Sony.
It's the "official" Canadian bundle. All the retailers are selling it like that - Best Buy (Future Shop), EBGames, Canadian Superstore, Wal-Mart (Canada), and others. Even the flyers for all the retailers selling them had the exact same thing. I'd personally find it a bit much that a bunch of retailers would come together and agree to make the same bundle. Heck, all the PSPs with bundle have an extra sticker in the corner of it that says "Includes Gretzky NHL!". I suppose for every 100 bundled units a retailer bought, they were entitled to 5 unbundled units, but that's really just speculation. (If you need to know why - they really lose money on an unbundled PSP due to the exchange rate mismatch, while a bundled one they can loss less money since a UMD is cheap to manufacture).
I'd understand it if everyone sold different games with their bundles, since every retailer would have a different mix, and you'd pick the best one. But this one is rather annoying and *everyone* is selling the exact same thing. Other than finding the oddball lone unbundled PSP. Oh, and there are a few retailers bundling the bundled PSP with some accessories and stuff, too.
A quick estimate would have Wal-Mart with about 20 units on the shelf, and Best Buy probably 30-40 in their PSP cage. From what I've heard from my friends in the states - most retailers down there are down to single digit quantities to sold out. In my survey here, the only retailer sold out is EB. If I had the money, I could probably go and buy 1,000 PSPs (1% of Canada's 100,000 units) by visiting only a few retailers and buying all their stock.
I suppose it's good in a way, I can run through the 5 or 6 PSPs (I have seen people go through that many!) to get one with a perfect screen. But I do take offense at paying for a game I don't want, at a price increment of the game itself. If the bundle tossed in some accessories, OK, fine, I might find it useful (USB cable, hard case, screen protector, UMD cases, etc), but forced to buy a game at no savings?
It's the "official" Canadian bundle. All the retailers are selling it like that - Best Buy (Future Shop), EBGames, Canadian Superstore, Wal-Mart (Canada), and others. Even the flyers for all the retailers selling them had the exact same thing. I'd personally find it a bit much that a bunch of retailers would come together and agree to make the same bundle. Heck, all the PSPs with bundle have an extra sticker in the corner of it that says "Includes Gretzky NHL!". I suppose for every 100 bundled units a retailer bought, they were entitled to 5 unbundled units, but that's really just speculation. (If you need to know why - they really lose money on an unbundled PSP due to the exchange rate mismatch, while a bundled one they can loss less money since a UMD is cheap to manufacture).
I'd understand it if everyone sold different games with their bundles, since every retailer would have a different mix, and you'd pick the best one. But this one is rather annoying and *everyone* is selling the exact same thing. Other than finding the oddball lone unbundled PSP. Oh, and there are a few retailers bundling the bundled PSP with some accessories and stuff, too.
A quick estimate would have Wal-Mart with about 20 units on the shelf, and Best Buy probably 30-40 in their PSP cage. From what I've heard from my friends in the states - most retailers down there are down to single digit quantities to sold out. In my survey here, the only retailer sold out is EB. If I had the money, I could probably go and buy 1,000 PSPs (1% of Canada's 100,000 units) by visiting only a few retailers and buying all their stock.
I suppose it's good in a way, I can run through the 5 or 6 PSPs (I have seen people go through that many!) to get one with a perfect screen. But I do take offense at paying for a game I don't want, at a price increment of the game itself. If the bundle tossed in some accessories, OK, fine, I might find it useful (USB cable, hard case, screen protector, UMD cases, etc), but forced to buy a game at no savings?
