PS3s Being Traded For Wiis
So, first people camp out in front of Best Buys for days at a time to get the PS3, and then they trade them for Nintendo Wiis. Seriously. Tony Conrad, CEO and Founder of Sphere, pointed this out to us and we had to see it to believe it. There are people out there trying to trade their PS3s for Nintendo Wiis and some of them are offering to take a loss. In order to check out exactly how widespread this phenomenon is, I had to venture into the dangerous, uncharted waters of craigslist.org and start doing a little searching of my own.
We decided upon looking in some of the hottest cities on craigslist: Austin, New York and San Francisco. In my search of Austin, I only turned up 6 total people who wanted to trade their PS3 for a Wii, so I moved on to New York City, which boasted a pretty substantial 18 desired trades. Here’s where it gets crazy: in San Francisco, there are 48 different PS3 for Wii trades going on at this moment. Now, keep in mind, most of these trades are requesting a Wii plus cash difference, but there is the occasional barter that will take a loss just to get their hands on the latest Nintendo console.
Why would these people want to trade their hard-earned PS3 for a Nintendo Wii, since the Wii’s distribution dwarfs that of the PS3? Most of the people who camped out for a Nintendo Wii did so for maybe 4 hours. While the PS3 lines were plagued with greedy eBayers and shootings, the Wii lines around where I live were full of people drinking cocoa and taking turns playing DS games. There are a few possible answers.
First, it’s possible that the people trading for the Wii are the ones who managed to grab a couple of PS3s during a restock and can’t move them for as much as they’d like on eBay. Being a completist, I can understand this mentality, because I want every console in every generation. What better use of a second PS3 than getting a Wii plus a little cash?
Another scenario could be that they’re trading the PS3s, which are dropping in price on eBay, for the Wii to try and flip it right before the holidays. This theory is given credit by a few traders looking for 2 Wiis for a 60 GB PS3. That would definitely be a profit gain situation.
Finally, it could just be people who got the PS3 and have been terribly disappointed in the software line-up. The only game that seems to be doing relatively well in the ratings is Resistance: Fall of Man, and that’s not really enough to carry a $500-$600 system. I would love to confirm these thoughts, but all of the people I’ve tried to contact to ask why they’re selling their systems either declined to comment or didn’t have time.
No matter what it turns out to be, I would have never pictured this scenario. Sony has or, depending on who you talk to, had very powerful name recognition. It’s impossible to call a winner this early in the console war, but this time it’s going to be a much closer race.
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Really interesting that this is happening. It seems like any of the scenarios could be true, but I would be surprised if people bought the PS3 now are changing their mind so early in the game. I would guess people are trying to trade their extra PS3s and get Wiis so they can flip them.
trackback:
http://www.arghyle.com/2006/12/23/a-wii-for-your-ps3/
Glad to see that degree in Communications is finally paying off.
Glad your job does not involve any logical thought.
Actually… in Cleveland all of them are looking to give away wii’s for computer components or xbox 360 stuff
RE: wto605
Sup, fellow Clevelander?
I see you riled up the retarded playstation fanboys. I have a playstation 3 right now, I would trade it for a wii in a heartbeat. My friend bought a ps3 to sell on ebay but decided it wasn’t worth the time after prices dropped. He wants to trade it for a wii. If he doesn’t find one before Christmas day he is going to return it for his cash back.
Sony 100% flubbed this launch, their lineup is shit and the situation will only get worse with the advancements microsoft has made in game development. The wii will outsell PS3 by a mile and Xbox will win the hardcore crowd.
Judging from the boohoos you recieved in comments above I’m going to assume your article is on Digg. What else could explain the ignorance of the commenters?
