PS3 Slim Might Arrive Early, but Will Supplies Last?

GameStop lists the PS3 Slim as shipping August 25, a full week before the originally announced ship date -- good news for those waiting for a cheaper and smaller PS3.

It might not bode so well for prices if the PS3 Slim is in short supply; Amazon is currently limiting Slim sales to one per customer, but does that really mean there's little supply? Let's think about that for a second.

The naive consumer might think that they're taking the measure to limit the eBay scalping that happens with every new console, but it's improbable, as Amazon couldn't care less what you do with a product after you give them your money.

It's also possible that PS3 Slim stocks are, well, slim, but Sony Europe claims it has plenty of Slims in "trucks and trailers" already on the road. Also, Amazon UK is only limiting sales to five per customer, so what gives?

Amazon just wants people to buy the PS3 Slim as fast as possible by inciting a rush of orders. Tell people it's only one per person, and some will envision quick profits on eBay, while others just HAVE to have the latest and greatest. I'm sure that right now, there are thousands of Americans coordinating multiple PS3 Slim purchases with friends and relatives.

"K, I'll give you the money, and you buy it on your card...Yeah, I'm having mom and grandma do it, too. Dude, we're gonna make THOUSANDS!"

The flames of PS3 passion are only further fueled by the fact that the Slim is smaller and cheaper than its predecessors, so my hat's off to Amazon's marketing team.

Finally, the Slim PS3 won't be playing your old PS2 games, which seems to be raising ire among gaming circles. I don't see it as a huge issue anyone but the, shall we say dedicated gamers, who have a collection of hundreds of PS2 games, vast amounts of time to play them, and the willingness to play the same games for years and years. I'll admit that I've sometimes popped old Xbox games into my 360, either for four playerdeathmatches with my kids on Halo 2's superior multiplayer maps, or for a trip down memory lane, but the gamers with hundreds of PS2 games already purchased the earlier generation PS3s with backwards compatibility. Most people who get a PS3 now are doing so for Blu-ray, exclusives, the new lower price and/or the free online play. [Engadget, Kotaku]

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