PlayStation 4 First Limited Pack still available in Japan (despite what western media has been saying)

The media outside Japan has been making a big deal about how PS4 pre-orders ran out within minutes last October 5th, and on a second release date (the 10th). That may be true for those dates, but Sony still has more units planned for release and they are currently available at several stores.

Contacts have confirmed that a couple of physical stores in Kyoto and Tokyo still have both standard and PS Eye bundles, and I myself saw both bundles in Nagoya when I was there just two days ago. Internet stores such as Yodobashi Camera Online and Bic Camera Online are also still taking pre-orders.

Actual figures of how many pre-orders have so far been taken in Japan is not known, but I have a feeling that Sony intentionally didn't release many bundles to 1) make sure they don't sell more than they can produce 2) give the appearance that the demand for the system is high.

Nobody except the folks at Sony know the exact figures of pre-orders within Japan. Maybe they released a million units. Or maybe just 100,000. We don't really know, but because it "sold out within minutes", people assume there is a staggering amount of demand in Japan.

I'm not saying that I believe the popularity of the PS4 in Japan is insignificant. What I'm pointing at is that selling out of something in a short period of time without really knowing just how many were actually available shouldn't be an indicator of massive success for a product, as some have seemed to conclude.

What should be a real indicator is the amount of content that the Japanese gaming public would like to see. And, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a lot at the moment... I had a discussion with a Japanese gamer friend who pre-ordered a PS4, and he said that none of the games available on release day actually interests him. He just wants to get it because he loves Sony. But what about the average gamer who isn't a major Sony fan? If he, a gamer, isn't interested in any titles the PS4 is offering to Japanese gamers, would the general gaming public be likely to purchase a PS4?

Let's hope Sony can make their studios and third-party developers get the ball rolling in Japan.