Amazon UK Gets Significantly More Stock Of Xbox Series X Consoles

Just looked can still get them...not many people must know lol

Good luck to anybody else who can get one. Some may say there's not much to play on it, but that's not true, and it's a beast of a console.

@KilloWertz I don't think anybody is saying that now lol

I want to get mine through All Access to save some money in the long run. Of course that means I'm SOL as why sell at a reduced rate when people will happily throw fists full of cash to get them. I got this close on Game last week, but no joy.

Good luck everyone and if you were 'lucky' to secure a console, welcome to the Series X owners Club...

@PhileasFragg Seems Game has some - its telling me I can 'join now' not out of stock... https://www.game.co.uk/en/xbox-all-access-xbox-series-x-2836838

@BlueOcean I think you misread my comment dude.

@Ihavenomouthandimust My mistake, I was replying to the other comment.

@KilloWertz Who is saying that? It looks like it has more to play on than PS5 at the moment.

@BAMozzy It seems just like back in August with the Halo Series X preorders, most of the stock is bundles (All Access is pretty much a bundle and there's also bundles where you can buy the console outright).

@Grumblevolcano When I pre-ordered Day1, the only option I had was a Bundle with 3 games and extra controller that I didn't want/need as I use my Elite V2. I jumped on it because letting that 'go' to try and log-in to another site to get 'just' a Series X may of meant missing out on a Series X altogether.

I registered with several retailers to get a PS5 and the 'first' opportunity to order one was again a 'Bundle' so jumped on it. The 3 games are still in the wrapper, the extra DS5 in its box too but it was buy that or wait.

It just depends on how much you want something. I may of ended up spending 'more' than I really wanted but at least not 'more' than retail and, if I wanted, could of sold the 'extras' in the bundle to recuperate some costs, maybe traded them in for Games I wanted etc. At least I wasn't paying silly money to a scalper and getting 'just' a console with no warranty etc..

@BlueOcean well that depends if you have gamepass or not, without gamepass there's more to play on ps5, but I suppose who's buying an xbox without getting gamepass? Be crazy not to

@UltimateOtaku91 No, I mean, in general, even without Game Pass, there's more variety and more new games to play on Xbox this far. Not even comparing Game Pass with PlayStation Now!

Good luck everyone

@BlueOcean is there? Playstation has tonnes of JRPG's that aren't on xbox, all you have to do is go onto any retail site and looks at the physical games for sale and there's more pages of games on playstation.

I think in terms of value then yeah xbox is way better with gamepass

@UltimateOtaku91 Xbox is getting the Japanese RPGs as well unless you mean niche RPGs. In regard to first-party games, this year has been more solid on Xbox than on PS5 with most PS5 exclusives being delayed. Arguably, the best PS5 release this year is an Xbox Game Studios title.

@UltimateOtaku91 So really, the argument here is PS5 has more IF you're into JRPG's. If you're not that heavily into JRPG games then Xbox provides more. Guess it comes down to personal taste in games

@BlueOcean @Ihavenomouthandimust in terms of first party then yeah xbox have more games release this year, in terms of all games altogether there's more on playstation in terms of all genres not just jrpgs. But yeah as you say I suppose it's down to personal taste if you like JRPG's then playstation is definitely the place for you. If you like a wide genre of games then take your pick both consoles would be perfect for it

@UltimateOtaku91 But what Japanese RPGs is Xbox missing? Niche games? I mean, it got all the Final Fantasy games, it will likely get VII Remake Intergrade (the current-gen version) in June after the Windows version exclusivity deal with Epic ends, it even has Final Fantasy XIII (enhanced 360 version) not available on PS4/PS5, it got all the Kingdom Hearts games (except the DS games just like PS), it got Octopath Traveller, it got Tales of Arise at launch, it got Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition and will probably get older games including the HD remasters...

@BAMozzy Order confirmed. Thank you very much! I owe you a beer

@BlueOcean Fairy Tail, persona 5 and persona 5 Royal, atelier series, neptunia series, death end request, blue reflection, trials of mana, star ocean, final fantasy 7 remake, Forspoken, stranger of paradise, YS games, trails of the cold steel games, senran kagura games, crystar, digimon games. Theres more bit I will stop there.

Yeah some most of them are niche (in the west) but there are a few million sellers there. If people are interested in those games then playstation is for them.

If your not interested in them then it doesn't matter if you go for playstation or xbox as both have great games for the other genres.

The best place for niche Japanese games is Switch anyways and, in second place, PS but less than before and that's surprising considering that Sony is a Japanese company. Persona 5 is a game I see coming to Xbox.

@BlueOcean @UltimateOtaku91 Just to contextualize this er, debate? The comment made by someone was insinuating people are saying Xbox has no games, which is an old rhetorical argument that no longer is true, hence why myself and Blueocean were like "who says that?" Because clearly nobody can say that anymore. Then Ultimate otaku said PlayStation has more games than Xbox. which is also true when taking in account the JrPG's etc. I'm summary, we all agree Xbox has games, so the comment that Xbox has no games is debunked. Let's not make it about who has more lol, it's a pointless argument.

Besides, PC has the most games lmao

@Ihavenomouthandimust Right, the Xbox has no games meme is getting old and wait until Xbox Game Studios' current-gen games arrive! The only games that Xbox are missing is Banjo-Kazooie, Viva Piñata and Conker. 😂

@Ihavenomouthandimust haha well the xbox has no games was because of Don mattrick f*****g the xbox one up, xbox have definitely turned that around now though.