It’s also interesting that all of the fanboys make sure they are signed in as annonymous before talking out of their asses. :)
I work at a Gamestop in Michigan, and since the PS3 launched, we’ve had 8 of them returned. I can’t recall the reasons every gave for returning them, but we had 3 of them returned within a span of five hours this past tuesday. Two out of the three people returning them said that, after doing some research, they’d rather have a Wii (which we were sold out of). The third one said his PS3 just wasn’t selling on eBay. On a side note, PS3 peripherals languish on the shelves, while everything Wii is snagged as soon as we get it in.
I live in Bangkok,and new consoles are always massively overpriced when released here(although theres more leeway to bargain in a barter friendly society)and its interesting to note that the same shop that offered me a PS3 for 38000 Baht($1000) rang me again this week(they know I usually buy every new console as it comes out)and offered the same 60gb model for 28000 baht($700),thats still more then you guys in the states are paying,but a $300 drop in one week is a clear indicator that something went wrong with the launch…in comparison the 360(and I’m not a 360 fanboy by the way,gears of war is the only game its got switched on for lately,and that was too short) has remained fairly stable in price over here since launch.no Wii’s yet(as far as I know)it’ll be interesting to see how they do in Thailand.
I have to wonder if the PS3 is going to revive and actually stand a chance later on in the game. Titles like FFXIII and MGS bring the system up a few notches, but that’s only if they don’t lose the 2nd party support on those titles by the time they’re ready to launch, if not worse. The console’s launch was sour enough to really scar it, and Nintendo is now racing with Microsoft with Sony licking it’s wounds.
Right now I have a Wii. I plan to go out and buy a 360. Part of me wonders if I’ll ever wish I got the PS3 instead of the 360, but looking at the titles slated to launch for the PS3, I really doubt it. Besides, at this point I think I want to boycott the console (and company) out of principle. Their business techniques are rather atrocious. It’s almost as if they have a demeaning, condescending complex towards their own customers, the people who formerly loved them.
I for one am happy to see Nintendo back in a position of greatness. If Sony really does belly flop for good, my dying wish would be for Sega to come back and take another stab at the console world. They deserve one last chance.
Here in Australia you can just go to any big W (its like WalMart (i think)) and get a wii or 360 – no PS3s though…
here in costa rica you can also find a lot of wii’s and360′s, but none a ps3
I was in a store waiting for the Wii shipment to arrive and when the shipment came in all they got in that day were PS3′s. Everybody left.
Just the other day I saw 10 PS3s, ready to be sold, in my local Wal-Mart. There were no Wiis. (Note this is the Los Angeles suburb of Palmdale, the place where a lot of fighting occurred)
Funny, eh? The one system people shot each other for is losing popularity a month after launch. Sony’s screwed.
i don’t understand the hardcore fanboi-ness going on. unless you own stock or work for sony, why are you getting so riled up? i mean, i’d be sad if i had a ps3 and it flops just because i might not be able to get the games selection i wanted out of the system.
other than that, who really cares? i don’t understand the sentiment. if the wii fails in the end, i’m sad because well, i prob won’t get to play as many games i want on it in the end but it’s really no skin off my back.
but it amuses me that fan boys (this phenomena isn’t restricted to sony fan boys at all) take it so personally.
I got a girlfriend to screw all nite, i don’t need a game console,
screw you guys im going back to bed to fuck her.
“Here in Australia you can just go to any big W (its like WalMart (i think)) and get a wii or 360 – no PS3s though…”
Umm…PS3s haven’t been released here yet, so of course they aren’t in stores…
I’m loving the Wii!
We’ll i was kind off predicting this. Since i saw on the television the Queues to the shops to buy the Sony console i noticed most of them were ebayers that i know from here and then. I believe that sony will start selling later when they are forced to drop the console price, and when the major games come out. But in the console war…i believe it will be sony that will win it…i don’t think nintendo has the game range that ps3 has…xbox sucks a lot especially since most of the xbox games can be played in a PC…so i guess it will be 1st the wii then the ps3 and xbox360 but…they should be selling all the same thing with very different numbers on the sellings…at least thats my prediction…BTW microsoft and bill gates can eat my shorts, the day they make improvements to anything at all it will be the day that i will eat a chicken alive with no hands and barefooted -_-’
Can’t be bothered to read the other comments. I just love the notion that the people who stood in line, outside in the cold, for days on end did not have the time to answer simple email correspondence.
