PS5 restocks rarely go smoothly, not to mention the legions of duffers trying to buy up PS5 inventory, and it's understandable that things don't always go well when the number of customers clamoring to buy up the PS5 exceeds the number of units sold. But this Wal-Mart restocking was a real disaster.

On Thursday (May 20), both Sony Direct and Wal-Mart restocked the highly sought-after PS5. While Sony's own restocking had problems, including virtual lines leading to zero inventory, Walmart's restocking was arguably the most disastrous restocking of the year, with thousands of people facing endless website crashes and error messages and ultimately returning empty-handed.

Walmart's latest PS5 restock rolled out in two waves: regular PS5 and digital editions. This is a fairly common practice for console restocks, and competing retailers like Target usually do the same. The regular PS5 restocking was particularly confusing, as nearly every customer who tried to purchase the console ran into serious problems.

Angry shoppers took to Twitter to air their grievances, and polls conducted by several large inventory tracking accounts showed just how widespread the problem was.While the restocking of the PS5 has been unwieldy for retailers, as noted above, more than six months after its launch Wal-Mart should have done better.

To make matters worse, a third-party seller appeared on the site at the same time as the restocking, offering the PS5 for $1,099 (retail price $499). It should be noted that this listing was not made by Wal-Mart itself, but it is quite egregious to offer a console at more than double the normal price when thousands of people were unable to get the console at MSRP.

Many thought that the PS5 restocking problem would have been remedied by now, but if anything the console is harder to buy than ever. Sony is making ripples that supply will soon catch up with demand, but also suggests that the current inventory shortage will last until 2022. This is quite confusing. If you haven't yet acquired a next-generation gaming console, perhaps it's time to embrace them.

However, if you haven't given up hope yet and want to get your hands on a PS5, take a look at our top tips for buying a next-generation gaming console. Also, bookmark our PS5 restocking guide for the latest inventory information.