Xbox Gaming in South Africa

If you had plans to play with a virtual pet tiger or go for a spot of river rafting on 10 November with your shiny new Kinect perched on top of your TV cabinet, then you'd better have your pre-order in, because it looks like stock is going to be extremely limited.

A representative from local supplier Comztek has confirmed to XboxGaming that due to the widely reported shortage across the globe, there will most probably be fewer Kinect units available in SA on day one than originally planned. This comes hot on the heels of a report by Lazygamer which stated that "one of the largest local retailers" has stopped taking pre-orders for Kinect on request from the local supplier.

We got hold of a rep from Kalahari who confirmed that this in indeed the case, and while they will be doing what they can to accommodate those who have already placed pre-orders, no further pre-orders will be taken until they get confirmation on stock numbers from Comztek. Conversely, BT Games has told XboxGaming that so far there should be no problem honouring the pre-orders they've had for Microsoft's upcoming motion sensor, and made no mention of stopping pre-orders just yet. Then again, that could be a case of the news taking some time to trickle down to the relevant departments.

Elsewhere, Take 2 has removed the pre-order link for Kinect but could not comment on stock issues, and a Zaps salesperson confirmed that they have been told that stock will be limited but they can "still put orders through". That could mean that once supplies run dry, those who pre-ordered will be put on back-order until the next allotment arrives.

We have contacted Microsoft SA to get the news directly from the top, and we will let you know as soon as they get back to us.