‘Guerrilla’ sales, crowdsourcing: Japan’s game console crunch

This picture taken on June 28, 2022 shows a poster notifying shoppers of out of stock video game consoles, including Sony Playstation 5 models, at a store in Tokyo. The consoles made by Sony and Microsoft have been hard to buy since their November 2020 release, as has Nintendo’s Switch, with supply chain issues exacerbated by lockdowns in China. — AFP

TOKYO: It’s still dark when the line starts forming outside an electronics store in Tokyo, as desperate gamers try to snag the latest PlayStation or Xbox despite chronic shortages in Japan.

The consoles made by Sony and Microsoft have been hard to buy since their November 2020 release, as has Nintendo’s Switch, with supply chain issues exacerbated by lockdowns in China.