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Gamestop To Be Resupplied With PS3, Wii
GameSpot reports that GameStop will be resupplied with Wii and PS3 units within the next few weeks. They have some details on how the two console did in comparison (more games bought with the Wii than the PS3), and point out the best sellers for both systems. From the article: "The executives also recapped the launch performances of the two systems. For the PS3, Sony's Resistance: Fall of Man and Electronic Arts' Madden NFL 07 were the biggest sellers, while Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Ubisoft's Red Steel stood out from the pack of Wii launch titles ... While GameStop and its EB Games brand collectively account for about 25 percent of the US gaming market, the company believes it didn't receive that much of either system's day-one shipments. Executives said that they've never been satisfied with their launch day allocation of any new machine, but added their main concern now is the flow of follow-up shipments — which both Sony and Nintendo have promised will come at a steady pace."
So does this mean only Gamestop will be getting new systems? It seems kind of obvious to me, "Wii and PS3 to ship more units"
Earlier versions of closed video game consoles generally have more easily accessible holes in their protection, allowing the use of free software or other freeware. Compare an early Xbox console to an Xbox version 1.6, or compare a PSP with firmware 1.50 to a PSP with firmware 2.81. Even when the manufacturer supports the use of free software, as was the case with some PlayStation 2 consoles, the capability is often discontinued: Sony stopped making Linux kits for the PS2 and stopped making the full-size PS2 that was compatible with the hard drive. It remains to be seen how long Sony will maintain the "Other OS" installer for the PLAYSTATION 3 console.
Nah. The shipments will likely be very small, on the order of 10 or fewer consoles per store (more likely around 2-5 consoles). Given the demand and Sony's inability to satisfy, I think the ebayers will be fine at least through the holiday season and possibly as long as next spring.
We saw what happened when Microsoft had a problem with chip suppliers for the Xbox 360. That was just memory chips. Sony's having a problem getting blue lasers for the BD drives as well as suffering under low yields for Cell chips (some reports have yields as low as 10-20%, though I doubt it's truly that bad). It will take a miracle for Sony to hit their estimate of 2 million consoles on the market by end of this year, and even if they do a fair number of those will fall after the holiday.