The PlayStation 5 launched last November, but months later it’s still hard to get hold of one, especially in Japan. Early today, the megastore of Yodobashi Camera electrics in Akihabara, one of the largest in the country, sold a huge load of PS5. All hell broke loose.
People started pushing and shoving, amounting to a Yodobashi clerk who had a stack of an estimated 300 numbered tickets to buy the PS5.
Consider the chaos that followed:
The police were called and the sale was canceled.
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Why did this happen? Such as Twitter AJapaneseDream points out that the Akihabara location is apparently just one of two Yodobashi cameras in the greater Tokyo-Yokohama area, which does not require the shopkeeper’s black credit card to purchase the hardware – a requirement that it appears to have been set to thwart resellers.
What’s more, unlike in the past, the store was handing out numbered tickets, first come, first served. In the past, also in an effort to discourage flipping the console, the retailer gave away lottery numbers for the chance to purchase the hardware.
This created a perfect opportunity for those looking to buy or even resell a PS5 for themselves.
Keep in mind that the Japanese government has currently declared a state of emergency due to the new corona virus. Tokyo has the highest number of cases in the country.
All tweets are used with permission.