The PlayStation 5 was launched in November last year, but months later, it’s still hard to catch one, especially in Japan. Early today, the Yastobashi Camera electric megastore in Akihabara, one of the largest in the country, sold large loads of PS5. All hell broke loose.
People began to crouch and push, descending on the Yodobashi clerk who had a stack of about 300 tickets with numbers to buy the PS5.
Check out the ensuing uproar:
Police were called, and the sale was postponed.
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Why did this happen? Like Twitter AJapaneseDream points out, Akihabara ‘s location appears to be just one of two Yodobashi cameras in the greater Tokyo-Yokohama area that do not require the retailer’s black credit card to purchase the hardware – an established requirement, apparently, to prevent transplants.
Moreover, unlike in the past, the store issued tickets with numbers first, which come in first. In the past, also in an effort to ban a console, the vendor would take away raffle numbers for the opportunity to purchase the hardware.
This created a perfect opportunity for those who wanted to get their own PS5 or even for resale.
Keep in mind that the Japanese government has just declared a state of emergency over the novel coronavirus. Tokyo has the highest number of cases in the country.
All tweets were used by permission.