Eager early adopters received word last night that EB Games and GameStop stores would be taking pre-orders for Sony"s PlayStation 3 this morning. Each store will have a limited number of units available when the system launches on November 17. Stores demanded a dowry of $100 in cash, credit, or trade-in for those precious few.
Many customers camped out overnight for the chance to be one of the first owners of Sony"s next-gen system. At most of the stores that IGN visited or contacted the number of people lined up far exceeded the store"s allocation. The number of pre-orders available varied from four at a store in Detroit, Michigan to 16 at a store in Seattle, Washington. Several employees we contacted said that they were instructed not to disclose the number of pre-orders they were given.
Some clerks would offer a general number when we pressed for details. One Northern California store claimed "less than 20." When pressed the clerk laughed and admitted "Okay, like, ten less than 20." An official representative for GameStop Corp. said that each store recieved "no less than eight pre-orders or up to 16. The number allocated is based on store location and traffic." The rep went on to state that currently pre-orders for PS3 were closed. Customers can state their preference for which PS3 they would get, either the 20 GB or 60 GB, but there was no indication of what percentage of each version the stores will be provided. Currently, there are no pre-orders available in Canada and the company apologized for the confusion that led some to believe pre-orders were available for all of North America. Canadian PS3 pre-orders will be "available as soon as possible."