In January, when Electronic Gaming Monthly noted that PS3s were rather easy to come by, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton famously responded that he"ll pay $1,200 for every PlayStation 3 "in North America that"s been on shelves for more than a few minutes". In one hour, Penny Arcade found 11 consoles, amounting to $13,200. It is still unclear whether Gabe and Tycho have received their check from Tretton. And now, according to Tretton, there is a shortage of PS3s in the United States and the gaming company aims to solve the problem by shipping 2 million PS3s to North America by the end of next month and will hit its stride by May. Despite Tretton"s claims, many stores across the U.S. appear to have a surplus of PS3s. On the other hand, there is a complete lack of Nintendo Wiis. Maybe Tretton mixed up which company he"s representing?
"April or May is when we feel like we"re going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there. It"s a testament to the fact that we"ve been able to manufacture and ship units on a greater pace than any previous console. Our goal is to fill shelves across the United States. Our goal is not to have empty shelves, it"s to have full shelves. If we have empty shelves, that"s one less consumer who could have bought a PlayStation 3," said Tretton.