And yeah PC will always have more games, and even when talking about consoles technically the Nintendo switch has the most with around 3000-4000 games though I'd wager half are shovelware

@UltimateOtaku91 The Switch is great for Japanese fans because it has more Japanese support than the other consoles, including PS lately but it's technically very weak even for first-party games like Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the eShop is full of thousands of Android ports 😅. I say this as a Switch owner.

@BlueOcean I predict playstation are going to end up losing more niche JRPG's in the furture because of their stupid "censorship" policy is turning Japanese devs off as we all know what they love to include in their games 😂

@Microbius Either loads or lots of apathetic customers who assumed they wouldn't get one lol

@BlueOcean yeah I own a switch as well and there's a sale on right now which includes nearly 2000 games which is an absolute p**s take to search through, did pick up saints row for £3 though lol

@BAMozzy Bundle was how I got it too (got lucky on Halo Series X preorders back in August), pretty much worked on the assumption that being picky would mean I wouldn't be able to get it until like 2023.

@UltimateOtaku91 Stranger of Paradise is coming to Xbox just fyi.

@K1LLEGAL oh yeah just checked, I'm getting mixed up with something else, must be that babylon game

God some of the absolute drivel I’ve read in this comment section 🤣 I wish I could unsee it.

Happy for anyone who managed to get their paws on a Series X today, great machine. My PS5 is collecting dust because of Gamepass the last month or so and I picked up the Metro Exodus DLC’s for under £5 in the MS store sale, bargain. Enjoy all!

@UltimateOtaku91 when the Chaos trailer was first shown I think Sony did a sneaky and made it seem exclusive or something; since I thought it was a timed exclusive for PS - but glad it’s not!

@UltimateOtaku91 Sony's censorship doesn't help. I don't bother searching the eShop sales anymore 😅.

@BlueOcean I don't see Persona jumping ship. IDK what the deal is, it's not an officially exclusive title, but there's some tie there. I'd love for it to though, not so much because I want to buy it a 3rd time on an HD console, but i want it on Switch. It's a PS3 game....there's really no reason it shouldn't be

@UltimateOtaku91 TBH, I don't think PS is the place for JRPGs anymore. That ship has largely sailed. The major ones are also on Xbox, the minor ones are also on Switch ,and some big ones that are on Switch aren't on PS. Basically a PS is essential for Persona and weird time-locked Square-Enix stuff. Or if you like your Falcom games to run at more than 20fps... Even XIV is confirmed to be coming to XB eventually, just TBD and not a priority.

I MISS when PS was the place for J-everything. But those days are over I'm afraid. I mostly buy all multiplat on XB, including any JRPGs I can. Get on Switch whatever JRPGs I can simply because generally I prefer them handheld, and PS picks up the difference.....and honestly in the last 4-5 years....there hasn't been much in that pool of differences other than some of the extreme licensed anime stuff. Even Senran Kagura is dead thanks to Sony censorship (I wasn't into that series, but still that was a thing.)

I wouldn't be surprised if PS ends up the console with the least Japanese content. Nintendo will always be #1 because they have almost a monopoly on the domestic market. But at this rate, Sony is flipping off devs and Phil keeps offering them the world, and connect with PC and streaming I could see the right moves being made that a lot of Japanese devs start to reach the west through XB instead of PS that seems to be actively hostile toward them now. Jim's PS is all about the CoD/FIFA/Fortnite money. Basically....just like Don's Xbox....

@UltimateOtaku91 @BlueOcean Given that the Switch hand another top 30 week in Japan; Sony will loose the smaller niche ones. Big ones like Persona and FF will always be on it but stuff like Blue Reflection and even Disgaea will probably shift to PC/Switch only or first and then PS later.

That said I think most people would have at least a Switch Lite as a secondary console so it won’t be an issue to get.

What is the criteria for which Platform has the 'most' games? Is it the entire Library of games that could be played on that system including any game not officially released or even running on the hardware - like Back Compat titles and those only available if streamed? Is it just those with an 'official' release on that platform or must be playable Locally on the hardware?

Playstation has a longer history as well as a history of 'mobile' consoles too (PSP/Vita) and was around a generation longer than Xbox so even if they released a similar number of 'exclusives' a year, there has been a LOT more games released on Playstation Hardware so if you are including BC/Streaming only games, then PS5 along with PS Now offers a larger potential Library.

However, if you are talking about games which must be playable 'locally' on the Hardware, then it has to be much closer. All of the Xbox BC games from the OG to XB1 all run Locally but on PS5, you have to stream generations of games because the hardware can't (or hasn't got Emulation software) to run them locally.

Unless you are a very specific type of gamer - like only play JRPG's or particular Franchises (FF, Persona etc) then I think that both Consoles has a great variety of Games to cater to a 'broad' range of players. Xbox may not be the 'strongest' for JRPG's but certainly have some to offer their Customers and look to be strong in the western RPG's with inXile, Oblivion and Bethesda now part of the Xbox Family. Xbox has been 'strong' with First Person Shooters and Online co-operative (as well as competitive) gaming, Strong with Racing games too - both Sim and Arcade, RTS games etc. Sony have been strong with the 3rd Person Story Driven cinematic action games...

