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Over the weekend, a store in Tokyo put PS5 consoles on sale for in-person purchase, and things went very badly wrong.
As chronicled by Creatures Inc.’s Dave Gibson just below (and first reported by VideoGamesChronicle (opens in new tab)), the in-person sale of PS5 consoles at Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, Tokyo was overwhelmed by demand. It got so bad that the cash registers and staff “went backwards,” as Gibson writes below, due to the swarming crowds that gathered there in the hopes of being able to purchase Sony’s next-gen console.
Oh my God!!!! ヨドバシps5 pic.twitter.com/v2ilIadbFkJanuary 30, 2021
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Currently, Tokyo is under a State of Emergency, along with Osaka, until at least February 7 (opens in new tab). The State of Emergency decrees that residents work at home when able to, and trips out be limited to essential outings only, hence why the police were eventually called to break up the surging crowds at the PS5 sale from Yodobashi Camera.
You’d think that in-person PS5 sales would be a rarity, but Gibson claims they’re happening “3 times per week usually (opens in new tab).” He reckons that will stop after the events at Yodobashi Camera, however, and also estimates upwards of 70% of the crowd you can see in the video above were resellers, looking to sell on the console for a profit.
Previously, we saw the PS5 sell out almost instantly in Japan, despite the fact that pre-orders for Sony’s next-gen console were put on a lottery system. Customers would draw lottery tickets in the hopes of being chosen to purchase a console, but pre-orders sold through in early November, before the console had even launched. Shortly after,
Despite this, the PS5 launch in Japan was smaller than every PlayStation console in history, with the exception of the PSP. An analyst claimed that the PS5 only sold through 240,000 units in the first six weeks on the market in Japan, and that Sony’s attitude towards Japan in general has been somewhat “cold.” Looking at the larger picture however, the PS5 managed to sell over 2 million units on day one alone, and PlayStation boss Jim Ryan believes the new console will eventually outsell the PS4.
If you’re still trying to get your hands on Sony’s next-gen console in either the US or UK, you can head over to our PS5 deals guide for a list of up-to-date retailers with projected stock in the near future.