I bought 3 PS3s, 2 60gigs and 1 20gig. Two to sell and one for myself. I purchased Resistance-Fall Of Man, and Tony Hawk Project 8. After playing my console I ended up returning it because it just wasn’t fun. The graphics were great, but I have more fun on a PC. When I am able to get one I will be buying a Wii. As a side note, I have been unable to sell the other two consoles. Even at $100 markup.
The Wii is strange but likeable. I bought it for my kids due to the more kid-friendly titles, however, I have played Wii Sports and Far Cry Vengence (which I rented).
The graphics are really quite plain compared to the PC where I do most of my gaming. Far Cry on the PC is really fantastic and IMHO, PC graphics are still significantly better than any console platform out there.
Far Cry looked on the Wii looks somewhat dated, and when I first started playing it was just strange to control. However, about 30 minutes into it, I really started to get the hang on of it. I thought they did a FANTASTIC job with the interface. I especially liked the “John Woo” two-gun configuration where each hand holds a trigger. The grenade throwing was also very cool, however, I thought it was just a tad too sensitive.
I still leave the Wii to the kids mostly, but as a PC gamer, I’ve been very impressed with the interface and polish of the system. The built in Wifi works like a champ, and I think the built in rumble with speaker works well.
Slakka,
I hope you’re keeping the PS3 120 gig for yourself, because that does seem exceedingly rare.
OMG PLZ STOP THIS FIGHTING.
ALL CONSOLES SUX.
CASE CLOSED.
Wii+Big money being traded for PS3 !
This proves wii is losing market!
I own both a 360 and a Wii. I bought the 360 a year ago, and I got the Wii a week after it came out.
I haven’t really touched my 360 since I got my Wii and Zelda to be honest. I had just bought Gears and Vegas and hadn’t finished them. Zelda however has captured my attention.
A game with great art direction, lots of puzzles, and amazing gameplay. Honestly I couldn’t care any less about the “most powerful system.” It’s completely useless if you can’t write good games for it. I had a PS2 and sold that in favor of my original xbox. I’m not a fanboy by any means, but Sony is really screwing things up royally. I will never forgive them for the fact that my Acceptance – Phantoms CD had a rootkit on it.
It’s the same as buying a 10k PRS limited edition guitar. What good is it if you can only play Metallica covers on it? haha.
I’m a big console fan since the Atari 2600…
I have had an Atari, NES, SNES, 3DO, PS1, PS2, XBox, and at some point on past year I got really bored with the console world because no one was developing a truly “Next-Gen” console… PS3 and XBox 360 are basically the same as their predecessors, but with better graphics… That’s really “Next-Gen”? For me Next-Gen is something revolutionary.
I decided to give a chance to Nintendo, and I bought a Wii, and I can say that it has been the best buy since the PS1… it’s really fun and addictive, and really new.
For me the Wii is the future, they’re giving a big step on the right direction… who really cares about the most powerful system if isn’t fun? Fun is the major factor for the gaming world, and I think that Sony is on the wrong path… And just because they want to impose the blu-ray disc instead of Toshiba’s HD DVD. This has happened in the past, with VHS and Betamax, and Sony didn’t learn the lesson.
I think that Sony’s market strategy is really bad and I think that they’re going to loose the 1st position on the consoles…
I don’t want to buy a PS3, for me it’s the same as PS2.
Why I should spend that much of money just for better graphics?
I think that Nintendo will rule the console world in the next years.
Someone said Sega deserves another chance at a console. LOL. Ever play any of Sonic Team’s PSO/PSU games? What SEGA deserves is to be shot and pissed on.
Sega DOES deserve another chance. I was really disappointed that they stopped supporting my dreamcast back then. Was a really great console.
