Memory card shortage irks PS2 buyers

Bond · 04-11-2002, 10:20 PM

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-880116...e.dht.nl-hed.0

Quote:

The 8MB memory cards plug in to the PS2 and are necessary for people to save games in progress and game settings, making them almost mandatory for lengthy games such as action titles and role-playing fantasies. According to a survey by research firm IDC, 87.5 percent of customers who purchased a PlayStation 2 also bought a memory card to go with it.

Yet the standard 8MB Sony card was listed as "unavailable" Wednesday on Sony's PlayStation.com Web site, as well as on the e-commerce sites of major retailers such as CompUSA and Best Buy. Other online retailers, such as Amazon.com and GameStop, listed the Sony cards as unavailable earlier in the week but had them in stock Wednesday. San Francisco and New York game stores contacted by CNET News.com said the memory cards were out of stock.

Sony has signed licenses with several companies to manufacture memory cards for the PlayStation 2, but third-party products are also in short supply, due to heightened demand and Sony's decision late last year not to renew licensing agreements with some companies, including memory card maker Mad Catz.

PlayStation 2 owner Jeremy Hoekstra said he went to eight Dallas-area stores last weekend looking for a memory card to go with his newly purchased PlayStation 2, to no avail. He said he bought the console mainly to enjoy the role-playing game "Final Fantasy X," so without a memory card there was little he could do with his new game machine.

"It's like getting the machine without a power cord," he said. "It makes my PS2 worthless to me for the time being."

Molly Smith, spokeswoman for Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said the memory cards are an extremely popular item, and stock can vary day by day for major retailers. "We're trying to keep up with demand," she said.

Memory cards have been a problem for Sony before. When the PlayStation 2 went on sale in Japan two years ago, initial shipments had to be delayed when Sony was unable to supply memory cards to go with the consoles.

IDC analyst Schelley Olhava said meeting demand for memory cards has been a persistent problem for Sony since the PlayStation 2 was introduced, but she didn't expect shortages to affect sales of the console.

Perfect Stu · 04-11-2002, 10:25 PM

hope it's not too bad a problem

*shrugs*

I'm sure it will be fixed soon...and besides, it's not like it's hurting PS2 or PS2 game sales...

Sigma · 04-11-2002, 11:40 PM

that truly sucks ass. Its not funny how useless the ps2 is without a memory card. You can't get anywhere in any game.

DeathsHand · 04-12-2002, 05:32 PM

I wonder how the shortage got that bad... when my friend got his PS2 in March, he couldn't find a memory card anywhere... but he didn't think to check the music store at the mall, and I did and they had 2 sitting behind the counter

Anyways... there was this thing I heard on a website or magazine or something where they asked around retailers if they had any and some people even commented and they said they think Sony is doing it on purpose to make it to people go "Aww screw it, I'll get the hard drive so I don't have to worry about this anymore"

Joeiss · 04-12-2002, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeathsHand
Anyways... there was this thing I heard on a website or magazine or something where they asked around retailers if they had any and some people even commented and they said they think Sony is doing it on purpose to make it to people go "Aww screw it, I'll get the hard drive so I don't have to worry about this anymore"

But when is the Hard Drive coming out?

Perfect Stu · 04-12-2002, 07:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeiss

But when is the Hard Drive coming out?

August. That's when the PS2 goes online here in NA.

Joeiss · 04-12-2002, 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Perfect Stu

August. That's when the PS2 goes online here in NA.

I thought that they just said that the modem was coming out in August... Oh well.

Any word on the price of the Hard Drive? And will it be larger than 8 MB?

Sigma · 04-12-2002, 10:44 PM

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA

that would be hilarious if the hard drive only held 8 megs.

It was a long time ago i saw info on this but i think there's more than 1 that you can buy. I think the smallest one is 10 or 20 gigs. I don't really remember though.

Joeiss · 04-13-2002, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Sigma
HAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA

that would be hilarious if the hard drive only held 8 megs.

It was a long time ago i saw info on this but i think there's more than 1 that you can buy. I think the smallest one is 10 or 20 gigs. I don't really remember though.

Isn't 8MB the most that Xbox's hard drive holds? Or am I mistaken?

Oh well. 10 - 20 MBs would be just great.

Perfect Stu · 04-13-2002, 10:30 AM

DUDE

The Hard Drive is gonna be 40 GIGS...

that's why it's gonna cost close to $100 possibly...

I'm guessing more like $80 but we'll see...

gekko · 04-13-2002, 10:43 AM

No **** there's a shortage. I went looking for another one. Went to Best Buy, notta. I thought that was odd. Went to Target, notta. Weird. Went to Funco, notta. I was like, WTF? Still haven't seen one

Xbox's HD is 8GB. More than enough. Makes me wonder why PS2 is going to use 40GB, considering less games will be using it also. Why not buy a smaller drive and bring down the price? It's not like anyone will use more than 5GB.

Joeiss · 04-13-2002, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by gekko
No **** there's a shortage. I went looking for another one. Went to Best Buy, notta. I thought that was odd. Went to Target, notta. Weird. Went to Funco, notta. I was like, WTF? Still haven't seen one

Xbox's HD is 8GB. More than enough. Makes me wonder why PS2 is going to use 40GB, considering less games will be using it also. Why not buy a smaller drive and bring down the price? It's not like anyone will use more than 5GB.

True that. If PS2's hard drive costs 100 dollars American, I am looking at a good 150 dollars Canadian. And I am not sure if I will be willing to fork out that kind of cash.

Bond · 04-13-2002, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeiss

True that. If PS2's hard drive costs 100 dollars American, I am looking at a good 150 dollars Canadian. And I am not sure if I will be willing to fork out that kind of cash.

I sure wouldn't. 40 GB is an outrageous amount of space for a console.

And if the hard drive is $100 American like you say and the modem is around $40. That would be $440 for a Playstation 2, hard drive, and modem. When you could buy a Xbox for only $300 and have a reasonable hard drive and built in modem.

Perfect Stu · 04-13-2002, 12:32 PM

I have no doubt that Sony will be cutting the price of the PS2 by the tmie it goes online...so we aren't looking at $440...I'm guessing more like $350 by the time they lower the price...

gekko · 04-13-2002, 01:12 PM

Still, $100 for a HD? Alright, if I'm gonna buy a 40GB HD, I'm sticking it in my PC where it will get some use.

Look at Xbox, 8GB HD. It'll never get filled up, not even with the ability to rip CDs. PS2 won't have that option, comes at a later time where not every game will have the option to support it. We would be fine with a 10GB drive, or hell, a 6GB drive. It's not necessary to have a 40GB drive, all it means is it will cost us more.

And even if Sony drops the price, it's like $350 for PS2, and $300 for Xbox. No if Sony dropped the price, like say $60 for modem + HD, that would be a good deal, and the decision is a lot harder.