Regardless of what 'games' are playable on each system, whether local or via streaming, whether native versions or via Back Compat, BOTH consoles have a massive list of titles you can play on that Hardware - Far more games than ANY console has ever had playable a year after release.

Game Pass has no impact on the number of Games Playable at all - all the Games on Game Pass also released on Console, can be bought and played on Console without Game Pass so has no impact on the number of games available. If you can't find something to play amongst the Hundreds of games available on either platform, then that's nothing to do with Game numbers, quality of games etc and more to do with their own 'self imposed' limitations and/or preferences -its not down to lack of options as both offer a 'wide' variety of games across all genres and even if their 'own' exclusives may not have as many options in that particular genre (like JRPG's), they have 3rd Party options and may well be stronger in other areas. I still need both an Xbox and Playstation to play ALL the games I want because each platform also has 'exclusives' that can only be played on that Hardware. I need to be in the Xbox ecosystem to play Xbox games and in Playstation ecosystem to play PS games...

@PhileasFragg Great to hear that you were able to secure an order the way you hoped to get one and glad the link helped...

@BAMozzy exactly you put it perfectly, each console and even the switch has loads and loads of exclusives withe physically or digitally that make all systems worth purchasing and it really is down to the gamers preferred choice in games, I have all three consoles and my backlog is never ending for all three, by exclusives alone next year there's 12 games I want play across all three systems and then the massive abundance of third party titles, no matter what console your getting you have an abundance of games to play

@UltimateOtaku91 I can't and won't really talk about the Switch as I don't own one, don't know what's available etc so its not really fair for me to include it.

Personally, I have 'no/little' interest in the 'high' profile Switch exclusive games - certainly not enough to justify the outlay and never game on the 'Go'. If I am playing at home on my 4k HDR TV, I am not going to pick the Switch version over a PS5/Series X version of the 3rd Party games so I cannot 'justify' owning a Switch.

I say 'High' profile Switch releases as they are the only games I know about through 'general' games media coverage. I don't follow any specific Nintendo publication or website to keep fully up to date with every game released. I am talking about the likes of Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Metroid, Rabbids, Pokemon, Luigi etc which really don't appeal to me anymore - certainly not enough for me to justify purchase.

I am NOT criticising Switch, just saying that it doesn't appeal to me enough at the moment and the way I game. I am sure that those games are superb, well crafted and 'fun' games for those that want to play them and could well be someones 'preferred' line up of exclusives with Sony or MS coming in 2nd. For me, Halo, Forza, Gears, Starfield, Fable, Perfect Dark, Avowed etc and Uncharted, God of War, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima, Infamous, Spider-Man etc are more appealing than Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, Metroid, Rabbids, Pokemon, Luigi etc and of course, not playing games on handheld means that 3rd Party versions are 'better' on Sony/MS platforms. Of course if you want to play Doom 'anywhere', then maybe Switch is better for you.

Again, I am NOT criticising or diminishing what the Switch offers etc. The only reason I don't really mention it is not because I am dismissing it, its purely because I don't own one so I don't really think its 'fair' for me to include it and especially 'compare' the number of games when I have 'no' experience of owning one.

I can talk about Every Playstation and Xbox as I have owned both. The last Nintendo I owned was a Wii so been out of the 'Nintendo' loop for years which is why I don't really talk about Nintendo but I will certainly agree that it too has plenty of superb games to play.

I have enough trouble finding the time to play all the games I want on Xbox or PS let alone both - my Backlog is growing on both, not reducing - so another reason I can't really justify Switch myself...

I've already got mine, but just wanted to stop by to thank you all for publishing this so many others could get one as well. No better way to get into the christmas spirit, @themightyant you're the goat for notifying them, thank you ❤️.

@FraserG GAME still has Series X stock (has lasted 8 hours and counting from @BAMozzy's post). All the listings except the console by itself and the console with an extra controller are in stock.

Last Monday Walmart in the US had a batch that lasted a whole hour or so. Nothing like these UK stocks, though. I'm assuming that the cargo ships that were supposed to be carrying the entire holiday supply finally just arrived through the UK ports days before Christmas, and all the small batches until now have been air freight expedited shipments only.

I don't know if said similar freighter will be clearing US docks, just AFTER Christmas, or if they already did and they just depleted that much faster. I doubt this signals a new round of more available consoles, even Phil said the shortage probably will continue another year, so this must have been the entire dump originally intended to land in November. It's impressive to see, though. It feels like the normal console launch is happening in the UK now...

@BlueOcean I've seen it off and on in reviews on YouTube and such, especially before Psychonauts 2, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite came out when they had very little in the way of exclusives. It doesn't really matter in the end, and I don't agree since there's always plenty to play thanks to the backwards compatibility.

@KilloWertz I've seen the launch reviews of both consoles saying there were little to play on both. Series X was specifically praised for its power and compact form but the lack of then new-gen games was evident on both.

@NEStalgia I could be wrong but Persona 5 is the kind of hit that will be re-released in its ultimate version indefinitely. They just remastered Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne for Windows! It's a PS2 game! I'm checking and Persona 4 Golden was also published for Windows. It really surprises me that Persona 5, probably their best-rated game, has been released for PS3 and PS4 only. I want to play it eventually but I'm not in a hurry. I could get it on PS4 but no thanks (bad controller, noise...). I think that it will launch on Windows and Xbox. Not sure about Switch because of the porting efforts but considering it's a PS3 game, it's obviously possible.