Oh and to the anonymous prick above this post. The last couple sonic games made me laugh, they were shit. But you have to realise sega is not all sonic.
Would be actually pretty neat if sega came back in the race in a couple years with a kickass sonic game. (With zero additional characters like those bunnies and alligators and shit)
all i have 2 say is that the console wars are just bullshit and marketing hype. i live in south africa and all u can find on the shelves is the xbox-360. but for myslef and just about everyone i know no one gives a shit anymore because it has turned into a one big marketing campain and i just don’t care about the “tech specs” of the knew consoles anymore. i say good on u Nintendo…u have a knew fan here and fuck sony and microsoft. and i if sega did ever come back to the console arena… i would be the first in line 2 give it a try…till then…god bless the Wii.
Everyone getting a game machine loses. They’re losing time that they could actually be using to have real experiences with real people. If people think they’re bowling because of what they’re doing in their living room with a machine, they are sorely mistaken. If they think they’re having social experiences or learning anything by clicking buttons, they’re wrong.
Now now, I don’t care what people in austria and africa think about this console warz; they are probably too primitive to have the next gen stuff anyway (how can you judge how good/bad a console is when you DON’T EVEN HAVE ONE!!!!). Just wait until Bungie start publishing titles for PS3… Xbox will be screwed if this happens!
This is total BS. I looked into Craigslist and there is no one exchanging PS3 for Wii and taking a hit.
Me thinks, gigagamez is creating a buzz for itself…hehehe
Check this…
http://austin.craigslist.org/ele/252585269.html
Sounds like the scalpers just want their $ back since the PS3 supply/demand has leveled off. I just waited until I could find a PS3 on the GameStop shelf, its a 60 GB and no way would I trade it for a Wii.
I don’t care if it flops, as long as I can play Resistance and Motorstorm, I’m happy… it is after all a cheap BlueRay player. :)
Sony’s behind, but I think it’ll all play out in the end… lots of geeks like me just waiting in the shadows…
Frankly the PS3 is not for the mass public.
Most people who are buying consoles are Bill Gates kiddies. They don’t know how to tune up their pc, much less know what’s actually in a PS3 that puts the wii and the 360 to shame.
But whatever. I’m waiting till they work out any bugs and prices drop anyway before I pick up my PS3. Call me a fanboy if you want. But I simply will not pay for new consoles every damn time they come out and the new games. I like backwards compatibility it gives me a reason to upgrade. Nintendo really should get into this mind set IMHO so should XBOX But then really what else can expect from Microsoft the people who charge us $500 for an operating system we can get for free if we buy a new $500 pc, charge you to play online, and charged you $35 bucks just to view a DVD on the XBOX. Bill Gates doesn’t need mroe money if he’d drop his prices then I might be persuaded over.
Backwards compatibility and a blue ray player out of the box is the way to go stop wasting money, and stop being a geek that owns 50 different consoles, and all their games. You can spend that money on better things. Like Life.
Ok for all you FAN BOYS OUT THERE YOUR PATHETIC I THINK IT IS FUNNY HOW MANY FEARFUL XBOX FANBOYS ARAE STATEINH THERE WEAK COMMENTS ALLOVER ARE YOU AFRAID MAYBE YOU SPENT TOO MUCH MONEY ON A SYSTEM THAT IS NOT WORTH WHILE IN THE LONG RUN AND WHO EVER STATE THERE COMMENT ABOUT HOW SONYS ETHICS ARE LOOK AT MS SOFTWARE THEY TAKE CONTROL OF THE MARKET AND RIP YOU OFF WITH UPGRADES YOU GUYS ARE BRAINWASHED FOOLS I OWN A PS3 I HAVE NO ATTACHMENT TO SONY I DO NOT GET PAYED OFF BY THEM. I THINK IF YOU FOOLISH FAN BOY WANT TO GET RIPED OFF THEN DO IT BUT STOP TRYING TO MARKET FOR SOME ONE ELSE> I LIKE MY SYSTEM I HOPE THAT IT GETS MS TO IMPROVE ON THERE PRODUCT FOR THE NEXT TIME AROUND BUT THAT WILL ONLY HAPPEN IF YOU DUMB FANBOY SHUT UP AND GROW UP YOU WANT COMPETITION OUT THERE RIGHT OR YOU WILL END UP WITH NOTHIN
I have been on a hunt to obtain the Wii and every place I go to , they are sold out, help a poor man out, where can I get one with no problem.
