GameStop Halts PlayStation 3 Pre-Orders

Video game retailer GameStop(GME - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) closed its U.S. in-store, pre-order campaign for Sony's(SNE - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) PlayStation 3 game console on Tuesday -- the same day it began.

GameStop said in a press release Wednesday that it began the campaign earlier this week, even though allocations from Sony have not been communicated.

On Tuesday, Reuters reported that GameStop said it had sold out of its pre-order quota: Each of its 3,600 stores had no less than eight and no more than 13 of the anticipated next-generation players available on pre-order.

Sony will begin selling the PS3 in the U.S. on Nov. 17.

Opinions have differed on what an expected short supply of PlayStation 3 consoles will mean amid high demand during this upcoming holiday season. Some analysts believe it can only be good news for the Xbox 360 console made by Microsoft(MSFT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and the Nintendo's(NTDOY - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) Wii device.

That said, Sony's trouble meeting demand has some precedent: It faced the same issue with the PlayStation 2 when it launched the console back in 2000 due to manufacturing delays.

But the problems ultimately meant little. Sony ended up selling more than 100 million PlayStation 2s and dominated the market.

Shares of Sony closed up Wednesday $1.15, or 3.1%, to $38.64. GameStop finished up $1.05, or 2.2%, to $49.05.