Still Looking for a New Gaming Console? Here’s Why

He added: “We just help members secure them. They can then do what they wish with the console.”

To beat out scalpers, buyers are following Twitter accounts that announce when stores like Target, Walmart and Best Buy get new shipments. And a group of college students has seen huge interest in a free browser extension they created to notify people when digital stores restock.

More than 100,000 people have installed OctoShop, a Google Chrome extension made by five students from schools in Texas and Pennsylvania. Rithwik Pattikonda, a computer science major at the University of Texas, said the idea for a shopping aide had come about during the toilet paper shortage at the beginning of the pandemic. It morphed into a tool for outsmarting scalpers chasing consoles.

“The goal is to give the power to regular people,” Mr. Pattikonda, 20, said. He added that several thousand people have said OctoShop has helped them obtain a console.

For many, though, the search has remained fruitless.

Shannon-Leigh Bull of Warwickshire, England, has been trying to surprise her boyfriend with a new PlayStation since November.

“Sometimes, you’re waiting more than an hour and you finally get through and it’s out of stock,” Ms. Bull, 22, said. “It’s like having your dreams crushed, because you thought and hoped you’d actually get one.”

“I feel like giving up, and that I’m never going to get it.”

Karen Weise contributed reporting.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/29/business/ps5-xbox-console-shortage.html