There was an absolute bed bug overnight at one Tokyo retailer, when fresh stock of the undersized PlayStation 5 arrived. Since its November release last year, Sony’s new console has been impossible to find around the world, but Japan has been at the short end of the stick, with hardware sales even lagging behind the Nintendo Wii U launch.
However, Kotaku reports that the Yodobashi Camera electronic megastore in Akihabara has sold a bunch of new systems today – and hell has erupted. We do not even have to describe the scenes, because you can see them for yourself, thanks to the video below:
Eventually things got so bad that the police were called and the sales of the system were stopped. So what happened? Well, as already indicated, the stock is meager. But this is exacerbated by the fact that the Akihabara branch of the Yodobashi Camera in question does not require the use of the retailer’s black credit card to purchase hardware – a regulation implemented to stop scalpers.
In addition, the store handed out numbered tickets on a first-class basis to potential buyers. In the past, lucky draws were offered, where those who called their number got the opportunity to buy a system. Clearly, all of these circumstances contributed to the scenes you see above.
It is noteworthy that all of this took place at a time when the Japanese government was implementing a state of emergency due to the ongoing pandemic, and Tokyo is not the surprising city in the country worst affected.