It’s no secret that we here at PlayStation LifeStyle like Sony’s motion controller, the PlayStation Move. As motion gaming seems to be all the rage for this holiday season, the hype may be real but are the shortages not?
Sony has even said that they are playing “catch-up” with the Move demand. But nothing really seems to be adding up. While I personally am looking forward to motion gaming across all platforms, I haven’t seen nearly the same reaction in stores. I’ve never seen a Move or Kinect shortage anywhere. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter seems to think the same. He talked about the possible advantages and disadvantages about a fake shortage in an interview with IncGamers.
“Yes, I think both companies would very much like for consumers to believe that their devices are highly sought after and difficult to obtain. That usually works to spur demand. Sony are trying the same strategy as Microsoft with Kinect, making sure that there are plenty of bundles, but controlling supply of the standalone controllers.”
It sounds like both companies are trying to get behind the Tickle-Me Elmo fad of yesteryear. They are trying to capitalize on the holiday season and let word of mouth do the talking. It’s a great job by their PR company, but it’s a very fine line with consumers. The product is good enough to stand up on its own weight, so why fudge with the numbers or stand behind a “technicality?” Who needs to control the supply just to create hype. I don’t know, but that’s obviously why I don’t make the decisions. What do you think?