@FraserG The bundles are still available.

Argos still have them for collection too in places it’s seems. Worth trying.

Argos keep dropping stock though out today Series X on its own no bundles.
Just 5 minutes ago, got one for friend.
Collect tomorrow morning 9am from store.

@Fenbops
You beat me to it 😂

@Dezzy70 glad you got your pal one 🙂 over the last few days there’s been a good chance of getting a Series X at multiple places. Sales are slowing or there have been massive shipments, idk 🤣

@Fenbops
I think both Microsoft and Sony have shipped more stock. Just got a PS5 disc at Argos collect now for my bother so that was easy.

@Dezzy70 @Fenbops It seems like what happened over the past few months was Sony shipped smaller batches almost every week which would sell out in minutes meanwhile Microsoft shipped nothing for months followed by a gigantic batch.

@Grumblevolcano that makes sense.

@Grumblevolcano
Argos Sony shipment must be big as few hours later, like now you can get one if you very lucky.
Anyway good news these companies are getting stock out.

@Grumblevolcano Sony's been doing air fright shipments to the UK which kept that weekly release going. Costs a fortune. MS must have just waited for the slow ocean freight to clear the docks. But I assume MS must have been doing air freight in the US with the weekly dead-end Walmart shipments. But so far that big ocean freight batch if it exists here is still stuck at the docks or out at sea. Docks are running 3-4 weeks late here. Maybe there's a huge January dump ahead. Or, here, we already got the ocean dump and it still sold out in an hour. I'm betting after this though there's a long wait again.

I noticed scalper prices in the US dropped around $100 or so about a week ago. Makes me think somebody somewhere knows a better supply is happening. The major marketplace prices dropped from the $900's to the 800's, and the smaller sellers dropped from he $700s to the 600s.

@BlueOcean I do think they'll keep re-releasing it, but they'll release 10 fighting games featuring it's characters before they ever put it anywhere but PS. Yeah, they're doing PC, but that's the thing, these days, most J-games go to PC, probably in part to target the Korean and Chinese markets which are more PC than console, plus it's rise in Japan, but it's still just PC. I would bet SMTV goes to PC....but not to PS or XB. Atlus is weird with that. P4G lives on VITA! (Plus PC now...) They won't even bring it to PS4...it's on the only console that makes WiiU look successful. And the re-release is only on Steam. They did bring Nocturne over to Switch (and not XB) and it was a budget port. But SMTIV is trapped on 3DS, and they doubtfully will ever port it now that V is out.

What's most weird though is they put the Koei-made sequel to P5 on Switch, but not P5 itself. I think it's not impossible that it goes to Switch someday as a result. But, I just can't imagine Atlus doing XB. What's the last thing Atlus even released on XB other than fighting games?

@NEStalgia Nothing LOL. I hope that it changes and Atlus start publishing on Xbox, though! Once I finish my backlog in 2044, I'll play Persona 5 on whatever... It's a shame. Take Tokyo Mirage Sessions, for instance. One of the last if not the last game I played on Wii U and I didn't care about it at launch and it was one of the games I have enjoyed the most for some reason and it was stuck on Wii U until the Switch port.

@BlueOcean Atlus has a special sauce, so it's good that Sega doesn't push them around too much, but I do wonder how Sega lets them get away with not porting non-contractually locked games. I can even understand doubt about ROI on Xbox if the numbers show Xbox players don't buy Japanese games, etc. But they won't even port their games to PS4 from Vita and Switch from PS4..... It's not impossible to see a port, but it would be an historic occasion for Atlus if they actually did it. Even on Switch.

Yeah, TMS#FE is something really special, IMO. I doubt we'll ever see a sequel but that was such a fantastic game. Great soundtrack too.

@NEStalgia I didn't know that Sega owns them until now. Let's hope that Sega starts porting and publishing them, though. Their last game, Shin Megami Tensei V, was published by Sega in North America. They are great games so why wouldn't they port them?

@NEStalgia Sega outside Atlus isn't that much different at times like Switch has been the most popular console for years yet the Yakuza franchise (which was previously PS exclusive outside of 2 Japan only Wii U ports) came to Xbox instead.

SimplyGame has a 'bundle' available if anyone is still looking...

https://www.simplygames.com/p/xbox-bundle-1-2012-xbox-series-x--s

@BlueOcean Sega's owned them for years, since 2013 I think. Index (the old parent company) basically had an embezzling CEO falsifying financials. I believe he and his wife ended up in prison over it. There's a whole convoluted chain of sales and reswaps, and one Sega subsidiary buying the whole thing, then renaming it all to Atlus, then spinning off part of it, etc, etc, etc. But the short of it is, since 2013 Sega has owned Atlus and all the IP we think of as Atlus. The rest of Index got spun off and resold as Index, then ixIT (mobile communications, media, etc.) But for the purposes of gamers, SMT, Catherine, Persona, Etrian, etc, are all Sega games for the past 8 years or so. Strange, Sega consoles died almost 20 years ago, but Sega's exclusives are still the best

People originally wanted Nintendo to buy them, but Atlus actually originally worked with Sega on Arcade machines in their earliest days, so Sega was really a natural fit.

