With the next console generation around the corner for both Sony and Microsoft getting a console pre-ordered is a must.

The days of walking into a store on launch day and grabbing a console off the shelf are long past.

During the XBox 360 and PS3 launches, finding a console in stores without pre-ordering wasn’t a strange thing to see.

Fast forward to the XBox One and PS4, pre-orders were a must; so, logically many people thought doing so again shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Wrong.

Last week Microsoft announced  (after a leak), the price and release date of the XBox Series S and X.

On Nov. 10, the Series S will cost for US$299 and the Series X at US$499.

Sony was set to make an announcement Wednesday of the pricing and release date of Playstation 5.

Excited gamers were lining up outside stores wanting to secure their pre-orders.

That very morning Sony said gamers didn’t need to lineup and would get plenty of notice before the pre-orders went live.

Fast forward to the announcement and Sony said the preorders were going live in less the 24 hours, and within two hours retailers were taking pre-orders.

The orders sold out instantly. People are already scalping the consoles online for twice the retail price.

Scalping consoles has always been around. The major issue with this entire debacle is that Sony said to fans they will have ample notice and didn’t need to line up when clearly this didn’t turn out to be the case.

The launch of a new console always has limited supply, so consoles will always sell out.

This entire blunder left a bad taste in my mouth. I was excited to get my hands on the PS5 pre-order only to be disappointed.

In other major news, Microsoft just bought ZeniMax Media for US$7.5 billion. ZeniMax owns Bethesda. This sale means MS now owns titles like Wolfenstein, Fallout series, Doom, Elder Scrolls, Dishonored, Rage, and The Evil Within just to name a few.

This sale just boosted Xbox into the next generation. Imagine all those titles and future games coming day one to Game Pass.

That Game Pass service is now even more of a deal.

This is a great move on Microsoft’s side. Iimagine being able to make money releasing those future titles on Playstation and Switch consoles.

Microsoft might be able to use the studio’s leverage to get Sony titles onto Xbox consoles in exchange for Sony getting those ZeniMax titles.

All those past “Xbox has no exclusives” talk just went out the window.

Feel free to contact Sascha at sggall@telus.net with gaming questions and more. On XBox One : acehardy13. On PSN: acehardy13.