A false posting on gaming website Evil Avatar sent rumors swirling around the Internet. The news claimed that EB and GameStop managers were conspiring to yank preorders away from customers who were planning to auction their system on eBay. However, Next Generation recently confirmed with the retailer that there is no such "conspiracy."
"Are we canceling pre-orders that appear on eBay? The answer to that is no," said Chris Olivera, director of public and media relations at GameStop.
Therefore, the eBay auctions have escaped without incident, but Sony is recommending that potential consumers be wary of those offers.
"It has come to the attention of Sony Computer Entertainment America that a number of websites are currently promoting pre-order offers on discounted or bulk shipments of the upcoming PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system. Such offers are not done with any cooperation from SCEA or its parent company. SCEA strongly recommends against consumers pursuing such offers, as their legitimacy cannot be confirmed. We recommend consumers purchased PlayStation products only from authorized SCEA retailers and resellers."
Seems like an expected response, yes? Well, we're certain the eBay auctions will continue, and we're also pretty sure that EB/GameStop isn't secretly working together to put a hurt on prospective PS3 sellers.