There have been huge demand for the Playstation 5 (PS5), Sony's latest gaming console.

Crowds squeezing against each other to get a PS5

That demand caused chaos over the weekend in Akihabara, Tokyo.

Yodobashi Camera, a popular electronics store restocked their supply of the PS5 console on Jan. 30.

When sales of the restocked supply began, this particular branch of Yodobashi Camera saw throngs of people squeezing against each other in a tight crowd.

While many of them were wearing masks, it was impossible to maintain a safe distance from another consumer, let alone move away from the crowd once one entered the queue.

This was also despite Japan's Covid-19 situation, with 1,791 new Covid-19 cases confirmed on Feb. 1 alone.

https://twitter.com/yamato__1234/status/1355380135742951427?s=21

秋葉wwwwwww
乱闘wwwwwww
クソ面白いwwwwwww#ps5 #ヨドバシ #アキヨド pic.twitter.com/FH3x5M5R4f

— たばた。@野球予想家 (@tabata__97) January 30, 2021

Oh my God!!!! ヨドバシps5 pic.twitter.com/v2ilIadbFk

— Dave Gibson ⠿🗼 (@AJapaneseDream) January 30, 2021

秋葉ヨドバシやばすぎwwカウンターぶっ壊れたww
SwitchのSDカード買いに来ただけなのに#ps5 pic.twitter.com/l8iT4GmdZa

— たけ (@gttae63) January 30, 2021

The police had to be called to manage the crowd situation.

https://twitter.com/arihisakun/status/1355407873845542912

警察きたったwwwww
秋葉 ヨドバシwwww
ps5んごー！！！ pic.twitter.com/1dk5VmcngY

— たばた。@野球予想家 (@tabata__97) January 30, 2021

Rumours on social media spread that amongst the crowd were foreign resellers.

There was also footage circulating online of resellers with bags of PS5 units.

#ヨドバシ#ps5   #入荷#新宿#秋葉原
（以下自分自身に宛てた謎の備忘録）
1/31(日)15:00現時点
川崎⇨14:15
新宿西口、横浜⇨9:30終
町田⇨14:45
梅田⇨なし
京都⇨15:00
新潟、博多⇨9:30
↑↑黒カード要

↓↓ヨドバシカメラ 黒カード(クレカ)入会はこちらへhttps://t.co/W31j37j99r pic.twitter.com/AJotEL2b0Y

— g120110jp (@g120110jp) January 31, 2021

Sales not done through pre-orders

To avoid scalpers and resellers from buying and reselling a huge number of the consoles, Japanese consumers often have to win a raffle lottery ticket to be allowed the purchase of a console.

According to Sora News, other Yodobashi Camera outlets limited sales for the PS5 to those holding on a certain credit card known as the Visa Gold Point Card Plus.

This is only made available to those who have spent at least 200,000 yen (S$2536.60) worth of products from the electronics chain.

However, the outlet in Akihabara opened sales for all.

Given the pandemic and demand for the console, the PS5 has been difficult to get.

In Singapore, the PS5 is not yet readily available in stores - with the Sony store, pre-orders have been filled up.

Video game retailer Qisahn is also deploying a raffle-system for batches of pre-orders.

Some lucky customers have got their hands on a unit.

Top photo via gttae63's and tabata__97's Twitter