When the PlayStation 5 launched in November 2020, obtaining the console seemed elusive. That's how it always is. A new piece of hardware is released, hype ensues and the console becomes incredibly hard to get. Eventually, things settle down.

By July 2021, the PS5 had become Sony's fastest-selling console ever, reaching the 10 million sales mark quicker than the PS4. People were still buying Sony’s latest gaming machine in droves, and so getting one wasn't easy.

This wasn’t my first rodeo, so to speak, as I’ve been buying game consoles for decades. To snag a new PlayStation on launch day in years past meant waiting overnight in front of an electronics store. More recently, I've started to shy away from such exhausting stunts, thinking that I can just wait until the consoles are readily available.