Ben Hoban, 17, of Clarks Summit, Pa., carries his new Sony PlayStation 5 video game console out of a GameStop store on Black Friday, in Dickson City, Pa. Friday, Nov. 27, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Christopher Dolan/The Times-Tribune
TORONTO – A shortage of video game consoles during the COVID-19 pandemic has been highly lucrative for resellers like Rick Charles.
The 25-year-old project manager has made as much as $500 profit on the sale of each coveted new PlayStation 5.
“Everyone kind of knew that Sony wasn’t going to be able to produce to demand and when you have guys that are buying 50, 20 at a time, the average retail buyer is not going to have a chance,” he said in an interview.
And so buyers, especially parents before the Christmas holidays, were willing to fork out big bucks for the newest PS5, which retails for $499 or $630, depending on the version, but was going for up to $1,500 a piece on sites such as Facebook’s Marketplace and Kijiji during the height of the lockdowns.
While those prices have since come down to between $750 and $950, it’s still a lot of money for households with limited budgets. However, experts say there are alternative and more affordable ways to quench the thirst for gaming.
Gaming has exploded in popularity during the pandemic as people have more time on their hands and can use the devices to communicate with friends.
In Canada, spending on gaming across PC, console and mobile increased to almost US$2.9 billionin 2020, with gaming forecasted to generate more than $3 billion in 2021, says Morris Garrard, research analyst of mobile tech and gaming at Futuresource Consulting in the U.K.
Ancillary markets such as gaming headsets also saw a boom in demand (for both gaming and working and schooling from home) with shipments in Canada growing by 29 per cent year-over-year in 2020.
The excess demand for new consoles is expected to abate mid-year following new waves of restocks, Garrard said.
Walmart says it is restocking the PS5 online to provide a “fair and equal opportunity” to buy the sought-after item.
“This gives all customers the same access to the larger pool of product and allows us to communicate to all customers at the same time,” spokeswoman Felicia Fefer wrote in an email.
“When we do restock, we prefer to surprise and delight our customers versus provide advanced notice,” she said, adding that there is a limit of one unit per customer.
Nathan Santos, 23, searched online daily for months before he nabbed a unit late one evening from Walmart after several close calls.
“I probably opened the page 15 seconds after that notification went out and already the digital editions were out and so I said I’m not waiting anymore and I bought the disc version,” said the Mississauga, Ont., substitute elementary school teacher.
“I couldn’t believe it. I actually sent a video to a few of my friends on Snapchat basically in shock.”
Santos isn’t a big fan of resellers, whom he accuses of preventing gamers from getting their hands on systems at retail prices.
“I’m not willing to pay several hundred dollars more for this console when I know eventually I’ll be able to get one for retail price.”
The root of the shortages are production challenges that have limited the output of semiconductors chipsets, an issue that is also plaguing the auto industry.
Kris Alexander, assistant professor at Ryerson University’s RTA School of Media, says despite accusations from some quarters of intentional supply restrictions, similar shortages have affected previous versions of PlayStation and other systems such as Xbox Series X and S.
“There’s no confirmation of whether or not this has been done purposefully but there is a timeline of it happening with the PS2, the PS3, the PS4 and now the PS5,” he said.
The self-described professor of video games said you don’t necessarily have to be rich to enjoy the hobby, as some free games are available online and older consoles can be purchased used.
“I have never had the money to buy a console in its first release year, except the 1999 Sega Dreamcast,” Alexander said, adding that he still plays the old Wii U with his children.
“If we can just tilt away from hype for a second, we can see there’s a plethora of games for free, many by AAA companies that you can play for free right now.”
The library is also a good place to find some games for free, said Kent Sikstrom, community relations manager for Kijiji Canada, which saw a 372 per cent increase in searches for the term PlayStation during the first few weeks of its availability last fall.
That initial surge of excitement was also seen with other gaming systems from Xbox and the Nintendo Switch.
In addition to searching for new PS5s, there’s also been an increase in demand for refurbished and used systems as people who have struggled during the pandemic search for deals.
Some companies offer video game rental subscription services and older games can be traded in for a new title.
“So you can still play the latest games, one game at a time, for a monthly subscription fee, which is far cheaper than let’s say $100 a pop for the newest game.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 11, 2021.
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Leaving her elderly father on a basement floor for two days in a soiled adult diaper won’t mean jail for a Calgary woman.
Justice Indra Maharaj accepted a joint Crown and defence submission on Wednesday for a two-year-less-a-day conditional sentence order for Tara Picard to be followed by 12 months of probation.
Prosecutor Donna Spaner and defence counsel Shaun Leochko proposed a community-based term which will include eight months of 24-hour house arrest followed by a nightly curfew for the second eight months.
Maharaj also agreed with the lawyers to order Picard to commit 300 hours of community service over the length of the three-year sentence.
The Calgary Court of Justice noted that amount of community-service hours was “a lot” to commit to.
But Maharaj said it showed Picard, 52, was truly remorseful for her conduct towards her father, whom Postmedia is not identifying because of the embarrassing nature of the facts of the case.
“What that shows me is Ms. Picard does sincerely recognize what has happened here,” the judge said of her willingness to complete community service.
“What I interpret from that is Ms. Picard’s willingness to give back to the community.”
Picard pleaded guilty in January to charges of assault and failing to provide the necessaries of life to her 77-year-old father.
Court heard caregivers found the elderly Calgary man on the basement floor of his daughter’s southeast home wearing a soiled adult diaper.
At the time, Picard was responsible for her father’s day-to-day care after he was moved to her residence, Spaner, reading from a statement of agreed facts, told court at the time.
“He had a number of medical ailments, including non-insulin dependent diabetes, coronary artery disease, some early onset dementia-like symptoms and chronic alcoholism,” Spaner said.
“(He) had been living independently in a Calgary apartment building. Family members became concerned that he was not caring for himself safely.”
With the help of Alberta Health Services he was moved to a home where Picard resided.
A registered nurse assigned to his care attended the 38 Street S.E. home on Nov. 15, 2021, to drop off food bank supplies for him and was told he was sleeping downstairs.
When the nurse called about an hour and a half later and spoke to the man on the phone he said he was lying on the floor, had fallen and was unable to get up.
When she returned to the home with a co-worker she found the victim lying on his back on the floor.
“(He) said that he had been lying on the floor for two days,” Spaner said.
Leochko said Picard was overwhelmed by the situation she was thrust into.
“It really was more than she could handle,” he said.
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@juanhall: I gotta say, this was the most interesting bike in this post….love that Intense is experimenting with gearboxes…I can see it have a huge effect on DH bikes….thank god there’s still people pushing things. Now, they need to make an Enduro bike with the Pinion MGU!
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The City of Pointe-Claire would like to inform you that the Bob-Birnie arena will be closed for its annual maintenance as of Monday, April 29. The Annex rink will reopen to the public on Monday, May 13, and the arena’s Main rink will be accessible as of Monday, June 3.
Public skating will resume on May 13, and the summer public activities programming will begin on June 3 when both rinks have reopened to the public.
In addition to the annual maintenance of the facility, two renovation projects are also scheduled to start at the same time:
Installation of new sound systems
The City will be replacing its current sound systems in both the Main rink and Annex rink, to offer arena visitors a better overall experience, whether watching from the stands or participating in on-ice activities. This project is expected to be conducted throughout the month of May.
Renovation of locker rooms in the Main Rink
The City will also be renovating the five locker rooms located in the Main rink, to bring up to date the amenities currently available to participants. These renovations are expected to begin in early May and will be completed by mid-August.
For all information about the Bob-Birnie arena, visit the arena’s page on our website.
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