Humble Pie Served, Hot And Warm

Yeah, call me humbled.

I’m not one to be those types of people in the gaming industry (read: Kotaku and Anita Sarkeesian…wait, did I say Anita is in the gaming industry? There’s something else I might have to take back; she shouldn’t be in the same ROOM as those in the game industry) that cannot admit when I was mistaken on points, and based on the comments in my last blog about the PS4 shortage situation, I got to say that I might’ve been.

Here’s the thing: I’m an opinionated person, and I act sometimes on pure impulse sometimes. I react to what I see at times. Call it the Aries in me, but sometimes, I act without thinking things through. The headstrong ram in me would be proud, but at the same time, people would hate it.

So, of course, when I saw the constant “Out of Stock” signs on nowinstock.net, I immediately became mad. This is because, even with the short amount of time that Sony’s newest console had out on the market, they shouldn’t have had it that bad. A couple of reasons, at least for me, tell me this.

For one, they had to have been expecting this. From the moment preorders were accepted, I think the mass amount of preorders should’ve told Sony that this was a game system that would be very much in demand, and preorders became open back in July, so they obviously have had some time to react to what was going to be a lot of supply pressure. I know it might be tough even knowing that to keep up with that much demand, especially when you underestimate a demand like that.

But the issues the Wii had come to mind to say that we’ve been through this before. I’m convinced that the Wii’s issues weren’t AS bad (I was able to find one at the second Gamestop I checked, as I said), but that should’ve been weighing in on a console that might’ve been anticipated to be in high demand just for the simple fact that we’ve have been in the same generation with the 360 and PS3 for some time (since 2005-2006), and hardware has upgraded a lot for PC gaming since then, to the point where it surpassed the PS3 as the most powerful gaming platform by a mile (given you had the money to drop on one). The Wii had supply issues, so why wasn’t Sony more ready for it when the system was first announced? Of course, the stories about sales figures and the numerous Xbones available based on that data didn’t help me to NOT think something was up.

To me, these are the kinds of questions that we should be asking those in the gaming industry. I don’t mean to ask, say, EA and Activision why Sony wasn’t on the ball with the PS4 demand, but rather tough questions that might ruffle some feathers. I think we’ve become quite scared at pissing people off because of things like embargos and NDA and things like that. We spend a LOT of money for this hobby, and many want to have a career making and covering this industry. If game journalists are too scared to piss people off, they aren’t doing their job, I think. I’m not saying to not be responsible in reporting, but work for the gamers, not the publishers.

But I think me actually getting a PS4 now changed perceptions (Amazon said it shipped and should arrive this Monday; for completion sake, it only took a minute before Amazon was completely sold out again, so I was just one of the lucky ones that got in there). Before I eat the humble pie, though, let me just address that the beating me up over it, saying “no sympathy when you didn’t preorder, you moron” and stuff like that was not necessary. It just makes you look like a fool (even moreso than you think I looked like), and I have yet to know why comments like that are necessary. The one way we get taken seriously is by proving people wrong, not right!

But that being said, my headstrong way that I went about writing that could’ve been handled a hell of a lot better. I did say that I could’ve been wrong in accusing Sony of things in that first post because of paranoia, and maybe that is true. Blame me coming in being far under the weather and early in the morning (I’ve don’t that before, and I didn’t fare too well either). All I can do is to hope that forgiveness is easy to get from some people.

That doesn’t mean that I won’t be blunt and to the point and no holds barred in the future. I hope people like that out of me because it’s me being real. I don’t try to troll in what I say because I don’t want to say what I don’t mean or what I don’t actually believe. I don’t like to trap people, either, as I want people to challenge my beliefs so I can show just how well I believe in what I say. It’s not because I’m trying to be mean or anything, but I’m just trying to be true to myself and true to what I say. Does that get me in trouble sometimes? Maybe, but that just goes with the territory, and as long as we own up to the mistakes and learn from them, we, in turn, become better people in the end, and we just get stronger because of the experience.