But AFAIK, Sega runs them pretty much independently, so Atlus does what Atlus always has done, and Sega doesn't really interfere with their plans so far. I'll never know why Atlus doesn't port things. There's always the secret exclusivity rumors about Persona with Sony, but then Strikers went to Switch, and they won't even put P4 on a mainline PS console and take it off the dead Vita, and that's certainly not exclusivity bound. Atlus just does Atlus. It's like a smaller Nintendo....

@Grumblevolcano Yakuza I can understand. Nagoshi just generally seems uninterested in anything Nintendo short of that Direct he did with Iwata when they tried one Yakuza game on WiiU in Japan only. Plus, despite really really bad attempts at putting the games on Nintendo as bad as Mass Effect 3, they still have data as a result that says the games don't sell on Nintendo. Most importantly, in Japan, the games really don't, and in Japan, only Nintendo sells on Nintendo, is still mostly true. And finally the games kinda run like dog poo even on XSS, with LaD running like poo even on XSX and PS5. And the older games have got to be an ancient PS specific code base that just gets brute forced on PC and Series. I would be seriously surprised if those games could be made to run on Switch at all decently even if they had a Persona-sized market banging down their doors for it.

Nagoshi is gone, so that barrier is out of the way. GTA is on Switch so there's an argument to be made Yakuza could sell too. (Though a Japanese-only audio track really limits its market potential even on Switch.) But the third problem is probably significant. I have a feeling the engine is a mess and it would cost double to port it what they'd actually make in return to sell a collection of games that have been out forever, free on game pass for a year plus, and dirt cheap everywhere else...... why bother?

I'd love more portable Yakuza but I really don't want to see what it would look like running on there.... They'll all look like PS2 games if we're lucky.

@NEStalgia Interesting and good to know. I agree about Yakuza, I can't see them running on Switch, honestly. I hope that more Atlus games are ported to Xbox someday, just like it got Dragon Quest recently for the first time.

There’s still plenty of Series X bundles in stock at GAME. There’s also a Series X bundle in stock at Simply Games which BAMOzzy provided with a link. I couldn’t find a single PS5 in stock anywhere though.

Still in stock !!

Is it the end of scalpers ? XD

@Bobobiwan Even scalpers have to buy stuff for Christmas like presents for family and friends, Christmas dinner stuff etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason they are not bulk buying consoles

Hope everyone who wants a Series X manages to get one, it’s a great time to be an owner with amount of quality games on Game Pass.

Still in stock...

Hmm there seems to be much more stock about lately as before any stock was swarmed like seagulls on a bag of chips.

Hopefully this was a big manufacturing push for the holidays. At least I can sleep soundly tonight thinking about all those scalpers hoping to cash in this Christmas being stuck with thousands of pounds worth of stock they're going to have to sell at a loss. It really warms your heart 😊

And still in stock, has to be some sort of record in the U.K, and Amazon are not even pushing bundles...

@PhileasFragg,

Fingers crossed they get stuck with stock, although it's been pretty easy to pick up a Series X or PS5 for around £480 to £520 for quite a while now, I got mine a week ago for £480, not sure this was even worth the hassle for the scalper.

@johnvboy I saw a Series X at CEX for £600 last week. Interested to see what they're going for when I next swing by (probably to trade in my One S).

Can't believe they are still in stock right now just before xmas! What is happening in the world! Perhaps we are now at that point where Xbox's don't sell out anymore. The day we have all been waiting for (well apart from the scalpers!)

@PhileasFragg,

I think if you discount the ludicrous listings on E-bay then there has always been some pretty low mark up consoles to be had.

And......................... Still in stock...

I was just hovering over the buy button, having only just got a Series S a couple of months ago. I've been very impressed with how the S performs so an X would definitely feel like a luxury at this point. I'd have got an X if I could do so this easily but I think now it makes sense to wait a couple of years, or beyond, until we start seeing big performance gaps with Series only titles.

Did Microsoft accidentally send the US shipment to the UK or something? A big inventory like that that lasts and lasts, now twice in a week just never happened here at all. Amazon hasn't had them since Spring except for one listing that was gone when it went up and insiders said was actually a test/trap for scalpers, not a real sale. Best Buy had a few small shipments through December, gone in an instant, and locked behind a $200/yr subscription. GameStop hasn't had them since October and those were $700 bundles. Target has had a few small waves in-stores only. Walmart has literally been the only regular seller since May, and theirs sell out in seconds, but lasted about an hour last time. That was the closest we got to your big push.

PS5 had a big stock surge this week, too in the UK (and not in the US) but nothing like what Xbox seems to have sent. I can still only assume that a similar stock push got sent to the US and is still sitting in the water waiting for a dock, so the big holiday surge won't really arrive until Jan or Feb. I'm sure Microsoft (and Sony) intended for this giant surge to arrive in both places in early December or late November....

Both companies probably lost money on every console they sold through December until now, almost all of them must have been air freight shipments just to get something on some shelves for the holidays.

Jackpot! Finally got one Time to retire my trusty little Series S.

@NEStalgia,

And...... wait for it................. still in stock.

Just got my order in, it will look so nice sitting next to my PS5 😁

Amazon and others STILL have stock!!!!! That’ll screw over those nasty scalpers ha! Microsoft must have had a giant container ships worth shipped to the U.K.
Let’s see if it now outpaces the PS5 disk edition sales with the Series X.

