Sony’s long-awaited PlayStation 5 went on sale this week and pre-orders sold out early. Trying to nab a console or digital edition has been causing gamers and parents stress as they try to ensure they’ll have the next-gen console in hand for the holiday season.

While nothing is promised, here’s a bit of help on how to buy a PS5.

There are two versions of the PS5. There is a $400 digital-only model and a $500 console version. The only difference between the two is that the console edition includes an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc drive to allow for PS5 Blu-ray disc games and PS4 Blu-ray disc games, and video from 4K Ultra HD Blu-rays and standard Blu-rays and DVDs.

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How to buy a PS5

On launch day, Nov. 12, sales were online only. There’s a queue on Playstation.com that opens up periodically and more stock is promised on Nov. 13 where you can line up to buy a PS5 directly from Sony. The queue can take an hour or more, so it’s ideal to log in with your PlayStation ID and keep that site open while you look for the PS5 on other retail websites.

GameStop announced on Twitter on Wednesday that it had “a very limited number of PS5 console bundles for purchase” the night before the consoles officially went on sale. There are launch day bundles for $800 on GameStop that have seemingly sold out, but might refresh again. They include the $500 console, a PS5 Sony DualSense Wireless Controller, a one-year PlayStation Plus membership, the NBA 2K21 Mamba Forever Edition for PS5 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Launch Edition. 

Walmart announced on Twitter that it will have the PS5 available for purchase four different times on Nov. 12: 12 pm ET, 3 pm ET, 6 pm ET and 9 pm ET. Each time new stock has released today, it’s sold out within minutes and the site has frozen up for many people trying to purchase the devices, even if they’re lucky enough to drop one into their cart. The retailer hasn’t announced if it will refresh it’s stock today.

Best Buy is releasing units periodically today, so refresh, refresh, refresh to try to nab a console. There were more units at Best Buy appearing on Wednesday, but there’s a chance more will appear, so keep trying.

Target had stock appear regionally, so it’s worth a refresh to see if units are in your area. Amazon didn’t have a big drop of stock at any point yesterday, so keep refreshing to see if you can grab one there.

Here are the links to use to find that elusive PS5 for your own gaming or holiday gifting needs:

Best Buy:  PS5 Console and the PS5 Digital Edition

Amazon: PS5 Console and the PS5 Digital Edition

Gamestop: PS5 Console and the PS5 Digital Edition

Target: PS5 Console and the PS5 Digital Edition

Walmart: PS5 Console and the PS5 Digital Edition

Black Friday opportunities to score a PS5

Black Friday is coming up on Nov. 27, and that will give additional opportunities to score a PS5. Best Buy has released its Black Friday ad, and it shows that the PS5 console will be available for online sales only that day. Gamestop is also offering the PS5 on Black Friday, but it will only be sold in person, and there will be a minimum of two PlayStation 5 consoles per store that day, according to the retailer’s Black Friday ad.

Accessories for the PS5

There’s also a host of new accessories for the PS5. Sony has developed a new DualSense Wireless Controller in black and white to match the color scheme of the PS5. There’s also a PULSE 3D Wireless Headset, a DualSense Charging Station, an HD Camera and a Media Remote. They’re already on sale and available at retailers nationwide. 

Specs and details about the PS5

Sony released more details about the PS5 in a blog on Monday. The PS5 will launch in Canada on Nov. 12 and the price is $629.99 CDN for the console and $499 CDN for the digital edition.

On Nov. 19, the PS5 console and digital edition will launch in the UK, for £449.99 for the console and £359.99 for the digital version. The European launch is the same day, and the price is €499.99 for the PS5 console and €399.99 for the digital edition.

As for dimensions, the PS5 console is approximately 390mm x 104mm x 260mm (width x height x depth), excluding the base, and weighs approximately 4.5kg. The PS5 Digital Edition console is approximately 390mm x 92mm x 260mm (width x height x depth), and weighs approximately 3.9kg.

The PS5 has an expansion port that will allow players to add M.2 SSD storage for installing and playing PS5 games. This feature will be available in future, but not at launch. It will be part of a system software update. The PS5 will allow for connection of a compatible USB drive for storing and playing PS4 games that will remain stored on the external device.

This article is being updated periodically with the latest information.

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