PlayStation fans are having flashbacks to the early PS5 days of PlayStation Direct queues thanks to the new DualSense controller PlayStation just put up for preorders. That’s because the new DualSense controller, the Astro Bot-themed one revealed not long ago, was such a hot commodity over on the PlayStation Direct site that it essentially brought down the page entirely and forced people into queues just to get onto PlayStation Direct. For those hoping to buy the controller elsewhere, it looks like you’re equally out of luck unless you were quick enough now that the controller has apparently sold out at most retailers.ย
While the Astro Bot games have always been held in high regard as innovative platformers that showcased well the power of PlayStation tech like the PS5 and the VR devices, the new Astro Bot game has renewed and strengthened interest in the series. Capitalizing on that, PlayStation revealed the new Astro Bot controller recently which, even if you weren’t or aren’t interested in the games, is a pretty impressive DualSense as far as the custom, limited-edition ones go.
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It follows then that everyone wanted this controller, so much so that they took down the PlayStation Direct site. When trying to find a preorder link for the controller on the PlayStation Direct interface, it kept redirecting to a generic “accessories” page with no option to preorder the controller. Refreshing the page a few times resulted in a maintenance error page which then segued into the infamous PlayStation Direct queue that plagued PS5 preorders years ago. Wait times jumped to as long as an hour, and even after getting into PlayStation Direct, the store still didn’t work.
Fortunately for PlayStation shoppers, the controller was also available through other retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Target. Unfortunately for those who thought of that too late, the stock of the Astro Bot DualSense controller through each of those retailers was pretty much obliterated in less time than it would’ve taken to get through a PlayStation Direct queue. Each of those stores now says that the controller is no longer available, so either people really wanted it and got their preorders in, or scalpers did their thing, and we’ll see these $80 controllers upsold on third-party sites soon.
Astro Bot releases exclusively for the PS5 on September 6th.
