I never understand the concept of getting something free if you do this :l

OT: Numbers for xbox360 and ps3 are close! its fun seeing their numbers close, same goe for the Wii and Ds.

Is anyone else starting to get the idea that Sony are purposely creating a shortage?

I really think they are waiting for profitability.  They are supposedly really close.

^^sorta, maybe for the GoW 3 launch which should be quite big when they begin their TV adverts but still the 360 is just breathing on Sony's neck right now and MS can still cut the price this year. This year is going to be pretty interesting to see when MS cut's their prices cuz once they do they will for sure be ahead of Sony by a fair margin.

You've also gotta look at the FF launch as well, I can safely assume alot of PS3's are gonna go off the shelf come that week as well so it makes sense for Sony to be holding back some PS3's for that month.

360 FTW!

They could also being doing it to

a) remove costs, thereby artificially improving the quarter profits

b) get a better contract on parts / use different, cheaper parts.

This probably holds the most weight (atleast with my belief that they are waiting for profitability). 

If they have a contract in the works for cheaper parts that will lead to profitability, this would be a great move on their part.  Release just enough in NA to keep the brand around (and indirectly cause them to go over 360 WW), then when that profitability mark is hit, bump up production to actual demand levels.  This way you:

1) sell out of already produced stock that you are taking a loss on

2) not having to make more hardware that Sony will take a loss on in the long run

Im guessing they are much closer to the profitability mark than we (and most analysts) think.  With the exchange rates, I have no doubt the PS3 is profitable in all areas but NA.  This is why it makes sense there are shortages in NA but not in Europe.

Sony isn't producing enough consoles..

I honestly dont even know whats going on over there..

No shortages here in UK for PS3 or 360, not sure about the wii.

Just to prove it to stop some backlash

In UK Play,Game/Gamestation and HMV are the games selling places

http://gamestation.co.uk/Consoles/PlayStation-3/Sony-Playstation-3-120GB-Slim-Console/~r417194/

http://www.play.com/Games/PlayStation3/6-/GenreBrowse.html?searchstring=Consoles

http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=3071;6;-1;-1;-1&sku=271339

http://www.game.co.uk/Consoles/PlayStation-3/Sony-PlayStation-3-120GB-Slim-Console/~r343273/

The only console i can see out of stock in some places (Play) is the 120gb version. However the deal for the 250gb version is like £10-£30 difference, if someone wanted a PS3 that badly, im sure they would stump up that for it as it is tiny amount.

What i find interesting is that the 250gb version is everywhere, maybe they make more money from the newer 250gb version and thus are trying to sell more of those?

Nice sales for a slow period, if these ones and midsummer ones are the slowest weeks of the year, 2010 will be excellent for Wii and DS, as usual, very good for PS3 and XB360, and, finally, not bad for PSP. 70M lifetime is definitely within PSP, XB360 and PS3 reach, 120M within Wii's and 150M for DS (conservative prediction, I'd expect most of them to exceed these figures).