OneMoreYear // Novemeber 14th, 2020
Nothing gets me quite as excited as the beginning of a new gaming generation. This time however, it came with a bit of a twist; COVID 19. Both the new Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 launched only two days apart, on the 10th and 12th of November, in the middle of a global pandemic. This has rendered their launches almost unrecognisable compared to previous generations, which saw people gathered in mass, lined up outside their local electronics store for hours on end, just waiting to grab a console the good old-fashioned way.
My personal goal was to get hold of a PlayStation 5 as I have been gaming on Sony consoles since I was just a teenager. Of the three console giants, Nintendo sits in its own unique little category of family fun and portable gaming, whereas with Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation, it always seems to come down to personal preference. Both consoles offer pretty much the same thing, with some variation in their exclusive titles, and I personally just so happen to prefer the titles offered on the PlayStation. Being a huge fan of From Software games such as ‘Bloodborne’, getting a PS5 to play the ‘Demon’s Souls’ remake seemed like a no-brainer. But the battle of the consoles is such a beast that it’s something I could dedicate an entire article to.
With both the September and the October pre-order windows gone, the only option left to those of us who weren’t quite lucky enough to secure our PS5 was to line up and try our luck on release day. So, I booked the day off work, and thought that I would give it a shot. I have lived in Korea for a few years, and I know plenty of places I could go to try and grab my own. Unfortunately, after my day was booked off, Sony then announced that nobody would be able to purchase a console on day-one due to the risk of COVID, and they wanted to reduce line-ups to prevent even more spreading of the virus…
Okay, fair enough, I guess. The only way to secure remaining systems now was to log onto your local stores’ website and try your luck at ordering online.
This stung for a couple of reasons. The first being that I had booked my damned day off to do this, and the second being that buying in person was my only way of fighting the try-hards who use check-out bots to secure purchases in seconds. When buying online, we barely stand a chance against the scalpers who want to buy up entire stocks and re-sell them on eBay for an incredible mark up.
Anyway, I decided to make a day of it. I got dressed and headed out to Yongsan – a great place in the heart of Seoul, with huge electronics markets. If you are ever visiting Korea and you are a bit of a nerd, I would strongly recommend checking it out. These markets sell everything your heart could desire, from old consoles, to custom PCs, computer parts, audio equipment, televisions, white goods, and much more.
One place that I love going, is a place we know locally as Video Games Alley. A narrow, underground corridor only a few feet wide, hosts stalls as far as the eye can see. Independent retailers sit at glass display units showing all the latest and greatest titles for your consoles, along with peripherals, classics, collector’s editions and so much more. Behind them, boxes are stacked to the ceiling, displaying consoles new and old, and various anime figurines.
With what little hope I had left in securing a PS5 console, I perused the aisle for 30 minutes or so, trying to spot anything that vaguely resembled a white box. I’ll admit that I was thrown off a few times by an Xbox One S box. Just try saying that 10-times fast. But of course, there were no new PlayStations to be found. I did, however, catch wind of an app called ‘One Store’ that was opening up sales of the PS5 to the public at 2pm sharp – on a first come first serve basis.
I opened the app at 1:58pm, and I could see other people around me also staring at their phones likely as hopeful as I was. When it hit 2pm, I began to spam the hell out of the purchase button for the PlayStation 5 disk edition. I must have pressed that button so many times I that damned near punched a hole through my phone. I had one glimmer of hope when a new page began loading, the screen went white… could this be it?! I started to wonder how on earth I would input all my check out information, in Korean, fast enough to beat the scalpers. As fast as that thought popped into my head, the new page loaded. I was greeted with a picture of a spilled coffee cup, and an error message. Every other time I tried to click purchase, I was told that ‘this product is not on sale,’ and, after 10 minutes, the app finally just listed the consoles as ‘sold out.’
And, with that died any glimmer of hope that remained. I continued to wonder around Yongsan to make the most of my now-wasted day of vacation. Going back outside I found my way to one of the two official PlayStation stores in Yongsan, this one being the smaller of the two. Inside, it looked like your typical PlayStation store – very blue, walls lined with video games and peripherals, but to my surprise I also saw both Xbox and Switch items on sale. This had me wondering if I really was in an official PlayStation store after all. And it was then on my left that I first spotted it: the first PS5 console that I had seen in the flesh, sitting in a plastic display case, which I’m sure for consoles is the equivalent of leaving your dog in the car on a summer’s day. She looked slightly chunkier than I expected, but beautiful, nonetheless. And, I have to say that in person the design is really quite striking. A very bold statement indeed.
I decided to do one last thing before I left Yongsan, and that was to visit the other PlayStation store. The second is located right next to the train station, practically inside, and is much fancier. Upon arrival I saw that the store was busier than usual. People were lined up, standing on little blue feet stickers on the ground to indicate social distancing. On my right I saw a tower of PS5 boxes, all shiny, white and new – obviously for those with pre-orders. And I have to admit there is a special kind of sting to watching people walk out happy with their consoles, knowing that you don’t get to have that launch day experience. I saw one man clutching his console box, looking eagerly at the wall of games on display wondering what he should buy and play first. It took a lot of strength for me to not just point at ‘Demon’s Souls’ and shout, “This one! Yes, this one! Just take it, man!”
And so, needless to say at this point, I left feeling pretty disappointed. Grieving my lack of a PS5, I wished that I could be holding the DualSense controller in my hands, and experiencing the nostalgic ‘Astro’s Playroom,’ a game pre-installed on every PlayStation 5. Instead I stood there, reflecting on our current global situation. The Corona Virus has changed so many lives in so many ways, and having it create this unusual console launch experience, while obviously trivial in comparison, just adds to the list of ways it affects us. And I feel as if we can’t escape it at times.
And so, on that note I hope that everyone gets their consoles eventually, sooner rather than later where possible, and that there are no defects.
And please let me know how your launch day experience was by commenting below. Thank you very much for reading.
Thunder's Remnant 