Home Gaming Are The Top Retailers Rejecting the Xbox 360?

Are The Top Retailers Rejecting the Xbox 360?

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There is a very worrying rumour doing the rounds that just won’t quit.

Apparently some of the most well known retailers in South Africa are now refusing to stock the Xbox 360 consoles anymore, they will still stock the games though Apparently not… check the bottom for the update.

According to the rumours Toys R Us, Reggies and Game have all decided to no longer sell the hardware due to the incredibly high return rate related to RROD.

Now when I first heard this I put it down to some store clerk who didn’t know what they were talking about, then when the rumours persisted I put it down to the well known local stock shortage. However I finally broke down and sent some emails to the distributors and their PR company and I have heard absolutely nothing back.

Which is the most worrying sign as they are normally quite good at responding with information or even a simple no comment.

So is it true? Have the local retailers given up on the Xbox 360?

If so it would be a huge blow to Microsoft South Africa and our chances of getting official Xbox live anytime this century, it would also be a huge turning point in the local wars ,which are sitting at 50/50 at the moment.

It would also be a huge blow to our aspirations to be treated as a first world gaming country, we need all three consoles to stay healthy here.

I know the latest batch of Xbox 360’s is arriving at the retailers today so I guess without any official comment coming the best we can do is keep an eye out on your local Toys R Us and Reggies stores to see if the stock get replenished.

[Update 1] It has just been confirmed that Reggies will no longer be stocking Xbox 360 software as they don’t think it has been doing very well. I was told to make sure that I mentioned the fact that most Xbox 360 games are aimed at 16+ and Reggies aims at a much younger market than that… Which makes sense but it is still a blow to Xbox in this country.

Last Updated: May 9, 2008

65 Comments

  1. SlippyMadFrog

    May 9, 2008 at 12:41

    Potentialy devastating news if true. I wonder how Reggies are doing with the PS3?

    Reply

  2. Charl

    May 9, 2008 at 12:42

    Meh, this would really be a harsh blow.
    Hopefully M$ will still atleast repair 360s.
    Really don’t want to pay premium prices when my 360 says goodbye.

    I kinda gave up on the whole local live support. Broken promises. If anything, Sony atleast made some effort with the online support in SA. Wonder if Sony is going to step up now? or just ignore us even more, now that they can tag SA as dominated :/

    Reply

  3. Charl

    May 9, 2008 at 12:44

    Wait, its Friday right? .. hmmmmm

    Reply

  4. scrumpyjackson

    May 9, 2008 at 12:52

    It’s true when I spoke to the lady at reggies last week she told me it was a head office decision and they would no longer be getting 360 stock – the funny thing is when I asked about a month earlier if they sell more 360 or PS3 games she told me the 360 outsells the PS3 by a long way – I would love to know the local sails figures for GTA 4.

    Reply

  5. scrumpyjackson

    May 9, 2008 at 12:55

    I do know that my local CNA has 4 copies of GTA 4 but as the 360 copies come in they go out.

    Reply

  6. Abe

    May 9, 2008 at 13:01

    Eish if its true!

    Reply

  7. Evilredzombie

    May 9, 2008 at 13:05

    I can confirm that regies clerks told me that they have no more 360 stock and will no longer be selling xbox 360 products.

    Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Racer Driver: GRID demo up on Live and PSN

    Reply

  8. AL360

    May 9, 2008 at 13:29

    damn i was wondering about the elite systems as well as i’ve been waiting for 4 months now for MI Digital to send stock down to cape town to have mine swopped out its really becoming ludicrious and i think thats also a major reason y ? commments?

    Reply

  9. Gallie

    May 9, 2008 at 13:35

    It is true. I spoke to Toys R Us in Somerset Mall and in Bellville (in an attempt to locate a 360 Arcade for a friend). They do not sell the Xbox 360 anymore.

    Reply

  10. LazySAGamer

    May 9, 2008 at 13:49

    The new stock just arrived at MiDigital so you should be able to swap out now

    Reply

  11. Fred

    May 9, 2008 at 13:53

    At my local cna there was about 10 copies of gta for the 360 and none for the ps3…

    Reply

  12. ManesanZA

    May 9, 2008 at 14:01

    Lazy, did you speak to MS as well about his?

    Reply

  13. Nick

    May 9, 2008 at 14:13

    This is quite a blow to the 360. However, if places like Look and Listen, Musica and CNA give it up as well the 360 will really be in a load of trouble in SA.

    I commented a while back that I has found some interesting news out about a problem that look and listen is having with 360’s. I found out from one of the staff that they have a whole pile of swapped out 360’s that were swapped out sitting in the back and they don’t know what to do with them.