Wii’s graphic is absoultely HORRIBLE. Try running DOOM 3 on a P2 with an old ass videocard, this is the type of graphic you will see on Wii. Those ebay tree humpers can lick my censored. This is what they get for hogging all the PS3 during the launch date. So dumb arses think they can sell their 800 dollar system for 2000 on ebay… damn greedy bastards. Just wait until there are emulator for PS3 and 360.
I dont understand what is all the fuss about Wii.It is just plain bullshit.I would say the real battle is between XBox 360 and PS3.IAnd i would think XBOx 360 will win it because of its games and price.
Ok…Gentelman please relax…at the end of the day consoles are ment to give smiles…not headaches… so whatever your choice of platform is…good for u.
And Sonee…why don’t you come 2 S.A and i’ll show u just how primitive we can be…punk
So everybody is trying to make money through eBay or Craig’s List.
PS3′s are easier and easier to get, lowering selling prices on the clandestine market. Hence they’re being returned for Wii’s, which are completely sold out… therefore high selling prices on the clandestine market.
Wii = more profit
Big deal.
People outside America and Australia will have to wait… what, 4 months before they can buy the PS3. Its not because its sold out, its because Sony hasent released the PAL version yet.
I am one of the people who had an ad up to try and trade a PS3 (which I had) for a Wii (with some cash to make up the difference). While I can afford either, I purchased the PS3 only in the hopes I could use it as a token to get a Wii.
I finally got one, but just for plain cash. The PS3 seems like a cool toy, but compared to a good PC does not have enough special about it to make it worthwhile for me. The Wii is different, and has more kid-friendly titles which is important since I have a family.
One the holidays, we had fun playing it with both my 14 year old son AND my 84 year old mother, which is a combination that would have been impossible on the PS3 or any PC.
I think it’s absolutely hilarious when someone accuses console gamers of having no life…yet their own busy life is spent flaming on message boards. Totally funny.
The Wii is not in the same market as the Xbox 360 and the PS3. They never pretended to be high-definition, with blow-you-away graphics. What they do offer is games that people play in a different way, as well as offering all the extra whistles and bells, like the Wifi connection to the Virtual Console (in which only Xbox Live is a real competitor yet), all at a much lower price point for console and games. Adding backwards compatibility with the Gamecube and using cheap and common portable memory storage like SD memory cards were also very smart. In my mind, they also win the case design award by not being about 500 lbs and bloated like the other “next-gen” systems.
If you want to argue apples to apples, it’s kind of silly to include the Wii in the “what’s better” argument. Wii will never do graphics like the others, and you’ll never get the same gameplay and innovative controls without a major push by the game design companies (like Red Octane than their Guitar Hero games) for the PS3 or 360. And yeah, Sony screwed the pooch with its stupid launch and disappointing titles. Gloat while you can, XBoxers, because when game design catches up to the horsepower the Cell processor and the Blu-Ray gives the PS3, you may see some things that may make you NEED to have a PS3, regardless of your bias. It’s an exciting time to be a gamer, and I look forward to seeing what’s on the horizon.
Erm.. Avoc, you are mistaken. Aussies use the PAL standart.
