Failure to launch: How we struggled to buy PS5 and Xbox Series X.

The Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PlayStation 5 are finally here, and for many of us Edge, This has been one of the most anticipated weeks of the year. But really getting a console, even one that was previewed, is not easy.

Like every major hardware launch, demand is already through the roof, meaning consoles are sold out immediately. The epidemic has almost certainly thrown millions of game consoles around the world into the already complex logistic challenge of shipping. And there has also been a frustrating lack of communication from retailers about when and where to expect consoles, leaving customers no choice but to search the web for a clue about how they can get their hands on new machines – and often still empty. is coming.

Some of us Edge Were on the hunt this week, and we wanted to share our experiences. The hope here is that everyone will soon be able to get what they want out of a new Microsoft console or Sony console.

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Nick State: I was one of the lucky ones to secure the PlayStation 5 preorder when Floodgates opened in September. I was also keeping an eye on an Xbox Series S, but felt like I was waiting for it, thinking it would probably be easier to secure a less powerful, cheaper Xbox closer to launch day.

I was wrong. Both Xbox consoles, such as both PS5 variants, are sold everywhere. I’ve been seeing some of my friends, coworkers and random internet buyers try to snatch a pre-order or post-launch unit with a mix of horror and relief from the length.

It’s been messy, and I would have liked to see both companies set good expectations around how many units are available and what retailers do to ensure fair and equitable pre-ordering processes not scaled up by scalpers and bots. We haven’t seen any of it – it’s been absolutely free, and neither company is willing to give very little insight or point to the Covid-19 epidemic as a clear deterrent, which I think would have lasted the first day. A long way to ease the stress around keeping these products safe.

Of course, I was also looking at my PS5 Walmart preorder with growing concern, as it was not shipped earlier this week, as the launch of the PS5 was approaching in terms of days. I was then informed of a potential delay, which dashed my hopes of getting a console on the launch weekend.

But to my surprise, Walmart sent my unit from Kentucky late Wednesday evening, and it arrived in New York on Thursday evening. It has since reached my home via FedEx, and is now being given hundreds of gigabytes of updates and game downloads as it prepares to play the item at some point on Friday.

I’m looking forward to it like the Xbox Series S, I guess I’ll wait until next year Halo: Infinity Get started. It doesn’t take me long to jump through the hoops I need to get one before.

Taylor Liles: I got an Xbox Series X and PS5 at launch, but how I got my PS5 was so much fun. Every Thursday, I have a team meeting at 12:30 ET, but my instinct was to tell me that the package was to come during that meeting. As soon as the meeting started I had my ring doorbell camera feed turned on, as I was afraid that someone would come to my porch and steal my messy package. Mama was Tai No Also a porch pirate lets her newborn baby steal.

As soon as I found out what projects I was working on, I immediately saw a UPS man outside my house, and I sent a message to the zoom, “My PS5 is here. I will breeze.” The man was aking out, as he did not expect anyone to wait outside on the porch on a cold rainy day.

I ran backwards, unboxing the PS5, and decided to put my new console in my lap so everyone would know I had a PS5. A couple of friends screenshed my enthusiasm and I had to post a tweet because this was The most Taylor way to get my PS5, Be quite honest.

Cameron Faulkner: (My boss is looking at me.) My main focus for the arrival of the next-gen console is to give readers several ways to get one way. It’s hard to do that during an epidemic, for a number of reasons: lack of money, everyone is home and online at the same time, and the companies responsible for making and distributing these consoles to retailers are going through the epidemic like everyone else.

(Well, I think my boss stopped looking at me.) As soon as the PS5 was released and some of my colleagues shared stories of their own becoming, expecting to get one for me. I absolutely don’t need it, as I have a good PC that costs me more to make. And it’s not like the PS5 is bursting at the seams with exclusive games – yet, at least.

Still, I do little to set stock reminders again for myself. Don’t worry, we’re still doing our best to make sure you come first, but I hope the PS5 is due soon to buy All ‘Cam.

Jay Peters: Earlier this week, I thought I was ready to have the next two-gen console by the end of the week. I pre-ordered an Xbox Series S from Navig and a PS5 digital version a week before Target. But here we are on a Friday, and I don’t have it both because of my own impulses and for reasons beyond my control.

I don’t have that Xbox Series S because I’ve turned my head through the great reviews for the Xbox Series X and tried hunting for preorder for one of them. On Monday night, I was late to try to reserve one for the store on target. But, by luck, it occurred to me that Microsoft’s Microsoft Online Store has opened orders for the Xbox Series X. A few minutes later, I was able to break through and actually check the console – despite the expected shipping date in late December. . Despite that potential wait, I clicked the buy button, secured my order, breathed a sigh of relief, and canceled my Series S pre-order. There’s no way I really have to wait until December ,?

Well, the status order for my Xbox Series X is “pending”, with an indication of when it will actually ship. And the target in-store reservation system was a bust – the website said I had a reservation, but I never received a confirmation email. I asked my nearest target the next day if they had an order, and the person I’m talking to said there was a problem with the reline reservation and try again the next day. (Fortunately, my credit card was not charged.)

I don’t have my PS5, either way, I rehearsed it in September. Until yesterday I didn’t get any concrete tracking information about it – the day the PS5 officially launched. Thanks, it’s coming on Sunday. But retailers ’lack of transparency and their overloaded checkout procedures have made the week more frustrating than I expected.

Chaim Gartenberg: I went into planning this whole console season to drop both next-gen-consoles during the initial rush, as there isn’t much like special games and I wasn’t ready to stay until 3pm to try my best to refresh my hand. Hope for day-one console snagging.

However, I’m also a huge tech (see: this whole job), and I’m so caught up in the excitement and hype, so I spent all day trying (and failing) to buy the PS5. I don’t really own a PS4, so I justify it as a way to capture a bunch of older games I’ve never really played (looking at you, Persona 5).

Unfortunately, buying a PS5 these days, uh, is virtually impossible, which means I have resigned myself to going back to my original plan: until there is more stock (and more games) to play before choosing a stock. Wait until I will once again go to the Sony website and check, that is, in case the last batch of consoles is available.

That’s great. Really. I’m not jealous of shiny new gadgets at all.

Megan Frockmanesh: Throughout the week I have been fighting my bright, kind, hardworking co-workers very hard with digital carts for digital 500 disco bricks that barely fit into their TV stands. Like the rise of the tide, hope grew everlasting with each new drop window. And every time, my colleagues were thwarted by unseen forces – buyers with trigger fingers, a faulty internet connection, Jeff Bezos. Their failures, I am not at all ashamed to say, have become my entertainment.

Look, I also want one or both big fancy b-xs, but I’m not ready to throw that much money with any special games yet. I know that the only thing that can happen in the future is to enjoy the ephemeral happiness despite the non-stop fear and insecurity. And I think my colleagues know that too, because I asked them.

Still, I’m saving all my dead eye worries for the real champion choice Black Friday. Can’t wait to get my new console without any trouble in about three months.

Adi Robertson: I wonder if everyone is having so much trouble. I thought I’d get a PlayStation to check out Demon spirits, So I ordered one from Amazon this week and it’s scheduled for delivery tomorrow. Very cheap, too!