It's just so strange, all those online u.k newspaper sites that constantly update us on the stock shortages of both the Series X and Ps5, and obviously have links to the stores for commission etc, and of course are only doing this with the best of intentions helping the average person get a console that's in great demand, and have already warned us that stock shortages could last well into 2022.

But yet have failed to report one of those consoles has been in stock at the biggest online retailer since 10.00 this morning, and as of typing this is still in stock seven hours later.

I guess it's only ever worth reporting when they are restocked and sell out within seconds or minutes..

@johnvboy I can't imagine how the UK, and the UK alone managed to get this unending fount of Xboxen.

I guess you can't say Thatcher hasn't changed some things!

@johnvboy,

And still in stock, pretty sure there has been a lot of hype surrounding all this and making matters worse, I only decided to get one last week and had no trouble picking one up for pretty much retail, it's all these sites convincing people if you buy these it will make you tonnes of cash, when in reality the bubble burst around 12 months ago.

@johnvboy Only in the UK, though. In the US, the bubble is still very much alive. Scalper prices dropped maybe $100-150 a week or two ago, down to ~$750-850 depending on what marketplace you look from $850-950. (MSRP is $500.)

Came down another $20 or so today. Looks like $810 is the cheapest scalper on Walmart. Amazon stopped listing scalpers many months ago, showing it as only "Currently unavailable, we don't know when or if this item will be back in stock.", $700 seems to be the cheapest going today on eBay (who knows what you actually will get though), with many more selling for higher, and a few at $650, but if you read the fine print are Gamestop refurbs, probably no warranty), all legit retailers out of stock. Not even available with bundles or All Access. It's definitely two different worlds on either side of the pond as far as XSX goes.

I'm still betting that changes in a month or so and the container ships to the US actually get unloaded. Could be wrong, but I bet that's the case. Whenever they shipped these, they shipped it a month too late for what I'm sure was their target date to have holiday availability.

StockX (a dedicated scalper site that started for sneakers, where the scalping thing started) has been the cheapest all along as far as scalpers go. They're down to a listing of $610 (+50-some dollars in fees they add, so really back to $650+) It's moving downward though. I'm guessing the scalpers see the UK stock and also assume the big ships are coming soon to the US and will burst the bubble so they're trying to unload before it happens.

Although we may be back here again next year, because Phil already said the shortage will last into 2023, so this giant shipment may represent 6 months of production all moving out at once (there were virtually no restocks for months), and when the well runs dry might be another 6+ months until a significant restock is produced.

PS5 is running about $100 over XSX for now. Originally PS5 was the impossible one to get, then it switched and XSX was even scarcer than XSX. It could be going the other way again.

Grab an Series X today when visiting a Fnac store in Almada Portugal, only 2 units in display in the floor in the gaming department.

@NEStalgia,

Surprised the situation is still so bad in the U.S, you would have thought that would have been the Number one priority for Microsoft, as it's potentially their biggest market.

Amazon are still taking orders on the Series X for delivery on the 30th of December, which begs the question as to how many consoles they have in stock, and that are due, and was it a case of just too few units at various retailers all this time.

Still no reporting of this latest Amazon stock phenomenon from those newspaper websites and social media trackers, dedicated to helping people find a console.

@NEStalgia

https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/23/22852161/xbox-series-x-amazon-uk-twelve-hours-microsoft

At last somebody has actually reported on it, if only the fact that these next generation consoles stock shortages could continue well into 2023, was also given such an obvious wide berth by these greedy media sites.

@TryToBeHopeful,

Still not sold out, and I have given up checking, as this might break the spell.

@johnvboy It's just incredible! Sony says they've sold considerably more PS5 at this point in time than PS4 a year in, as though supply is actually greater than ever, and demand is just so extreme they can't keep up. But their own statements contradict themselves often and I still think there's something not right with the reporting from them. There was that report on nl a few weeks back where November 2014 vs 2021 showed about half as many ps5+xsxs sold this November vs PS4+x1 November 2014, meaning roughly half the consoles available this November vs 7 years ago. And a chunk of that was series S..... If not the majority of it. That's just the us and just one month... But flies radically in the face of Sony's statements. It's so hard to tell what's really going on.

Either I'm right and massive container loads are just waiting at the docks, or for some reason the US is the least supplied place. Maybe our economy is just so bad it's not worth selling despite claims of how great it is? It's impossible to figure out. The only thing we do know is Sony and Microsoft combined only sold about a million units here in November. And most of that was probably Microsoft with series S. And both sold over 2mil 7 years ago same month. And December so far doesn't look like many more, or any more, we're available. That's 2 mil consoles for the entire holiday in the us, probably 1.5 mil or less for Sony..... Doesn't sound like all these extra units they keep claiming. And Microsoft doesn't even talk numbers....

@NEStalgia ,

Yes a console with supply issues has sold more than the previous generation machine with nowhere near the same stock issues, this makes total sense to me.

@johnvboy but so. Much demand growth!!

The narrative is clear, the market has grown so much in 7 years, and demand is so high that even wish significantly more units sold they can't even come close to meeting demand, and those gosh darned short chips make it impossible to just produce tons more.

And none of that makes sense amidst supply, parts, and transport shortages. I don't want to accuse a multi billion dollar insurance company of doing creative accounting, buuut.......

Quick appreciation message, managed to snag a Series X yesterday, out for delivery today. Cheers!!

