First off, today is Veterans Day in the United States and I want to make a moment to appreciate the United States Veterans and US Servicemen both past and present. Thank you for all you have done for the nation. Without the courage of those men and women, I would not have the freedoms I have today and for that my family and I, as well as everyone here at PS5 Gamers are grateful.
UPDATE: Right before I went to publish this article, GameStop emailed me to let me know that they will have PS5 console sales go live this evening on Gamestop.com They did not offer me a specific time other than saying “this evening.” Get ready to order online, but read up on our tips on how to secure a PS5 console for release day! Best of luck!
I pushed off this week’s PS Weekly by one day to pay respects to the holiday listed above, but we will be back next Tuesday without regular news updates. The time has arrived for the first wave of PS5’s and we are less than 24 hours away from the official release day! Whether it’s being wicked up at the store or delivered to the home, Gamers everywhere are getting on the hype train! Choo-Choo!! Exciting times indeed!
Now, a warning for those that were not able to preorder a PS5. If you or someone you know is hoping to snag a PS5 on release day at the stores, plan accordingly. It was announced that (at least in the U.S.A.) stores would not sell the consoles in person. You will need to place your order online and pick it up in the store. I’m sure there will be some delivery options, but the point being that it won’t do you any good to camp it out at stores overnight. Some stores will likely disregard this policy and sell consoles in person without an order ahead of time, but for most, this won’t be the case.
My advice to you is to set up several phones, tablets, laptops or computers and log into the websites you want to buy from and wait it out while spamming that refresh button. If you’re looking to purchase from Walmart, they are offering 4 different times on November 12th, for you to get a chance to purchase online.
PS5 consoles will be on sale at Walmart.com at 12:00 pm, 3:00 pm, 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm Eastern time. This is where the constant refreshing comes into play. I don’t really know how early you should start checking, but I would be ready at least 30 minutes before these times start. The PS5 could go live early, so it’s good to be there already. If you get into a que, stop refreshing. Otherwise, keep it up until you see it is available and put it in your cart for checkout.
You might want to check online and social media sites like Twitter to see if there are any other scheduled times for other retailers. I know GameStop sold out of the Xbox Series X online within a few minutes, so we expect the same to be the case with the PS5. Because of the global pandemic, we don’t expect to see any stores offer an in store purchase of the PS5 console and we have to keep in mind that because of this, there are thousands if not more, scalpers using bots trying to snag those online orders before you can get one and then sell them online for quite a sum more.
While this generation of consoles is possibly more exciting than the last, it’s possibly been the most frustrating release for consumers in the history of gaming. With months on end to plan ahead and consider the consequence of online scalpers, many consumers feel let down by both the console makers and major retailers alike. I hate to sound cliché and be one to tell you that eventually this won’t be a problem, but it is true. With a little time, everyone that wants a PS5 sooner than later will get one as the initial demand slows down, but it still sucks for those that wanted one now and have to constantly keep their eyes on the web for updates on stock, etc.
Another thing to keep in mind is the Black Friday sales will be going live online after the Thanksgiving holiday. Again, scalper will be lurking, but hopefully you’ll be able to grab one if you’re in the market at that time. Consoles will be extremely limited one release day and for a while after, so I want to wish anyone still looking, the best of luck and keep positive. A negative frame of mind doesn’t do anyone any good when there are setbacks.
Thank you for reading and be sure to check back here on Tuesdays for our regular gaming news updates. Good gaming and good luck! I will see you later, online!