    I sincerely hope that this isn’t happening because MI Digital is not providing a proper service to stockists of the 360’s. Oh well, with all the issues 360’s have been having it was only a matter of time until it affected us locally and something like this started happening.

    Bad news for 360 owners.

    Reply

  14. Evilredzombie

    May 9, 2008 at 14:17

    and IC not allowed to display the games anymore….

    Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Racer Driver: GRID demo up on Live and PSN

    Reply

  15. NapalmDeth/Apocalypse ZA

    May 9, 2008 at 14:25

    I work at Game and we just received about 15 new Xbox360 Arcades, because they fly out of the store.We dont stock premiums console they’re discontinued. we sell about 10:1 against the PS3. GAmes on the other hand, are not coming in, we dont get the lastest all the time , but the PS3 games come in. I dont buy xbox360 game, only PS3 ones as they have better resale value, but i still love my box.

    Reply

  16. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 14:26

    that explains the recent mark down sale toys r us have being having! anyway, theres a common denominator about those 3 stores u mentioned: the sales people are damn idiots. i have had experiences with Game. Reggies can’t even sell toys properly. WAIT! open the latest issue of NAG. theres a double page advert for gaming at Reggies and it includes the xbox360 logo and a green HUD.

    Reply

  17. kay

    May 9, 2008 at 14:26

    Hope it makes MS pick their next set of sub-contractors a bit more carefully. I enjoy mine but Xbox 360 build quality is shoddy at best. For instance I know of at least two that won’t eject the disc if positioned vertically, and numerous scratched discs despite the owners doing nothing wrong at all.

    And when are they going to finally integrate Wi-Fi into it? It is a far more critical feature than Blu-ray drives to my mind… 🙄

    kay’s last blog post..Donald Knuth Interview

    Reply

  18. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 14:30

    musica seems to be operating as usual

    Reply

  19. NapalmDeth/Apocalypse ZA

    May 9, 2008 at 14:32

    WOW be careful there mate, not all game staff. IM a gamer remember and my shite(includes my electronics) you forgot to mention all the dumb customers we have to deal with.

    Reply

  20. Darthdad

    May 9, 2008 at 14:35

    Don’t worry people. The new Xbox720 WILL be arriving next year. No RROD , totally backwards compatible with the 360.
    Built in Wi-Fi, and even more uberest graphics! Can’t WAIT! 😀

    Reply

  21. Evilredzombie

    May 9, 2008 at 14:38

    The worst idiot sales people … the award goes to incredible connection

    Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Racer Driver: GRID demo up on Live and PSN

    Reply

  22. Banana hammock

    May 9, 2008 at 14:41

    Look and Listen have HUGE 360 and PS3 stocks.

    What doesn’t make sense is that the exact same logic can be applied to the PS3 in those stores.

    Reply

  23. Fred

    May 9, 2008 at 14:46

    So the 720 will be as good as the ps3 then :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

    Reply

  24. doobiwan

    May 9, 2008 at 14:50

    Lol, my question is “So what”?

    Yes it’s nice to have the presence in all stores, but that still leaves the rest of the country unscathed. Incredible, Musica, Look & Listen, CNA, Makro, Hi-Fi Corp, all the online stores – are all still selling. The only people being hurt by this are going to be TRU ( & Reggies – same company).

    It’ll definitely benefit Ster Kinekor, which I guess is totally hypocritical on TRU’s part, considering the PS3’s exclusives are far more mature than the 360 this year.

    The truth is they haven’t had stock for months anyway, and the 360’s been doing just fine.

    Reply

  25. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 14:52

    i suspect its just a toys r us and reggies thing. this rumor was doing its rounds down under recently. toys r us->consoles r not us ::mr green::

    Reply

  26. Abe

    May 9, 2008 at 14:57

    Lets hope its not a trend that carries through into other stores though, I have already noticed that IC have narrowed their selection of 360 games! Also remember that the more stores that stop stocking will result in a software sales drop which could result in even more stores possibly dropping the product!

    Reply

  27. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 15:23

    u guys wanna hear sumthing funny. i dont think toys r us and reggies are going to be selling any more ferrari model cars. they were selling the big models at R199. if u walk into a toys r at gateway us on a saturday, u will find at most 5 customers. its a tumbleweed scenario. very soon u might find reggies going back into a recession like they have done before.

    Reply

  28. scrumpyjackson

    May 9, 2008 at 16:52

    Well the 360 owned 2006, 2007 will probably tie 2008 and possibly lose 2009 and then we will have a new one!! You should read some of the comparisons between the 360 and PS3 versions of games th`at get released on the same console

    Reply

  29. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 16:57

    You are one of the few Game staff that knows the product well unlike the Game in Gateway Durban.

