Amazon.com has decided to dodge the bullet, announcing that it will not offer any further preorders for the PS3 or Wii in order to avoid disappointing its customers with problems related to short supplies. This week, GameStop informed its customers that those who held preorder tickets for PS3s may not get their units, citing the same cause.
On Amazon,s video game message board, the editors for the video game section said that eliminating presale orders was a hard decision, but was done in the best interest of the consumer. The statement from Amazon said:
"We apologize for being so heavy handed in our first reply. We did not mean to come across in a manner that would offend anyone.
"We value our customers above all else here at Amazon which is exactly why our team has been negotiating with both Sony and Nintendo for months with regards to the Wii and PS3 allocations. We see the passion in the discussion boards and are doing everything we can to try to get product for you, our customers.
"Again, we sincerely apologize that we will not be conducting pre-orders. This was not an easy decision, but we made the decision because we want to ensure that we can fulfill all of the orders that are placed within a reasonable time period. We understand your frustration, but we believe it would be extremely irresponsible if we took pre-orders for product that we may not be able to deliver until 2007.
"We will continue to update the discussion boards as we get more information and will certainly send out an email to those who signed up in advance of when we will have product available.
"Thank you for your continued support."
Industry watchers and Microsoft especially, are seeing the “next gen console shortages of 2006” as a boost for Xbox 360 sales. Last minute shoppers who won,t be able to get a Wii or PS3 may opt for the well-stocked 360. In an ironic twist, Microsoft,s Xbox 360 was in extremely limited quantities when it debuted last November, and drew heavy criticism from consumers and the press for not having sufficient quantities for launch. Now, a year later, the Big M has the golden opportunity to further establish its user base by having more stock on hand then its competitors.
