I got myself a Playstation 3 last week, and I'm happy with it, glad that I finally managed to get one, and I figured I might as well share what happened... So there I was, one day, when I saw a Slimline PS2 on clearance, really cheap, at Target, I was tempted, since I got my PS2 from Asia, hence I couldn't play games from my country due to the region coding (which was annoying, causing me to miss out on some great games and leading me to lose interest in console games in general). This sparked my temptation to buy it, however, the next time I went, it was gone (which was to be expected anyway), however, this urge to play game again started rising.
I ended up, thinking about it over a few days, to get myself a Playstation 3, especially with the cheaper price now that the 160GB Slim is out, I was hitting myself for not purchasing one just two or so weeks ago when Target had it for special at the lowest price I had seen it (which was actually another reason that made me want to get one). I owned a PSone and PS2, so I have no doubt that I wanted a PS3, I am a Playstation fan, and probably will stay one, since there's a certain nostalgia for me to hold a Dualshock controller (I don't like the Xbox controller and I am definitely not getting a Wii since Wii U is coming out next year, I don't want to get another console that's starting to get discontinued). Plus, there are a few games that I really wanted to play and own on the PS3 (most is available on Xbox but again, I am biased towards the Playstation).
I scouted around, to see which place had a good deal, annoyingly, all places except one only had bundles for the 320GB version, honestly, even on a computer I cannot use up a 250GB, so what use is a 320GB PS3 for me? The 160GB was plenty enough for me, the deal was plausible for the one store that was advertising it at the time, so I figured, I'll got for that bundle (which included HDMI cable and two games).
There I was, on the day, all excited and ready to spend my money, after uni I headed down to the shop, only to find a big "Sold Out" ticket in front of the ticket, which was a huge surprise, I mean, I didn't expect them to sell out... I asked a person just in case, but they only confirmed it, saying, they would expect stock by either tomorrow or the day after. I left for another store, I thought, two more stores so there's still a change. Heading to the second one, although they didn't have the sign, when I asked someone, they too were sold out, by now, I didn't have much hopes left.
Heading to the third and last store (the three were in very close proximity to each other), I didn't even need to ask, they had the "Sold Out" sign. It was plausible, since if one store was sold out, most people would go to the other two, however, I still didn't expect it to sell out... Both stores said they would get some more in stock by the end of the week (the special price would end early next week). Skip to the day after tomorrow (since that was when I had uni next), and I chanced up finding Final Fantasy XIII on clearance at Target, so I brought it, being the ONE game that I had to play.
I headed to the same two stores in the morning, only to find that they still hadn't gotten stock in, by this time, I was a bit annoyed and frustrated, thinking, the least they could do is make sure that they have ample stock during a sale (no matter what they say about "While Stocks Last"), coz not only they lose out on sales, people will get annoyed (like I am doing now). Later in the afternoon, I headed to a store that was in a way further suburb (the only other one I had access to), thinking it was less likely they would get sold out.
It looked good when they didn't have a "Sold Out" sign, however, when I asked someone, they had sold out, so now I was thinking of a few possibilities due to the lack of stock, the first one was that it was more popular than I had expected, and hence they couldn't restock in time, second was that they had limited stock to begin with or third they wanted people to get the more expensive 320GB version, either way, I was thinking badly of them.
However, all this changed on the next day, when I went to a store, after classes, in the early evening, bored and thought "what the hell, I'll just have a look" (I was scouting around looking at games by this stage), when I noticed the store I went to (one of the three in close proximity, but the one I didn't go to yesterday), they took down the "Sold Out" sign. I was a little bit hopeful, and I found someone to ask, good news for me though, they said that I was lucky and literately a shipment just came an hour ago. I asked her if any were available and she would check for me, saying there might not be due to some being held for people who preordered (and I was thinking, are you serious, why tell me this... it would be a bit hard to bear coming this close).
I was lucky though, they had a few, and thus this was how I finally got my PS3, a happy chappy, just hope it doesn't break or stuff up as it only has 12 months warranty. The two games included were L.A. Noire and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, both are good games (I researched beforehand), originally they had it advertised instead of L.A. Noire it was Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe but I didn't want that, so I showed the person the advertised catalogue, and I got the original deal (I probably wouldn't have gotten the bundle if I couldn't change it).
Probably the saddest thing is, I was using my PS3 to play original Playstation games, I just checked the three games I had for PS3 worked, but I don't have time to learn the controls and play it yet due to exams coming up, so I'm just playing PSone games, which I thought was a bit ironic... However, I am having fun (my PSone broke and so I hadn't played them in ages), and am glad I got it, :D.
On an after note, went to the other store today and they still had "Sold Out" so I was lucky in that I went to the right store at the right time, some might say that its a bit pathetic for me to be happy to be paying money for something, or even that I'm brainwashed, but I don't care, take it what you will. I had always wanted a PS3 when it came out but with the high initial prices and the slow decrease in the pricing, I had given up until a few weeks ago, and what's not, that's about the price you would pay for a standalone Blu-Ray player anyway.