I’m writing this article tonight because something odd happened that I never expected. I found PlayStation 3 systems out in the wild!
Last night I was at Target about five or six at night and I went back to the video game department. I was astonished to find a gigantic box sitting in the case below the PS3 games. Low and behold, they had a 60GB system available for purchase. I asked the salesperson in charge of the electronics department about the system and he said it had been there all day, but no one seemed interested in it. Shirking this off as just dumb luck, I went about my business and went home to tell my wife about what had happen.
Today while we were out exchanging some gifts at the mall, we hit up Target because my wife wanted some new makeup and I wanted to see if they had any World of Warcraft trading cards available. Again I hit up the gaming section because I wanted to get a pink sleeve for our second Wii controller when again, I see another PS3 box in the case. This was only a 20GB version, but still, finding two PS3s in two different stores on two different days is pretty remarkable. Again I asked the sales associate how long it had been there and he said since yesterday morning. I toyed with the idea of purchasing this unit, but sense (my wife) grabbed hold of me just in time and said to wait until a few more solid exclusive titles were available for the thing.
This isn’t an isolated occurrence either as other reports are coming in on PS3 spottings in the wild. I guess the point of this post is: what’s going on with the PlayStation 3? Is Sony stepping up production of the units? Are the eBayers realizing they can’t make a profit in the system and are leaving new shipments for the people that actually want the thing? Perhaps overall interest in the PS3 is dying and gamers would rather invest their money on a Wii and/or Xbox 360.
Anyway, if you live near the Target in Okemos, Michigan they have a 20GB system there now for the purchasing activities. So get there quick.
Having over 25 years of gaming experience, Zach knows a thing or two when it comes to one of his favorite entertainment activities. Additionally, he has also written many articles previewing and reviewing titles which can be found in various places around the net, including VGBlogger.com. 
Just to throw in this little piece: I was at my local Game Crazy looking for some WoW trading cards, and I asked the guy if he had any Wii Points cards. They didn’t have either the cards or the points, but there was this guy (who I’d like to mention was black for the purpose of the story, as you know I can use racial stereotypes sometimes, and this guy was a prime example…no offense is meant to anyone).
So I was just looking around for a little bit, and a black guy at the counter was asking why NBA Live 07 wasn’t coming out. The clerk had no clue, so I informed the guy that EA cancelled the game because it sucked. He then started asking about NBA 2K7, and when he was looking at the box art, he could only say “Man, it looks really good”. I told him it doesn’t look THAT much better than the 360 version would, aside from a few pixels and possibly better frame rate (he was looking at the PS3 one). He then asked the guy about his PS3’s, and when they’d be getting more. This is EXACTLY what the clerk said:
“We actually had three in here for about a week on display, and no one wanted to buy them. They bought a Wii instead. We just sold them on Saturday though.”
The black guy was asking why anyone would want that “piece of shit Wii”, and I went into a rage and started throwing some gamer nerdness on this guy. You know, the whole “some of us don’t care if Grand Theft Auto lets you see the nipples poking through a chick’s shirt. Some of us actually care about PLAYING the game, and at $600, I’ll wait for a year or two before I bother buying a PS3. I got a Wii and am thoroughly satisfied with it. You want a good game? Get Elebits. You want a pretty game? Get a PS3.” He left the store afterward, and the clerk said “Way to lay into him, man. I hate when people only care about the graphics.”
That’s pretty much all the guy cared about. I don’t think I was necessarily out of line, especially when the guy VERBATIM used the term “piece of shit Wii”.
But, the point of the story (sorry I went into a tirade there) is that Game Crazy had 3 Playstation 3’s sitting on their shelves for A WEEK! I live in a city of about 100,000…so a week seems ridiculous.