Even in that case, they can probably get the console repaired and resell it or sell it to someone else to resell it.  EBGames in Canada apparently increased their warranty cost to something like $100 canadian, but perhaps that's because the failure rate is so high that many people will still buy the super expensive protection plan.

I actually didn't want to mention this, because it seemed a little insulting -- but I haven't sold one in over a month, so... I don't know. I'd say based on the previous months, about 1/2 do, Munkeh. My general feeling is that people have a perception that the Wii and PS3 are reasonably solid machines, while the 360 has some issues. That is entirely editorial and based only on my perceptions of how people behave, though. 

 @ Bodhesatva

 ... khem, I'd like to quote myself incase you missed it

I did miss it Kber, thanks.

Actually, I can't definitively say that software is down on the PSP without going in and checking our inventory changes over the last month, but my educated guess is "yes, we've sold less software recently," which is odd because we've also definitely sold more hardware. Simplest example -- we've had lots of people come in and buy the bare-bones system (not the entertainment pack) and buy no games to go with it. I work again on Thursday, so I'll check then to confirm, but I do suspect that our software sales for the PSP are definitely down. 

I figured I'd post this here, since this thread talks about store sales and such.

I went to Circuit City, Best Buy, Target and Wal-Mart, all for various reasons, buying speakers, seat covers, Animal Crossing: Wild World ;) ...

The Wal-Mart I went to recently remodeled their electronics department. Much more room was given to the Wii, DS, and GBA. 3.5 normal-sized game displays (4 or so feet wide, 7 or 8 feet tall). Xbox had 2, with mostly Xbox games and a few 360 games in one, and all 360 in another. PS2 had almost 2, with just a little space for PS3 games. PSP had a display for itself, had a fair amount of games there.

Target had a 20 foot or so aisle devoted to Wii/DS, a 20 foot aisle devoted to Xbox and PSP, and a standard game display for PS3, the rest of the aisle for PS2 games.

Best Buy has very long, open aisles (I don't know, 40 feet or something, I'm bad with measurements) for each company basically, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. Lots of DS games, GBA games, and a substantial Wii display. Lots of PS2 games, a smaller display for PSP games. And a very small display for PS3...plenty of accessories like the Wii, but much fewer games.

Circuit City was the weirdest. A long aisle of DS games, plus "bargain priced" DS games like Brain Age and kid games for $20 in a big bin deal. Plenty of GBA games. A standard-sized Wii display...most games and plenty of accessories. 360 had a ton of games, a lot more than any other system...lots of consoles sitting there too...I dunno. Lots of Xbox games too...the store had a ton of 360 accessories as well. An aisle of PS2 games, and a small display of PSP games.
I couldn't find the PS3 games anywhere...I found the accessories. In a locked display case there were a few games from various systems, Wii, 360, and PS3. There were like, 3 PS3 games...that's it. That's all I could find. It was weird.

Anyway...I just felt like describing what it's like around Chicago.

Maybe they're just using it for porn.

Anecdotally, at least, I believe a lot of people DO end up using the PSP as a general media device and not just a game device. Or rather, it's an MP3/movie player (that, is, an .avi/.mp4 player since nobody buys UMDs) that just happens to have a "plug games in here" slot.

Great thread, by the way.

For all your measuring purposes, BenKenobi, most stores utilize 4 foot sections in their isles. Endcaps are usually 4 feet long as well, but range from 3-5 feet.

IE: [Stabilizing Bar] - [Four Feet of Product] - [Stabilizing Bar]

*shrug* Useless information, I know...but it should help your future estimations. =P

Can we get any updates from retail employees? I'm also interested to hear about Xbox 360 return rates for people who bought protection plans. I wonder if people call Microsoft first, who seems to be handling the vast majority of the returns, or if they take it to the store because they bought a policy on it.

Unfortunately, they don't return the 360s (or any other device) to us if there is a warranty claim; they mail it to some company in New England, so I can't say. Thus, I have no idea how many people claim their warranties for each specific system. 

We got another shipment of Wiis in three days after the shipment on Sunday. We put them on sale on Friday: we had 18 of them. We told no one that they were coming. We sold out by 5 PM.

This is different than when we tell people our shipment dates; all of the people who purchased one this time simply walked in randomly. In effect, at least 18 people randomly walked into our Toys R Us store with the desire or willingness to buy a Wii system, if it was there, which it was. 

We apparently get another shipment later this week, so yes, we're getting 30ish per week at this exact moment (this has only been true for a week, however, so I wouldn't call this a new trend yet).