    Reply

  30. Lupus

    May 9, 2008 at 17:11

    I’ve noticed that with Reggies and Toys R us as well, they are just tumbleweed places now, when I was battling to get my Girlfriends Wii for Xmas, every other place was out of Stock walk into Toys R us 4ways, okay paid R100 more but got it, the shop was empty, and this was Xmas time.

    Reply

  31. Craig

    May 9, 2008 at 17:23

    As I pointed out in both forums, there is not an issue with the retail channel in general. I took the issue that was brought up namely that the Xbox 360 was being discontinued to Microsoft SA earlier in the week and was assured that this is definitely not the case. Microsoft SA was going to contact the stores in question to deal with the misrepresentation that was happening in certain stores.

    If you encounter any stores that are claiming anything of the sort, please contact me with the name of the salesperson and the store name.

    Craig’s last blog post..Xbox 360 120GB Hard Drive transfer attempt

    Reply

  32. Charl

    May 9, 2008 at 17:47

    Can we contact you on the status of local live support? 🙂

    Reply

  33. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 18:22

    💡 What if Toys R Us and Reggies are trying to get exclusivity to the PS3 only ❓ . I also noticed that the Gateway branch did not have stock of the Wii 😯 , Now wasn’t that an eye-opener :mrgreen:

    Reply

  34. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 18:24

    Hey, my chick friend is also crazy about the Wii :mrgreen:

    Reply

  35. Fox1

    May 9, 2008 at 19:59

    Then Sony can charge us how much they want to since they will have the market to themselves 👿 . You will lose out too :mrgreen:

    Reply

  36. Chef

    May 10, 2008 at 01:54

    Lol, XBox rejected! 😀

    Reply

  37. asdf

    May 10, 2008 at 01:55

    There are no repairs for south africa. If your console is faulty u gotta return it to the retailer, which returns it to the supplier. I have seen quite a few retailers who didnt want to take it back in my time for tech support for sa. The 3 reds
    failure rate is way higher than ms admits in any market.

    Reply

  38. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 06:28

    If you get a RROD Xbox 360 in South Africa it is replaced by a brand spanking new one and not repaired.

    It is then sent to Mi-Digital who replace it as well and ship it back to the States to be repaired. It is then used there as a replacement console. So I think you may be off the mark here

    Reply

  39. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 06:29

    A store without a Wii… this must be a first.. oh wait 😀

    Neither of the stores are going PS3 exclusive though.

    Reply

  40. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 06:48

    Shame I hassle Craig quite often about that.

    They are trying, that is pretty much all there is to it at the moment.

    Reply

  41. michael

    May 10, 2008 at 07:12

    who cares 360 is dead any way just look at how bad gta looks on it compared to the ps3 lol i feel sorry for anyone who wasted money on a 360 in the first place im just glad i used my brain and waited for the better console to be released

    Reply

  42. doobiwan

    May 10, 2008 at 07:15

    Lets be honest, no ‘gamers’ buy anything from TRU. What would be a loss is the incidental sales of Parents just looking for a prezzie, but if someone wants a 360 finding one is a breeze.

    Reply

  43. Fox1

    May 10, 2008 at 08:02

    TRU are more than glad to sell you a PS2 at R1899 than advising you that you can get a PS3 eater for R100 more. It comes down to droopy staff that have no gaming knowledge or experience for that matter ❗

    Reply

  44. Fox1

    May 10, 2008 at 08:05

    The better console being the Wii ❓ :mrgreen:

    *fanboy mode*
    Whoa! look how bad Orange Box looks on the PS3. Good thing I used my brain and bought a better console 😆 :mrgreen:

    Reply

  45. Fox1

    May 10, 2008 at 08:07

    TRU could go Sony exclusive due to a dominance on Sony’s consoles that they sell, PS2, PS3 and the PSP. All Sony products.

    Reply

  46. Fox1

    May 10, 2008 at 08:13

    Hello Mr Craig. I have 3 messages for Microsoft SA:

    1) People are feeling robbed of their cash when they purchase a 360 and realise that Live is unavailable here 😕
    2) They need to advertise on TV more. All my friends of all ages know what the Wii does and what’s the new Wii fit about because Nintendo advertise 💡
    3) Please educate the staff that are selling the 360 😡

    Reply

  47. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 08:16

    😯 um you obviously have not been keeping track 😯

    http://www.lazygamer.co.za/xbox-360/grand-theft-auto-iv-ps3-vs-xbox-360/

    It’s fine to claim the PS3 as the better console but using GTA as an example is not the smartest move

    Reply

  48. Fox1

    May 10, 2008 at 14:25

    I was at Game today. They had plenty of 360 Arcades considering they were out of stock for weeks. I also visited IC. They are selling the 360 Pro plus Forza 2 and Viva Pinata for R2999. So that puts IC and Game out of the picture and leaves only TRU in this 😛 ➡

    Reply

  49. Charl

    May 10, 2008 at 15:49

    Its a shame really that one of the biggest selling points of the 360, cant be used here. I would love having live without having to feel like a criminal whilst using it. Again I would take sony as an example here. Even if their online service is lackluster, when compared to live, they still offer it locally.

