Saturday, November 25, 2006

The PS3 Aftermath: Scams, Violence, Supply and More...

I have been going back through some of the recent news archives from various sources about the PlayStation 3 (PS3) launch. I found an amazing array of stories of people getting scammed, robbed, abused and more.

Below are links and excerpts to some of the stories that I found. This list is not complete but it does give a sample of the stories that are available if you look for them:

Short Supply
Originally Sony said it was going to ship 400,000 unit to the US in 2006, then changed its story and cut the supply in half. This caused major havoc in the supply chain.
Failed Systems
Its seems like some of the new PS3 systems that were shipped were DOA (Dead on Arrival), or had some failing parts. I wonder if Sony will have enough systems replace the failed units in a timely manor?
eBay Scams
New PS3s have been selling for thousands of dollars on eBay buy people trying to make a quick profit on these systems. Some of the scams are almost funny, but like anything its buyer beware. Remember: make sure that you carefully read the description on any eBay sales, its basically a contract between you and the seller.
  • Example 1: Someone buys 3 original PlayStations (NOT three PlayStation 3's) for USD$900 dollars. No Controllers or Games included.
  • Example 2: Someone paid USD$1100 to buy the contact information of someone who might be selling a PS3.
  • Example 3: Someone bought a picture of the PS3 for $840 Canadian dollars.
Violence
Both buyers and sellers could have lost more then their PS3s, they could have lost their lives. Its amazing what people will steal, or do if they can make any money off of it.
Strange Stories
Below are just strange stories about people trying to buy PS3s, and some of the lengths they went to. Some of these stories are just craziness in my opinion humble opinion.

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