@NEStalgia,

The thing is the core market has not grown in any significant way, it's still around 180 million consoles per generation and had been since the PS2 X-box days, all that changes is Microsoft's or Sony's share of it. And even though Microsoft do not release numbers it's pretty easy to work out from retailers what they have shipped/sold.

And a slight core drop last generation, although sales are still ongoing, but around 167 million consoles and counting.

Series X finally dried up at Amazon, but it was one hell of a ride while it lasted, surely lots of people took advantage, not just the scalpers.

@Rural-Bandit Yeah, Sony used to really specialize in off kilter niche games and that's what made it so appealing. But it's clear since PS4 and how important ps revenues became to Sony Corp, along with what seems like a strategy to unify Sony Pictures and PlayStation (at one point Playstation was actually going to absorb Sony Pictures as a division under it, but they abandoned that at the last minute, which turned out good because a few years later the studio hack scandal happened and it would have devastated them if Playstation got caught up in that media disaster.)

But now, as you said, they've really shifted their games to the biggest mass market, using the Sony Pictures strategy playbook.... It's a pretty different product for a pretty different audience than it was 10 in years ago.

@johnvboy don't tell Jim Ryan that.... He still thinks the market is growing exponentially. Even though even Shaun Layden, now an indie consultant, is building his speeches around the idea that the market isn't growing. And Phil is chasing "1 billion gamers" with streaming...

Idk,I think there's 2 narratives going at once and they both can't be right. One is as you say, the market is roughly the same size for generations. The other is that there's massive unbridled market growth and hardware and games are selling more and more every generation, this time historically so.

"Core market" may be the key. There may be exponential hardware sales growth, but outside the core 180m, it's people that buy a machine just to play one title on. Not really a profitable market segment, but easy to please shareholders by showing huge growth numbers.

That's really all I can think of because the growth narrative, especially promoted by Sonys own statements, and echoed largely by ps fans (though switch fans have been running with the story as well), just doesn't make sense or match the numbers when we do get to see them...

@NEStalgia,

Yes those figures do not add up from Sony, but I guess we will find out when we get back to some sort of normality stock wise, although the Series X was back in stock at Amazon today, bundles and the console on it's own, stayed in stock for most of the day too.

The core market is very lucrative as they buy lots of games and DLC etc, but without the more casul players they would never get to the hardware numbers, Nintendo realized a long time ago there was not room for three players in the traditional console market so bowed out, their figures added to the rest are probably Jim's proof the market is growing, when in reality it's pretty much a different market, only pushed together because in the past Nintendo operated in the core space.

@johnvboy that's a good point about Nintendo's market and Jim's numbers. Though it still doesn't tie up the loose end that they insist they've sold tons more in the same period of time vs PS4 (when they didn't even have real competition.). Yet their manufacturing division said they'd only be producing slightly more units in 2021 vs the same time in ps4s life.

If Jim's really basing strategy on Nintendo's numbers and not just telling investors what they want to hear, that could really bite him later, as most of their product strategy seems based on pulling money from that vast new market, while the cost increases will mostly discourage the core from purchasing as much as before.

Although even Nintendo sends mixed messages. Switch has made plays for the core at the start. Then echoed Wii for years. Yet the pending lineup looks poised to go for the cure again. I'm not even sure they know what they're doing, because no matter what they do, it just sells anyway

@NEStalgia,

I think Nintendo have been trying to court a wider audience that will buy more traditional games, the Wii was always going to loose the casual customers has they jumped ship to tablets etc, but the Wii U was a step in the right direction for them, I remember Black ops being a launch title, it was just executed the wrong way having the tablet and console separate, Nintendo knew the dedicated handheld market was in a generational decline, hence the Switch, I think sometimes we do not give Nintendo enough credit, me included in this.

And of course the Switch made a play for the core, as Nintendo feel everyone can buy one, how many core Microsoft or Sony console owners may own a Switch as a second or even third console.

The success of the Switch hardware is impressive, but it's the games sales ratio that's the real win for Nintendo.

@johnvboy many times I think Nintendo thinks so sideways and by sheer dumb luck happens to do the ideal thing for completely opposite reasons. I remember iwata talking to investors about nx, explaining that it's difficult to balance Japan's preference for handhelds and the west's preference for consoles and that nx will be able to do that....8 so think their primary thinking behind the hybrid was not about planning around generational declines of one industry or not, but purely about synchronizing their Japan and western market and it happened by chance to be what both markets really wanted... Not just Nintendo, Japanese business tends to work that way.

I don't love any of the companies using raw attach rates these days because it doesn't match up to what it used to mean. The advent of small indies and in Nintendo's case, ports of $.99 Android games count into the attach, but don't show the game data it used to when it meant full price retail software only. Averages still show about 2 games a year per player, which implies a lot of people buy no games, balancing those of us that buy 20.... But how many of those are low cost indie games? Revenues I suppose are more useful than attach now, but that's really meaningless with mtx and iap consuming a lot of that margin, in a handful of games.

@NEStalgia,

As I said Nintendo's gradual decline in it's dedicated handheld sales would have helped their decision with the Switch, and the Wii U was pretty much flat lining their home console business, so a similar concept to the Wii U was designed in a much better way, and with some decent advertising around it this time, you also have to consider the benefit to Nintendo not having the costs of two platforms to manufacturer and make dedicated software for.

