As we approach the holiday season in this pandemic year, most gift shopping has moved online, a further blow to the brick-and-mortar stores. And, this year just happens to be the start of the 9th generation of consoles, a very important time for gamers, content creators like myself and companies alike. Pre-orders started in September, but very quickly sold out, as did launch day stock. Every drop of stock since that time has sold out similarly quickly, but there’s something sinister going on behind the scenes. Since I’ve already made clear that I intend to purchase a PS5, due to backwards compatibility and a stronger lineup of exclusives, I’m going to be focusing on that console, but both Sony and Microsoft’s offerings have exceeded 1 million units sold already. As a result of this, both consoles have been exceedingly hard to find. Not for lack of trying on my end, however!

My mom, supportive as she is, has been assisting me in my quest to acquire the Holy Grail of consoles, looking at every single online retailer, daily, for about the past week and a half. I’ve been monitoring my laptop and Twitter for stock notifications for the past 2 weeks, and I know other people have equaled or exceeded my efforts. Safe to say, I really want this thing and I know a lot of others do too. I finally got a 4K TV for my birthday and it’s been the best gift I’ve ever received, and it’s gotten a ton of use. But I have an original model PS4, which doesn’t output in 4K, but will continue to see use as long as it occupies space under my TV. The upgrade will be tangible enough for me to notice, especially in the load times. Spider Man’s fast travel goes from about 30 seconds, to less than 5, thanks to a Solid State Drive under the hood. And the 4K boost will apply to the PS4 games that support them, and PS4 games in general will be enhanced across the board. I’ll truly be able to get the most out of my gaming experiences if I’m ever able to get my hands on one.

But therein lies the problem with this experience. Supply cannot keep up with demand right now, as is common with any new console generation. Retailers are stocking, and that stock is being quickly snatched up. So quickly in fact that sites are crashing almost instantly. Some users are using bots, programmed to mimic human browsing, and overwhelm the servers, snatch up stock, and resell them on Ebay for 3, 4 and sometimes 8 times the retail price. It’s a dirty, dirty thing that’s been prevalent as long as there’s been online shopping, usually on the sneaker reselling circuit. What really rankles me is when people post to social media and they have warehouses of 8 or 9 units. People are out here trying to make a living and buy this thing as a gift for their kids or their families, and they can’t find it, and they’re forced to fork over an exorbitant amount of money to secure a unit. Ebay can sometimes be a Wild West in the first place so I don’t trust it to be a reputable establishment. There are legitimate, albeit still difficult means to obtain one however.

Enter the Sony Direct store. Like the name states, this store is run by Sony and as such, it requires a Playstation Network ID to make any purchases. There is also a limit of one per household, which kneecaps the scalpers attempting to buy multiple units. But it’s not always guaranteed that the units will be available, as the site always says. Whenever there is stock, they put you in a queue, and as that queue advances, the time updates, from over an hour, until you get to the front of the line. Only I haven’t gotten there yet, which is why I’m writing this right now. My mom and I have gotten close, however. A few Fridays ago, she was at 23 minutes and I was at 46 minutes, which is the first time we’ve gotten under an hour.

We found the hope to keep going, when I was down. But, for now, we’re going to calm down. Why?

Well, for starters, supply can’t keep up with demand right now. Due to the pandemic, brick and mortar retailers don’t have stock, which has created a hole in the market that bots and scalpers continue to exploit. Even then, there’s no guarantee that what you order online will actually get there. Amazon customers in the UK have reported their PS5s being swapped out with other items, like air fryers, George Foreman grills, and dog food. The black and blue Amazon tape has often been removed, and the box has been sealed back up. Originally, it was thought that the bad actors were the drivers, or somebody sneaking through the shipping facilities. Now it is known that these thieves were using a technique known as a “rollover”, which involves using multiple vehicles, boxing in delivery trucks, opening the back and stealing the items inside, and then closing it back up. Funny how stealing these systems sounds like something you’d see out of a big budget video game. Secondly, I have unfinished business on the PS4, and so many other games to finish. It’s been a good system to me for 4 years of full ownership, and I see no reason to abandon it now. Besides, console launches usually expose failures of the hardware so manufacturers can fix them for the next shipments. That, combined with the small number of launch titles, means that my hypothetical PS5 experience wouldn’t be as good as it could be, 1 to 2 years down the road, though backwards compatibility mitigates that somewhat. But eventually, maybe for my 22nd birthday, I’ll get my hands on one, and when I do, I’ll write here about it.

So, what can be done about this? Well, I have a few ideas, though I’m no businessman, so the feasibility of these might be in question, but hear me out. One, Sony needs to stop selling units, temporarily, so they can make more units. This is the most far fetched idea, and one that doesn’t make a lot of sense, right before the holidays, but maybe after the New Year, they can roll out more, so people don’t have to grind relentlessly and keep being disappointed? Just a thought. Two, make it an option in the queue to reserve a unit as soon as it becomes available, and ship it at different times. Though I suppose with demand the way it is right now, customers may not take it very well when their order takes a long time to get to their homes. I know I don’t! Third, Sony needs to cooperate more with retailers like Walmart, Amazon and Ebay, to stomp out scalpers. I don’t know why more stores aren’t doing the one-per-household limit; in not doing this, they’re creating an environment for scalpers to flourish, and snatch up all the stock. I don’t even know how these bots work, fully. I do know that it’s tempting to play the games that these scalpers play, as they sell access to bots on a subscription basis, and the problems can be taken care of. But these problems are inconsequential, and I would much prefer to relax and take it easy and enjoy the holidays playing games and writing! So that’s what I will do! For all intents and purposes, the generation doesn’t really start until next year anyway, that’s when more stock becomes available. And, I hope, that’s when I’ll be able to experience the next generation of games, and make more posts for you guys!