Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller pre-orders are live and readily available at retailers

And with that, it's goodbye!

We're at the end of the UK working day, and the great news is, effectively, you don't need me anymore!

With pre-orders readily available at a host of major retailers on both sides of ther Atlantic, UK and US shoppers have plenty of options open to them!

I'll leave this page and all its links up and ready, however, as it's still a great resource for anyone looking for the key deets and best places to get the controller (with the caveat of it all being correct at the time of posting this update).

Thanks for joining me, and catch you next time!

Pre-orders are available almost everywhere!

Well, it looks like the controller is now, simply, readily available to pre-order ion both the UK and US, at multiple retailers. These are all the links you can place an order for the pad right now in both the US and UK as things have finally, really settled down.

US pre-order links (prices tbc)

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.88 at Walmart
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at Target
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: $84.99 at GameStop

UK pre-order links

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £71.85 at ShopTo
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £74.95 at The Game Collection

Amazon, are you there?

Honestly, whoever is in charge at Amazon US of listing pages and setting things to sale needs waking up - all the competing retailers are having all its cake right now!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: Check stock at Amazon

One more for the UK!

Back to the UK, and we've got another retailer getting in on the action!

The Game Collection have come to the party and are even offerign a whole 4p off the list price.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £74.95 at The Game Collection

US sit rep

OK, so now, nearly an hour after pre-orders opened, the US situation has levelled out a bit, and looks very healthy indeed - despite Amazon's absence.

Check out all the links below for a full look at your options.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.88 at Walmart
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at Target
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: $84.99 at GameStop
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: Check stock at Amazon

Best Buy enters the game - or I've just been able to find the link...

Found it! Best Buy's pre-orders are open with the below link:

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at Best Buy

Oh, *there's* Target!

False alarm, Target have the controller here:

Where are Best Buy and Target?

Best Buy and Target are being awfully quiet. I would have hoped, and maybe expected, that those two retailers would have been invovled by now, but here we are...

Here are those links to check, nonetheless.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: Check stock at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: Check stock at Target

Walmart joins the party

They're all coming out of the woodwork now: Walmart is here!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.88 at Walmart

Amazon US is live!

Check out Amazon's listing page which is now live - but, like in the UK, it's still unavailable...

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: Check stock at Amazon

PlayStation Direct live too!

PS Direct is probably the place to go first, and it's live now!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: $84.99 at PS Direct

GameStop is live!

We have action - GameStop is live now!

• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: $84.99 at GameStop

US pre-orders should be live any moment!

Right keep these links handy as US pre-orders should be appearing any moment!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Walmart
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Target
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at GameStop

ShopTo is live in the UK!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense controller: £71.85 at ShopTo

Oh but before then I've spotted that ShopTo are live in the UK, and you can save a few quid by shopping there!

US link check

Right here are all the best US links to try now with 20 minutes to go.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Walmart
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Target
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at GameStop

US folk - 30 minute warning!

We're only 30 minutes away from US pre-orders opening!

I'll rearrange the links at the top of this page to get those front and centre for US shoppers looking for the pad!

Hello again!

Howdy everyone, I am once again back and ready to navigate the Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller pre-orders again!

US folks should be starting to get in position now, as we're only about an hour away from pre-orders starting there.

That's all from me - Rob is back from lunch, so I'm going to be handing everything back to him.

See you next time, and good luck on your stock hunting endeavour!

What makes the Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller different?

Image 1 of 2

If you were following the previous limited edition Astro Bot DualSense release, then you might be wondering just what makes this new Joyful version so different.

Well, as the name would suggest, it all comes down to the controller's expression - for lack of a better word. The original model had quite a neutral look, with big round eyes on its touchpad.

The Joyful variant, however, is a lot more cheerful, with more crescent moon shaped pupils that leave it looking like a happy little robot.

Hi everyone! Dash here.

I'm just taking over briefly while Rob grab some grub so that our stock information can stay as up to date as possible. Stay tuned for updates!

Back shortly!