As for game sales look at the Mario 3-D series, on the Wii the first Mario galaxy game sold around 12.8 million copies, this in part was because it was advertised with the motion controls, but in reality was a tough traditional game, hence the sequel only managing around 7 million copies, the casuals did not bother second time round, or where simply not still with th platform anymore.

The Switch is a totally different kettle of fish, with a mainline Mario 3-D title, not dressed up in anything other than what it is, and has sold 22 million copies up to now, this must be beyond even Nintendo's wildest dreams when they first came up with the more casual concepts of the Wii and DS, and they have a real shot at taking the Switch concept forward into the new generation.

@Rural-Bandit,

It's such an awesome time for video game fans, I have the Xbox because all my stuff is tied to it, and there is little difference between this and the PS5 anyway, I guess in time I may pick one up when they are cheaper, but in all honesty I struggle to fine the time to devote to the Xbox and Switch in the first place.

@Rural-Bandit,

I bought the deluxe version of Resident Evil 7 ages ago and never really touched it, just got my series x last week and a new LG OLED, and the game is just awesome with the 4K update and HDR.

@johnvboy I think a LOT of wrong lessons from the data of the early Wii were learned, both at Nintendo and by Matrick.... The WiiU and Kinekt era 360/XbTV1 we're both biproducts of reading the wrong thing from the wiids data in the first few years.

Switch still somewhat surprises me though. The hardware was very appealing in 2017, but not so much today, and the lull in first party games for years means it's not even software selling the hardware right now. And what software is selling feels more like the wiids market returning. I'm not really sure where it slots right now, but it feels like it's transitioned from serving the the core market at the start to now,a totally new blue ocean I've yet to entirely identify. Some titles next year will get me a lot more playtime on it than the past two years by far (rune factory, Splatoon 3, maybe others) but outside a few titles I still kinda feel I'm not really their market anymore. The opposite was true a few years back.

Yeah, I don't use the ps that often really. Recently it's been getting a lot of time because I still have a big backlog I'm catching up on from PS4 when I wasn't using it much, plus finally opening r&c rift which was the main game I early adopted for. I default to xb for all multiplats, but still have a sizable ps backlog, and a few of those are huge games for me. Switch gets is time mostly for pick up and play. Without quick resume, xcloud streaming kind of lags for that pick up and play action. If it ever got it, switch would suddenly find itself a lot less used.

The GAME Series X stock overall lasted almost a week (ran out of stock sometime within the last 12 hours of this comment) which is by far a new record.

@Rural-Bandit,

Yes the C1 is an amazing piece of kit whatever size you go for, I am a bit limited in my living room, as we only had a 42 inch Panasonic telly before, but because the C1 has pretty much no bezel I could fit the 48 inch one no trouble.

My biggest surprise was how well the Switch looks on the set, considering you are comparing it to 4K HDR powerhouses, although the Switch does look pretty good on my projector.

@NEStalgia,

I think the 3DS and Wii were a roll of the dice for Nintendo as they were being pushed out of the core marketplace, and had no way to gain enough of that market to make it viable, sure they would have done some research on the touch and motion control tech, but were pretty much learning as they went along. Initially it was great with the Wii U as they were pretty much first too the market, but the only issue with the more casual consumer is they tend to be more fickle by nature, so when the Wii U was launched Nintendo thought it was an easy sell with very little effort, of course they were not tho know that most of the Wii's audience had already moved on.

The Switch in my opinion represents a lot more effort on Nintendo's part, and you can bet your bottom dollar that after the Wii U they put a hell of a lot more research this time round, I remember them consulting a western expert in console design, and you can bet he put them in touch with Nvidia, another smart move, Nintendo want to a format they can build upon, just like they wanted with the DS/3DS and Wii/ Wii U, and this time I feel they have got it just right, but only time will tell, one things for sure however, they have invested a lot of time and effort and money developing and maintaining the Switch brand.

The Switch hardware is still very appealing, we have to step away from what's appealing to the core as it's a very small market, even with Sony and Microsoft it's still pretty niche, as there will also be many more casual players who buy their hardware too, the wider mass market have different reasons for buying tech, and it's rarely the same as us.

@Rural-Bandit,

Looks the part too.

@Rural-Bandit,

After growing up with massive television sets, I still can't get over how thin the actual panel is.

I have mine on the stand.

@Rural-Bandit,

Glad you are enjoying it so much, and yes with Switch prices strong for the current model it's a pretty cheap upgrade to the awesome OLED model, which fits in so well stood at the back of my C1.

My other passion is movies and I have my own home cinema, and compared to this video gaming cost peanuts too.

https://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=jonmoz

@Rural-Bandit,

Thank you

Sound bars are an awesome solution for living rooms as you normally can't get your speaker placement spot on, plus it's quite a job installing Atmos ceiling speakers and running all those wires etc, another issue is noise, as doing justice to a full Atmos system requires quite volume levels, I would be kicked out of our house if I took my Onkyo receiver anywhere near our living room.

Although the C1 has pretty decent sound right out of the box, assuming it's all housed in the base section, not so convinced of it's built in Atmos credentials, but it's a great one box solution.

@Rural-Bandit,

Sonos is a pretty solid brand, and they get awesome results from more compact units, the great thing about sound bar's is they are very versatile, and are perfect for living rooms. they bounce sound off walls etc to give a more immersive experience, the arc sounds a good choice, and $900 is not small change, so the quality will be pretty awesome.