    I wonder what it is that restricts it so? I guess the biggest reason would be bandwidth. But even then, can’t they just link us to the Pal region? Then again, there might be underlying forces that play against live (*cough* Ster Kinekor).

    Reply

  50. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 17:16

    I can assure you that SK has absolutely nothing to do with the lack of Live in South Africa. I have quite a bit of dealings with SK and SK Games and they are not some weird evil monolith..

    The main reason we don’t have Live in South Africa is down to the cost of bandwidth.. Thanks Telkom.

    The Sony PSN is free and therefore comes with no guarantees on service, if Microsoft launched live locally they would have to uphold a certain standard which is not possible in the current climate.

    100% free local bandwidth would go a long way to making local Live a reality.

    Reply

  51. CHase

    May 10, 2008 at 18:04

    Who cares if u cant buy games from retailers who want to stop selling, xbox games will always be on sale somewhere and if not there is online shopping.

    If i was a retailer and had crap with returns i would also stop selling it? Or would u rather loose money and still have xbox on your shelves?

    If you take your gamer hat off and put on your retailer hat its no brainer if you loosing money

    Reply

  52. NapalmDeth/Apocalypse ZA

    May 10, 2008 at 18:19

    told you.

    Reply

  53. LazySAGamer

    May 10, 2008 at 20:07

    And reggies… but they are the same company…

    Glad to see GAME stocked up again

    Reply

  54. doobiwan

    May 10, 2008 at 22:28

    It’s also a particularly stupid time to stop selling the 360, and only shows how disconnected TRU are from their products and market, they’re just box pushers.

    And I say that as someone who actually knows the family that owns TRU/Reggies… 🙄

    Reply

  55. Charl

    May 11, 2008 at 03:51

    Ah ok, Nah I just believed that the video on demand service might be what SK wont like, unless they got a slice :p

    I agree, but still feel that even a slow service would be a better option than nothing.

    Meh, guess we have to wait until Telkom’s money hungry belly is full :/

    Reply

  56. Fox1

    May 11, 2008 at 08:17

    I don’t think they are going to be giving you your Barbie for Christmas this year :mrgreen:

    Reply

  57. Echo16h20

    May 11, 2008 at 16:51

    I 2nd you notion on staff @ GAME in Gateway DBN, I for one will not buy an open game, and that is what the do with all their games. Almost as bad as Toy R Us, they open ALL games (no matter what platform) and DVD’s!!!

    Reply

  58. Fred

    May 12, 2008 at 09:37

    Just kidding man ….. i know the xbox can perform and is a great gaming machine and beats the ps3 in multiplat comparisons

    Reply

  59. D4RKL1NG

    August 26, 2010 at 09:45

    Welcome to 2010.

    Reply

  60. Sir James of the Cape

    August 26, 2010 at 10:03

    I believe Reggies and other stores are still not stocking the xbox 360.

    Reply

  61. Nick de Bruyne

    August 26, 2010 at 10:09

    After MS took over the swap out procedure it has been foolish of the group that owns Reggies and Toys R Us to not stock Xbox 360s. They have nothing to lose now, and miss out on sales for no reason.

    Reply

  62. Sir James of the Cape

    August 26, 2010 at 10:25

    Perhaps, or it might be a case where they feel that they can not in good conscience sell a “defective” product. A few years ago they pulled a whole series of toys for being “prone to breaking” (It was in the Cape Argus if I’m not mistaken), this might just fall under their corporate banner of maintaining quality.

    I know what you’re going to say: “Toy’s R Us… Quality? With all that Chinese-made crap? Seriously Former Bobby Kotick?” :happy:

    Reply

  63. Gavin Mannion

    August 26, 2010 at 10:27

    Quick note… this topic was revived by a spammer who D4rkl1ng responded to and now the spam is gone…

    Reply

  64. Sir James of the Cape

    August 26, 2010 at 10:28

    In addition, Reggies and Toys R Us also took a lot of flack on Hellopeter (much like many other retailers) because of the xbox 360s RROD problem, so I guess it makes business sense to rather not sell it and thus be associated with it. You know how South Africans are, we’re a rabid bunch and quick to spill our load. If I owned a major retailer, I also wouldn’t sell the box.

    No offence to the xbots.

    Reply

  65. Fox1

    August 26, 2010 at 10:45

    Toys R Us in the US run crazy specials on the Xbox 360. Really goes to show to show the local TRU is losing out.

    Reply

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