stores a list) and they could check that against Wii preorders. With each store only taking like 10 PS3 preorders it wouldn't be too big.

[ZTC]

Okay, I was in line until they said this. I literally said "what the ****". I called up my friend, who works at GameStop in Grapevine's offices (who is my source of my pre-order Wii info) and he said they're cracking down on this. They are taking as much info as you give, and logging it. If you go to store A, and try to pre-order PS3, then go to store B, and try to pre-order Wii, they will deny your pre-order for Wii. They are going to check your Name, your Phone #, and your Address you gave. If any of these MATCH another pre-order, all subsequent attempts to pre-order are denied.

That's utter bullshit to allow only one console preorder per address. It seems like it's getting easier by the week to see that Sony is going to fail. =/

[Cloral]

I'm guessing when my friend 'heard' that the Wii would be available for preorder on last Tuesday, he was really hearing about the PS3 being available.

All in all, since I'm not at all interested in a PS3, none of this really matters to me. So it is interesting to read about.

[Grasshopper]

But they aren't taking Wii preorders yet, and surely every PS3 preorder is gone by now. So they'd have them.
Oop, yeah, I forgot about PS3 pre-orders being take before hand. Yesterday was a great day, pre-orders gone before the store even open.
:rolleyes:

Whats worse is begin an employee doesn't make you any luckier...probably worse of than the customer. Employees have certain "guildlines" they have to follow in pre-ordering a system, and if they aren't followed...its time to look for a new job.

Like for instance, they would have to pre-order from the store they work at, no other or they get fired. So you either get it from your Gamestop, or stand in line at Wal-Mart. No shopping around at other EBs or Gamestops. They can only have a certain number of employees pre-order, so the entire store can not each get one. If this number is exceeded...fired. And pair that up with the fact you can only have a Wii or a PS3, not both...or your fired...you can paint yourself a grim picture this holiday season.

I think that if it wasn't for the big Xbox 360 fiasco they had last year, pre-ordering these systems wouldn't be so strict.

[Warlock]

That's because GameStop/EB suck :P I never buy from them, with the only exception being like the FFXII CE which is only available through them. But otherwise, you're always paying absolute full price for a game, whereas you can almost always find it cheaper somewhere else (and at the very least, I can get reward points at Best Buy to get coupons and stuff)

[AtmaWeapon]

That's because GameStop/EB suck :P I never buy from them, with the only exception being like the FFXII CE which is only available through them. But otherwise, you're always paying absolute full price for a game, whereas you can almost always find it cheaper somewhere else (and at the very least, I can get reward points at Best Buy to get coupons and stuff)I think the quality of the game is reflected by the quality of the stores that sell the exclusive CE version :)

[Warlock]

I think the quality of the game is reflected by the quality of the stores that sell the exclusive CE version :)

What? Just because they are famous enough for Square-Enix to do an exclusive deal with them doesn't make them good quality stores :P I mean, there is nothing specifically wrong with them, it's just that you always pay full retail price pretty much no matter what, and they'll generally screw you over in regards to used games (selling, trading, etc.. they basically buy them from you cheap, then mark them the hell up to resell)

To be honest, the only real reason to keep them around is that they have a really good online store if you want to go that way (and honestly, that's probably the main reason they got this deal - their online stores usually get exclusive CE type stuff from companies). Frankly, there isn't much else out there. You could order from like Amazon.com or BestBuy.com or something, but they sort of suck for video games (Amazon.com is pretty decent for DVDs tho).

Also, if you are looking for something very specific and sort of rare (i.e. like a specific cable not normally sold in mass retail stores or something) then they usually have that stuff. But for general games, you're better off shopping at Best Buy or Wal-mart I think.

[Pineconn]

This is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Plain and simple, don't need to delve into details.

This doesn't mean you can't buy a Wii at Gamestop, just that you can't pre-order. Not like it makes too big of a difference. (Note the italicized "too" mind you!)

[Grasshopper]

Ok, I came to our store this morning to help with pre-orders and we had given them all out before we opened. We just had to wait until 10am to ring them up.



1) You are paying for a spot in line today. This means the 10 pre-orders this GameStop was accepting were not for the console, but to come back launch day and wait in line.
Incorrect. Disclaimer that we stapled to the reciept says this...
http://www.sanffo.co.uk/~gibdo/myfiles/extra/disclaimer.jpg
You ARE guarenteed a system, but because of what happened last year with Xbox 360, you MAY NOT get it on launch day. You are guarenteed a spot in line, whether you are actually in that line or not.

2) Only people who pay 100 dollars today get to wait in line.
Only $50 for me. :shrug: and $10 for accessories, $5 for games

3) There is no order of pre-orders. I was #8. If I got to GameStop and camped out Nov 16th, and was #1 in that line, the person today who was #1 - if they arrived last - may not even get a PS3.
There was no order, but if you reserve it then you will have it. You will have one held for you, regardless of who comes before you. If the guy who camped out in front of the store was #1, and didn't have it reserved, he would have camped there for no reason. Sorry, he's not getting one. There were 10 people ahead of him. The 10 that reserved it. Call it a waiting list if you will.

