On Tuesday Gamestop stores began taking reservations for the Playstation 3 system due to launch in November. Allocations tightly limited.
Indicating that only eight units will be available at launch for most stores, with a few larger stores receiving as many as sixteen units, reservations are expected to move quickly, particularly considering that two reservation slots are open to employees of each location. The small numbers come as little surprise considering the wide expectation of extremely limited systems to be available on launch day.
In addition to the unusual timing of making system reservations available just a month before launch, the deposit required to reserve a system has doubled to $100 from the traditional $50 previously required. Gamestop locations had been reserving months in advance for previous system launches including the Xbox 360, which left the retailer under the criticism of customers after initial promises for launch day systems were not able to be met in most locations.
Sony plans to launch roughly 400,000 systems in North America on November 17th.