It might be hard to find a PS4 this year

The PlayStation 4 will arrive later this year, and when it does, they might be hard to come by.  GameStop has already received over half a million requests to be on the PlayStation 4 “First to Know” mailing list.  These 600,000 people indicate strong demand for the new console, according to GameStop’s Tony Bartel.

“With only a glance at the PS4, gamers are excited and eager to know more.  Within just a few weeks, more than 600,000 people have signed up, showing strong demand for this new console,” said Bartel.

Will Sony fans wind up in the same predicament that they were found in back in 2006?  The PlayStation 3 saw huge shortages for the console at launch.  Sony’s Jack Tretton said that despite the company knowing that there were over one million willing and able purchasers of the PS3 in North America at launch, the company only had 200,000 systems to cover the demand.   Despite the debacle that was the launch of the PlayStation 2, Sony still wasn’t prepared for the PlayStation 3 launch.

Hopefully, they’ve learned from their missteps in 2007, for realsies this time.  These early numbers from GameStop indicate that the PlayStation 4 will be in high demand this holiday season, especially when you take into consideration that there will be a lot more hype for the console following whatever Sony has planned for E3 2013.   Pre-orders have yet to officially begin for the console, but it looks like Sony’s early marketing message has reached its audience and has the potential to spread even further.