4) The pre-order does not guaruntee a system. It's for a spot in line.
Right, because of production and shipping......Xbox 360. I don't think Nintendo would have problems, and I don't think Sony will either, but last year people got mad because they didn't get a system because of supply shortages. Did MS say they would have more then they did, or did GS take too many? Either way, I guess the company wants to let everyone know that before hand.

5) Our manager believed we'd only get 6 PS3s on launch day, but they're taking 10 pre-ordes because they will get 10 before Christmas.
I think the stores will get more eventually anyway, I just wouldn't want to take that chance.

6) IF YOU PRE-ORDERED A PS3, YOU CAN'T PRE-ORDER A WII AT ANY OTHER GAMESTOP OR EBX STORE.
You can, thats what my manager told me. What is suppose to happen though is if you pre-order a PS3 or Wii from one store, then you can't go to another store and pre-order another PS3 or Wii. Only one of each regardless of which store. If you're caught, and most likely will, you will be flagged, and lose reserves on any of those systems. Also, employees can't reserve the system outside their own store. But you CAN reserve one of each.


It still kind of stinks that they have to be so strict on everything. It makes me feel all uptight, that I'm going to get fussed at when something doesn't go someone's way. :shakeno:

[Warlock]

I heard from a lot of places that it was $100 minimum. Are you sure you're not thinking of the Wii? (I know that one is $50). I think I still have my GameStop "reservations start tomorrow" e-mail so I can check that when I get home to see if it says.

As for the waiting thing, he is right I think - or rather you are both saying the same thing. The way I understand it, yes, the 10 ppl who preorder will get one. But it's first-come, first-serve amongst those 10 ppl who gets one on launch day (the rest have to wait for shipment #2). That means if person #10 to preorder gets there first on PS3 launch day, he gets one, and if person #1 to preorder gets there last, he doesn't. His point #1 was probably worded poorly - I think he knows everyone will *eventually* get a console, just that not everyone will get one on launch day.

The "you can't preorder a Wii" thing may have been regional though. I think TSA is living in California right now, where I am pretty sure they'd have to have some extra measures in place (because it's one of the most populated states). My guess there is that like I said, they are trying to discourage people from getting them just to sell on eBay.

[Grasshopper]

Yes, I was talking about the Wii. But I thought it was $50 for both. I didn't reserve a PS3, so I'm probably wrong.

I just wanted to clear things up for people who thought otherwise. Some person actually said on that site.

The ebgames near me sold actual pre-orders and not a place in line.
They all sell "actual pre-orders". :rolleyes: Had to let you guys know whats going on, now that I worked and actually know whats going on. :p

[Mitsukara]

I refuse to buy a console until it's saturated the market, there are tons of games available, and it costs $100 less than launch. I completely fail to see the logic behind sucking some company's dick just to get the console a few months ahead of time. Patience is a virtue when it comes to gaming, in my opinion.
Seconded, though in my case it's not a matter of a few months so much as typically at least a year or two. Also, I buy quite a bit of used games- works pretty well for games that go down to 1/2 or less of the original price, but are available in abundance (Castlevania: Circle of the Moon comes to mind as an example, I got it dirt cheap- $10- and it's not really rare, just because I didn't buy one until this year).

But I will buy a few things when they're new if I can afford it and really want it then, or if I think it won't do well used.

[MottZilla]

I refuse to buy a console until it's saturated the market, there are tons of games available, and it costs $100 less than launch. I completely fail to see the logic behind sucking some company's dick just to get the console a few months ahead of time. Patience is a virtue when it comes to gaming, in my opinion.

It takes a long time for a console to drop 100$ from the launch price man. Xbox 360 has been out for a year sometime in November, it hasn't dropped in price and won't until sometime next year. That's over a year of waiting, and it doesn't work that way. If it weren't for people that are early adopters, no system would have ever gotten off the ground. You can't just assume companies will put effort into making a game and being ok with waiting until people decide there is a big enough pile of software or the hardware is cheap enough. There's plenty of reasons to buy the console before it drops by 100$. And it's not being impatient. I bought my 360 some time after E3 this year. Sure I could have waited probably another whole year to pay alittle less for the system, but then I couldn't play the games I want to. And I enjoy it, and it was easily worth the 400$ for the console. Easily.

[Grasshopper]

One of the reasons I don't like to wait is because the "ton of games" that are/were available are hard to find, or you can't find at all. Most of the time, launch games, or games that come out within the first year aren't available after the system prices drop unless they rerelease them as budget titles, or you manage to find one used.:unhappy: