Just imagine for a moment that it"s Christmas morning and parents across the country are having to explain to the fruit of their over-active loins that because Mr Play and Mr Amazon"s virtual shelves were empty, there is no slimline new PS2 under the tree. Now try to picture the tear-stained faces of their cherubic children as they trudge off to the parlour to play with their old, boring, massive PS2.
But this is no festive fable, it could actually be the nightmare before Christmas as retailers nationwide are selling out of the new shape PS2. Amazon.co.uk don"t think they"ll have any more before the New Year, likewise Gameplay, and even Game have stopped taking pre-orders. Some observers even claim to have seen the compact consoles on eBay for £400 but our search of the skinflint"s paradise revealed the machines selling for closer to the £175 mark.
Sony spokesman David Wilson has promised that the company would respond to the increased demand by shipping extra machines into the shops from Monday but could not guarantee that there would be enough units to sate demand.
"We are experiencing temporary shortages and, at this time, there is no stock of PlayStation 2. However special measures have been put in place to overcome the gap in stock and we will be re-supplying our retailers at the beginning of next week."