I know the PS3 is not unobtainable any more, and I know I could probably get my hands on one if I were highly motivated to get one fairly quickly. But they are not widely available, either.
The only reason I originally posted in this thread is because I kept seeing posts on various boards and blogs saying something like, "Well, now that there are PS3s sitting on the shelf everywhere and everybody that wants one already has one...(blah-blah-blah)" and I never saw anybody challenging statements like this, which I thought was rather curious, since it's clearly not true. So I decided to speak up.
If your local Best Buy would transfer some of their dusty PS3s to my local branch, I'm sure they would be grateful. They obviously can't keep any in stock. Maybe your local clerks are honestly saying they can't give the damn things away, I don't know, but I find that hard to believe. Maybe they aren't transferring stock because the units some people are seeing on the shelves are not the same ones they saw last time they were in that store?
If that idea seems too outrageous, then check this Sunday's national newspaper supplement ads and tell me why, again this week, there is no national chain advertising the PS3 console for sale in their video game section? If it's a distribution problem, then every national chain is making the same mistakes all at the same time. Check out the Shopko ad - they devote a page to various video game systems, the XBox 360, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and PS2, and yes, even the Wii (in "limited supply"), but the PS3 section is the only one that doesn't feature the console. Instead, they substitute a picture of the PS3 wireless controller (available for $44.99) above their selection of PS3 game titles. Why would they so obviously omit them if they had PS3 consoles to sell?
The answer is simple - they don't have the units. The PS3 is not "widely available" yet. It may be soon (who knows?) but it isn't yet.