As to the discussion – it never ceases to amaze me how low people will stoop in order to isult others over a topic that no reasonable person will ever deem important. You got a system and you are disappointed that it sucks? Well, don’t blame others for what, essentially, is you OWN fault. Do research, compare, abova all WAIT and see what will warrant a purchase. Don’t go buy into marketing hoopla. That’s what trial booths are there for – TRY before you BUY, and if that means waiting for a couple of months, then WAIT and avoid unnecessary grief at your own stupidity that culminates in ‘fan-boi’ remarks on webboards. I bought an Xbx 360 a YEAR after it came out because I saw that it has enough games that I like to justify splurging over US$ 600 on the Premium system (Moscow, Russia, sigh – the most expencive city in the world). I’m happy with it.
P.S. To Midnight: I have built my PCs since 1993 on my own (about one a year) and the PS3 internals do not imress me in the least. All you have is a standard CPU with additional cores that can only do 1 (ONE!) simple boolean thread at a time each without read-ahead optimizations and cache. Great, and we have full fledged quad-cores coming in a couple of months to PCs. So please stop stating idiotic assumtions.
Whats sad is that most people dont realize that the Wii is actually FUN. Thats the real concensus for people who play it. Over the last 5 years there has been a push to outdo everyone else on graphics and new hyperSuperFantastic abilities, while forgetting that people actually have to enjoy the game that goes along with it. I think that Nintendo is going about trying to bring the fun back and not worrying about a 700 button super death combo. I hope they succeed because its what ALL systems need, a return to actually having fun, and with the hardware advances, actually using good hardware to do it.
Now I don’t know whether or not the article is true but did someone just imply that the PS3 has better playback than the Wii…the one that can play ALL gamecube games AND has downloadable games from all past systems including rival systems O_O.
Anyway I think the Wii for now is just fun. Eventually it will be a true gaming machine that rivals the other systems easily but for now its kind of lacking in certain game departments. Not that the PS3 isn’t and the 360 got a 1 year head start so it doesn’t really count. Still though it doesn’t matter since its only been a month. Wait until 6 months before making any ultimate decisions.
Also I own a Wii and wouldn’t trade it for a PS3 and $250 unless I could just get a second Wii. I’d sell my PS3 for whatever I could get for it and upgrade my PC.
to greg and dangher i really feel very sory for you to think the ps3 can even be classified with your weakling pcs the ps3 is really on a whole nother scale get it pc<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
@Permalink, I totally agree with you. Everybody was talking about the DS becoming a flop and all, it was the worst handheld they build and look and the sales records! Big developers such as Atlus, Square Enix and even Level 5 are creating games for the DS now, even planned more for the DS then for the PS3 for example. Everybody is yelling at Nintendo, but one thing is good of what they did with creating a console which doesn’t requires massive creations of software… it cost a lot less for developers to create great games for the WII comparing to the PS3. A good game cost about 40 milion USD to develope for the PS3. Therefore Jason Rubin already mentioned it that we will see more sequels and every year returning games such as sports games for the PS3, because it will simply cost too much to develope a complete new game. I’m not saying PS3 is comparing to WII a worthless machine, absolutely not! If the use of power of the console wasn’t so massive and critics about the software and hardware problems weren’t there… I most likely would have imported the JP version by now, like I did with my PS2, but for now I don’t feel like buying a PS3 at all ;)
Ah yes I have a JP WII and live in Holland and write this on a US page.. how cultural :D
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I am not a fanboy of any system… I’ve played every system i have b4 buying it and ive done the same with these three… Of the new consoles i like the wii the most overall… I dont care wats in the system or whether it has a blue ray disc or not… i do care about teh graphics but the gameplay is what its all about… apparently next gen is looking more realistic in the eyes of sony and microsoft… nintendo doesnt comete in graphics but it makes the games way more fun then just clicking a few buttons. They are the only system to actually change anything xept making graphics better… 2nd i like the 360 bcus of its lineup and last is sony bcus the only game i would want on that is nba street homecourt which is also on 360 along w/ gears of war… I applaud nintendo
(Go Super Smash Brothers! WOOO! cant w8 for Brawl)