Topic: When do you predict that "everyone" will be able to buy a PS5?

@nomither6 Its not just the $800. Though that in itself would stop me. But I am absolutely not buying an expensive piece of electronics second hand from anyone. If it doesn't work, you're just out of luck. I'm waiting until I can get one from a major retailer and buy a 3-year extended warranty.

@Unlucky13 If the rumours are true and 8K support is the main selling point then I'll just go for the standard PS5.

@WanderingBullet Same. I bought a new 4K TV less than two years ago. I seriously doubt I'll be going to an 8K model before the end of the PS5's lifespan.

If the Pro were faster, and ESPECIALLY if it had a bigger hard drive, then I'd consider it if I can't get a regular one before then. But not for the fancy picture. Given that I'll be upgrading from a standard PS4 I bought in 2014, the regular PS5 is bound to be a huge jump.

Same here.

@redd214

I went to my local Best Buy this week for the first time since before Covid started and spoke to the manager about a handful of things. He said he thinks that its a best-case scenario that they have regular stock of PS5's in the store by the end of 2022, and even then he expects them to sell as soon as they come in off of the truck.

@Unlucky13 Yeah I figure my surest bet is the PS Direct invites at this point. I am a TotalTech member with Best Buy though so if they have another sale exclusively for members then that's also a possibility. Problem is knowing when they drop stock.

Honestly though I'm finding it hard to stay interested in anything Playstation related at the moment with this scarcity ongoing and without end. I'm no longer subscribed to plus, barely visit this site, and really am not considering any game purchases in the near future as honesty I'd just rather wait til I have the proper system to play them on. And my time is too important to me to chase alerts and such so yeah, this whole situation has really sapped my engagement with gaming. Kinda sad.

@zupertramp @Unlucky13 Sorry to hear you guys still haven’t found a PS5 yet. After finding mine I have stopped looking or paying much attention, but I was literally in a GameStop a few weeks ago just browsing and wasting a little time (I like to look through their pre-owned games every now and then) and the store had PS5’s for sale literally that day, in stock on site. The worker was wandering around the store chatting with the few other customers that were there saying, “Hey, I’ve got PS5’s for sale today…”. Apparently they were selling them in a bundle, and I’m not sure what games or peripherals were part of the bundle. Me and the other guy there in the PS part of the store at the time weren’t interested since we already have a PS5 (although the thought crossed my mind to pick it up and sell or gift to someone, but I don’t have $500 lying around) and the other person shopping was looking at Switch stuff and wasn’t interested.

Anyways, I’m not sure if that was a one-off rare moment or if the GameStops are getting regular shipments now. I’ve heard of people being on waiting lists at GameStop, but I’m not sure if that’s true and might be store dependent.

Sorry chaps! I should have picked it up for one of you!

I will say, I turned on my PS4 and used it to play a game the other day and it did feel sluggish. I find myself using it less and less. I think you’ll be pleased when you do finally get your hands on one!

@Th3solution I went into my local Gamestop as well, and the manager said that he's only had a couple in the entire year they've been out. It seems like they're sending them to the major cities, which makes sense. He tried to get me to sign up for their paid rewards program (which I wasn't going go do regardless), but when I dug into it, he said that I basically would have to be able to know when the sale was coming and react immediately even then. Just not worth it.

So, I'll wait, and just hope that at some point in 2022, Sony is able to really crank up production and send them everywhere.

@Unlucky13 @Th3solution yeah it's been my understanding that a couple retailers have dipped their toes back into in-person sales only recently and even then it has been both rare and restricted to major cities, as mentioned. So it's certainly not going to be available where I live any time soon.

Funny that someone was able to just happen upon one though. There's constantly claims, by the people that have them, that they are easy to find now but they really aren't so to see one just there is pretty crazy. Crazier still that no one was interested lol.

@Th3solution Still amuses me that I was out of town for something yesterday and literally discovered that a local Gamestop had just gotten a PS5 shipment in. I could have bought one if I wanted to stand in the line.

I actually went in hoping for a Switch OLED, but no beans.

