The PlayStation 5 has been out for coming up to one whole year, and actually getting hold of one is still an impossible task akin to tossing the One Ring into the fiery chasm from whence it came.
Scalpers, supply chain issues, and a pandemic have all played a role in making sure the PS5 remains frustratingly elusive. That's why it's so incredibly disheartening to see a major retailer has locked further stock of Sony's new-gen console behind a $200 paywall. That is... not a good look, my guys.
Take a look at what happens when someone is actually able to buy a PlayStation 5 below:
As spotted by Wario64 on Twitter, Best Buy customers hoping to pick up one of the mega retailer's newly in-stock PS5 consoles soon discovered that they would need to be a member of its new Totaltech program to even get a look-in.
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The Totaltech program is essentially a premium customer service package that nets subscribers a handful of bonuses like 24/7 tech support and, worryingly, exclusive access to "the season's hardest-to-find products". Products like the PS5.
Access to the Totaltech program, and by extension the ability to buy a PS5, costs $200. That's for an annual subscription. And there doesn't seem to be the option for a free trial. Yikes. You get the feeling Best Buy knows exactly what it's doing, right?
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But this gambit doesn't seem to have worked brilliantly for Best Buy and has seemingly given a lot of consumers pause for thought. Usually when the PS5 appears back in stock somewhere, it's snapped up within minutes. But Ars Technica reports that Best Buy's latest batch of consoles remained available for close to two hours.
Clearly nobody is desperate enough to fork out for a $200 subscription on top of a $500 console. Or if they are, they'd probably rather go through a scalper at this point and get it slightly cheaper.
Topics: PlayStation 5