Right, I have to go take my lunch break now and refuel and recharge before US pre-orders drop in just under two hours!

We'll have someone keeping tabs on UK stock still, though, so if anything big happens, this page will still be updated.

Catch you in a bit!

It seems Sony may have prepared for this...

I have a feeling now that Sony may well have learned from the last Astro Bot DualSense release (or just previous hardware launches generally, perhaps), and gone big on stock as the Joyful pad is still available at PS Direct in the UK.

Will it be the same in the US? One can only hope! And we're only two hours or so from finding out...

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct

Things are levelling out...

I think things are levelling out now. There's been no new stockists joining the game, it's holding at other places we expected it to, and there's been no huge drop off (Amazon UK aside), and we're not more than two hours on from lift off time.

We'll soon start to turn attention to the US, but here are those UK stock links again for now.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys (Click & Collect only)

Stock is back at Amazon - but it's a scalper

Be aware of Amazon UK! It's showing as back in stock there, but it's definitely a scalper trying to fleece folk.

This just shouldn't be a thing and is also very avoidable given it's still in stock at PlayStation Direct for the regular price.

Right, I'm back, what did I miss?

Right, be right back!

OK, I have to pop out for a few minutes to walk the dog around the block. We're still in good shape, though, despite Amazon dropping out of the race (for now).

Here are the links with live stock as of right now.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys (Click & Collect only)

Amazon UK may have sold out...

It looks as though Amazon UK may have sold out already! How many did it have? 12?! Use the link below to keep checking, but it is appearing as 'Currently unavailable' for a few of us here now.

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon

Now we have a bunch of options

As a result of Amazon going live recently, we're now in a very healthy position for Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller pre-order stock!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys

Amazon UK is live!

Amazon is finally live and in the game!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon

But Very *is* live!

Very has come thru with the goods!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very

Where is Amazon?

Why hasn't Amazon UK hit the go button? The listing page is up but it's still listed as 'currently available'...

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Amazon

Strong start - but where is everyone else?

This is a pretty great start with both PS Direct and Smyths Toys being the early options, but no sign of Amazon or anyone else yet...

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys

PS Direct and Smyths Toys are live!

We have our first live links! PS Direct and Smyths Toys have come through, and you can pre-order it now. The price is now confirmed at £74.99 too

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller: £74.99 at Smyths Toys

Less than 10 to go

Only a few minutes to go now! In the absence of loads of listing pages right now, the below are still the best ones to jump on and use!

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at ShopTo
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at The Game Collection
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: Check stock at Argos

Just 15 minutes to go...

There are now just 15 minutes to go in the UK! Get ready!

And remember to stay logged in on mobile too - I had better luck there for Ghost of Yotei hardware for some reason...

Only 25 minutes to go in the UK!

Right, with less than 30 minutes to go now, make sure you sign into your retailer accounts, have your payment information and shipping methods up to date and get ready for action.

Amazon UK has a listing page!

Amazon UK has dropped it's listing page, so we've now got our first dedicated page to wear out our collective F5 buttons on. Here it is:

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon (price tbc)

Less than one hour to go!

UK folks have less than one hour to go until pre-order stock of the new Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller drops! Here's a quick look at the best retailer links to use and click on right now ahead of listing pages appearing (prices tbc, remember).

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at ShopTo
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at The Game Collection
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Argos

No listing pages just yet...

I keep searching but have seen no listing pages in the UK drop yet ahead of the 12am pre-order start - I'll keep checking though!

How about something else Astro Bot-y in the meantime...

I was just doing a sweep of the UK links and I found something.....else Astro Bot-related.

How would you like ot be the proud owner of an Astro Bot bedspread!? What? No? I don't believe you.

Very is selling Astro Bot bedding right now - if that's what you're into....

• Astro Bot bedding: £26 at Very

Well, that's one of the oddest posts about gaming gear I've ever done.

Excited?

While it's a only really a slight variation on the existing theme of the original Astro Bot DualSense, I expect interest to be hot - I'm eyeing up a pre-order myself so it can join my original one, for example.