I do want to close, though, by saying that this, in no way, takes Sony off the hook to find a quick solution to the issue. Yes, the times are tough to do so, but the longer the issues linger, the more the accusations will pile up (I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the first since Sony brought up the allegation), and the risk of losing a sale to the competitor becomes increasingly worse. I do hope that Sony does fix this issue quickly and promptly, so we can all enjoy a system that will make for better PC ports and has seemly opened the door more for indie developers (waiting on you, Team Meat, to acknowledge this and make peace with Sony) than Microsoft has. We should be arguing over who was better in a custom death match. Not over if we can get a system and why!

[SilentNegotiator]

1) We all make a doodie sometimes, and it's big of you to fess up (even though you kinda didn't, going straight back into your argument). You didn't need to make a follow up blog.

2) Matching demand at launch would be foolish. The amount of free press and apparent exclusivity of a product launch with limited copies would be silly to pass up. The argument that people will look to the competitors over having to wait a few weeks looks weak when your blogs rally to get a PS4, instead of just going "meh, I'll get an Xbone/WiiU"

3) If you insist on continuing this argument, what evidence do you have to suggest that it's 100% within Sony's realm to keep up with the demand? They sold, what, 2 or 3 million within just over a month? Do you have evidence that Sony had the resources to have made an additional million PS4s over that time period? Do you know how well Sony's credit would have held in getting their contracted factories to increase production? Do you know if those factories would be capable of producing that many? If there are other factories available with the capacity to manage the addition? It's easy to ask "Why can't they just make more??" as opposed to the possible realities.

[rainslacker]

I agree with silent here. We all say things sometimes that only look at one small part of the issue without really thinking it through.

By all accounts, Sony expected to sell 5 million consoles by March. That means their production was probably set to be 5 million(with a buffer for the following term) by March. No company is going to over produce by a wide margin.

With that said, the early demand for the PS4 skyrocketed beyond expectations. It has had unprecedented demand, by both Sony and many analysts own admissions. With the Wii, the demand didn't come until after launch, so it's a bit of a different scenario. Everyone, including Nintendo, were taken by surprise.

By the time Sony saw the demand spike(when pre-order numbers came in), it was probably too late to make a significant number more, as supply chains takes time to set up, and they are reliant on other companies to get all the parts to put the machine together.

The funny thing about all these supply vs demand arguments on forums, is that people don't even understand half the problem, or even the basic concepts of supply and demand. I didn't read your original blog, but if you felt that Sony was shorting supply, then you were probably just wrong. They have no reason to do that right now with the waiting list at GameStop alone being over 1 million, and Amazon selling out quickly every time they get a shipment. Usually when you see these shortage reports to increase demand, there isn't an actual shortage. It's psychological for the benefit of PR, however, this time, that isn't the case. There actually are shortages, and I have no doubt that Sony wants to sell as many consoles as early as they can, just because of the competition with MS.

Sony wants to have the dominate console this gen. It's very apparent. I feel if they played these supply games they would lose out big time on achieving that.

[JD_Shadow]

1) The comments were getting out of control, with more of insults because I was lucky enough to catch one while they still had it in stock one day after I wrote it. There was no other way than to make sure that things are closed there.

2) I never said I did, nor did I say that I was holding up to that argument. I was giving my reasons to the initial argument (sales figure versus what was still in stock, effort to get who wants a system into their hands ASAP, the eBay sellers, past lessons, etc.). Doesn't mean I'm right, wrong, or what I believe. Just what I based the original argument around.

[mydyingparadiselost]

I didn't agree with your last article but I completely appreciate your attitude about the industry and gaming journalism in general, not to mention it's always admirable when someone wants to learn from both their mistakes and successes. Agree or not, I'll at least read your articles and try to leave any snarky meth lab comment humor off any comments :/