Can you blame them though? Holiday sales are hard to predict. Anyone who went shopping in the US shortly after Christmas week could see that stores were ravaged. I know in my own area, consoles were hard to find and many games had sold out. I don't think the situation was too different elsewhere.
95% of gamers don't know they are noobs, the 5% who do won't be noobs for long
Check out my kickstarter project: http://kck.st/15CEuUT
Check out my blog: http://www.metropolisgaming.com