The first Astro Bot controller flew off the shelves when it launched, so be prepared to act quickly top get yours.

Two hour warning! (For UK folk)

We're only two hours away from UK pre-orders opening up! As you have your breakfast, start thinking about which retailer you're going to try first and get all those details prepped (mentally, while you eat, I mean).

Good morning!

Well met Robot-y travellers!

It's nearly time to get things going in the build-up to Astro Bot Joyful controller pre-orders, and we're only two and a half hours away from stock dropping in the UK - how exciting!

Goodbye for now!

Right I'm hitting the pause button on our live coverage and will come back to this tomorrow morning as we approach near UK pre-order time!

Keep all those links above close if you're looking for a resource though, and I'll catch you tomorrow!

Almost time for a break for a few hours

It's nearly the end of business hours in the UK, and that's when I'll put this live page down for a bit before picking it back up tomorrow to help UK folks first find and nab their limited edition DualSense.

In the meantime, here's a collection of the best links of all US and UK retailers to keep close to hand or bookmark now.

US early pre-order links

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Very
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at ShopTo
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at The Game Collection
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: £74.99 at Argos

UK early pre-order links

• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.99 at PS Direct
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.99 at Amazon
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.88 at Walmart
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.99 at Best Buy
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.99 at Target
• Astro Bot Joyful Dualsense Controller: $84.99 at GameStop

Why release a new variant now?

This is a good question that I've been wrestling with, too.

The only broadly relevant point or factor I can think of is that we are now just over a year from Astro Bot's PS5 release on September 6, 2024, and the initial announcement of the Joyful edition was even closer to that anniversary (September 5).

Could it be a broad anniversary-timed thing? Maybe, though it's also dangerously close to the Ghost of Yotei PS5 console pre-orders and Ghost of Yotei controller pre-orders that started recently, too.

Curious, but I'll always take another limited edition DualSense release, whenever it comes.

Where will it be available?

Luckily, this isn't locked to PlayStation Direct as an exclusive - but that online shop is still likely to be the best bet for stock, availability, and timeliness of pre-orders starting.

Here are the best links to PlayStation Direct's DualSense pages in both the US and UK, which is where the controller is going to pop up at 10am local time tomorrow!

Astro Bot Joyful DualSense: at PlayStation Direct US

Read moreRead less▼

While Sony has said other retailers are getting involved with selling the controller, PlayStation Direct has to be your first port of call, and this is the page it'll appear on when it pops.

View Deal

Pre-orders live

Astro Bot Joyful DualSense: at PlayStation Direct UK

Read moreRead less▼

PlayStation Direct in the UK should definitely, once again, be your first port of call in the search for pre-order stock of the Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller.

View Deal

Cut to the chase - key details

While we haven't got all the details about this particular controller yet - chief among them, the price tag.

We know that pre-orders begin tomorrow at 10am local time at PlayStation Direct and other participating retailers. We also know that it comes out on October 12. Nice

Now, we don't know how much it costs exactly, but I'd wager it's the same as other limited edition controllers and will be $84.99 or £74.99.

What actually is the Astro Bot Joyful Limited Edition DualSense?

Taking me a little by surprise with an announcement - only on social media - Sony and PlayStation revealed the Astro Bot Joyful DualSense rather out of the blue this week.

It's a wonderfully cheerful controller in the design of PlayStation's new leading mascot, and features joyous little eyes on the touchpad to make it stand out.

In reality, it's not that different from the original Astro Bot controller design. However, that controller was immensely popular and sold out very quickly. So there was always cause from that perspective for Sony to either go for more stock or to create something like this: another Astro Bot Dualsense.

Hello!

Hi there, and welcome to my live coverage of the imminent Astro Bot Joyful DualSense controller pre-orders that are kicking off tomorrow!

I'm getting in position early with this page, so you guys have a complete and single resource when the time comes, complete with information and the best early links to keep to hand.

Welcome, and let's get into everything Joyful...