than i would rather prefer: aliens stole our hightech! all of it! and perhaps they will never come back ;)

Sure they can.  Obviously you have no idea how stores operate.  A store has only so much square footage (square meters/metres) of retail space, therefore they only provide shelf/peg space for products they believe will sell well or they known they can sell.

If a product doesn't sell they can easily either return the merchandise to the vender (consignment) or clearance and discount it.

Walmart here in the US routinely denies venders shelf space, even before a single item is sold to Walmart.  There's a whole process where a vender has to sit with a buyer and sell them on the product, then sell them on a price.  If you're a vender like Pepsico, and you want market dominance with your products, Walmart is awesome.  Because as long as you can give Walmart an outstanding price, they'll dedicate a huge amount of shelf space to you.  Where as another retailer may actually offer a variety of venders and a larger amount of shelf space for them, Walmart offers fewer venders but huge amounts of shelf space. 

A retailer has full control over what they offer for sale in their stores, with few exceptions.  If ASDA decided to pull PS Vitas out of stores, they did so because either they don't sell well across the country, or they're pulling stock back for inventory for their online operation.  I.e. the PS Vita and games would be available only for purchase through the ASDA web site.

The issue is you get into bad relationships with suppliers that way

Though this is all beside the point, because GAME's issue was that they had run out of money and couldn't even pay suppliers for the stock in the first place.

but they can't "Refuse" to sell it, as if , its not available, as if discontinue it without clearance.

yes they can. they can sell what stock of vitas they had and not buy more to sell.

As I implied, I believe gaming consoles and handhelds are technically sold on consignment.  The retailers don't actually own the merchandise, Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft do.  But the retailers stock and inventory the merchandise and when it's sold, they get a cut of the profit.

But also as I said, if ASDA is pulling inventory and reallocating it to it's online web store, then it could pull the merchandise without any clearance or discount sales.  The merchandise would be transfered from the store inventory to the web store inventory as an online only purchase.

I dont think my Asda has any Vitas either. My local Asda is gert big so space isnt an issue.

Here in USA Wal-mart discontinued the PC section. I was pretty angry, but I suppose it is just what the locals buy that stays on shelves.

(1) the first things that came to mind. I don't buy carrots or butter, not even milk or eggs : generally chocolate, meat, orange juice and whisky XD

(2) I didn't know that. It seems to be very different from France. Here in supermarkets the games are usually in tiny spaces, with terrible layout and they're overpriced. It's the last place where a gamer would buy his games from.

@Farsala

I don't think that has anything to do with demand, and everything to do with service. Retailers like Best Buy have a more knowledgeable staff, and in the case of Best Buy you can buy a service plan that provides for in home service. It is really a luxury market, and it really needs that particular buying experience.

@topic

I would not be surprised in the least if this is true, and I would not be surprised if it were the start of a trend. That said I will keep an open mind. I have said this was possible for quite some time, but if we want to be vindicated we sometimes see more in something then we ought to. So I will just leave it at that.