@Unlucky13 Production will probably increase gradually over time, but as long as this squeeze on the chip supply is still going on, Sony's only going to have so much production capacity.

Hound local stores, get on mailing lists, and keep an eye on twitter accounts that post about shipments becoming available on major online retailers.

@zupertramp Yeah, I’d by no means say that they are easy to find. I think I was just at the store at an incredibly lucky time. And I do think there is just a weird happenstance to the whole process of some stores and communities having higher demand than others. It happened with the COViD vaccines too early on when they were scarce, where in some places one could walk into a pharmacy and get one at a whim and in other places you had to get on a waiting list with hundreds of other people. I knew some people that drove 3-4 hours to smaller communities to get their shot because the larger cities couldn’t keep them in stock. It seems the PS5 shortage is the opposite whereby the large cities have them more commonly stocked. The online retailers are still probably the best way to go all around though.

As long as it takes as much effort, timing and luck to be able to get one as it currently does, we're nowhere close to my original question of when "anyone" will be able to buy one.

I'm very happy for the people who have been lucky enough to get one themselves. No hard feelings, other than jealousy. Bu whenever someone posts somewhere that its easy to get one, that's a real kick in the crotch to all of us who are left in the dust. Because its as far from being "easy" as you can get.

@Unlucky13 and just for the record i didn't mean to imply @Th3solution was saying it was easy. But it has certainly become a trend on this site, mostly in the comments though.

But yeah the vaccines were kinda like that. It was weird for a bit there but I guess it's good we got the vaccines sorted before the game consoles.

Was also thinking that if the first place to have them readily available is GameStop then I'll still have a while to wait yet. I really dislike that place. It's like someone turned a game-centric flea market into a franchise.

@zupertramp @Unlucky13 Yes, I was certainly with you both in the camp of “I don’t have the time or mental energy to play these online stalking games” several months ago before one fell into my lap though a fortuitous set of circumstances. Every time my PS5 makes a slight noise or hiccup, I hold my breath because I know I’m just one unfortunate mechanical failure away from being back in the last gen crowd with a lot of you all.

As far as GameStop, I do have mixed feeling about them. There are certain predatory tactics they use, and many stores do feel a lot like you’re at a yard sale, but I like the idea of pre-owned games (both buying and selling) although I also try to support the developers and publishers that I like by buying new and digital at times too. I know I can both buy and sell games at better bargains online, but it’s too much of a hassle sometimes. I just like the ability to go into and store, physically touch and browse a wide library of games, and just drink at the watering hole of our hobby enthusiasts. GameStop also now does price matching too, if you’re not aware. So if the game is on sale on PSN, or Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, or even Amazon, then they will price match. It’s very convenient to just be able to go one place and get the best prices all at once and not run around town (or wait for a package in the mail). They won’t price match Amazon marketplace vendors, only the price as sold from Amazon themselves. Usually the lowest price is automatically applied at check out, but I negotiated a price the other day by showing them on my phone the cheaper price on the other store’s website and they changed the price for me at the register.

@Th3solution I used to love Gamestop, and the similar stores that existed back in the day before they gobbled them all up. In the PS2 era and earlier, they had a wonderful business model. I could buy a game that I was really looking forward to new for $50, play it through, and if I was totally done with it, I could sell it back for $15-$30, and then put that money directly into another new game.

And if there was a game I wasn't so sure about, I could wait and buy it for $30-$40 a few months after release usually. I gave them essentially 100% of my video game business for years. Pre-orders, guides, everything. But then they got greedier and greedier, and now theres almost no point in even going in. Its sad.

The earliest I can see the PS5 being in stock everywhere all the time is second quarter of 2022.

I really didn't want to waste time trying to get one but the shortage dragged on and on. I followed some guy on Twitter who would send updates on rumors of stock but the only thing I tried was the Sony Direct releases since supposedly its a lottery not first come first serve. I ended up getting one on my second try

@Ryall At this point, if I could get one by next Summer, I would consider that a huge win.

@Ralizah did you find a switch oled? There's one here at my Walmart right now. 2 actually.

Edit: really feel like i should cop one but idk. I don't wanna be stuck with it. I don't really want or need one atm.