North American PSN cards available now at Meijer

by Majed Athab { Jun 13th 2008 at 9:00PM }

We've known that PSN cards have been around for awhile now at select gas stations and areas near military forts and bases across the United States. Now, it looks like the cards are making another step towards more direct and wide scale distribution. American superstore Meijer is selling the cards this month and some people are already picking them up. Reader Mana Knight sends us pics of the cards in one of Meijer's stores. He was able to purchase one and use it.

Meijer branches are located in only a few states: Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. So if you live in any one of those places, you could probably find the PSN cards in your local Meijer. For everyone else, it looks like it might still be awhile; however, the fact that the cards are appearing at a major retailer points to steady progression. Will we see the cards in even bigger chains nationwide by the end of summer?

[Thanks Mana Knight!]

Tags: meijer, playstation-store, psn-cards

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

McKey1991 @ Jun 13th 2008 9:11PM

And they don't work yet.

LAZoftheTamarinds @ Jun 13th 2008 9:32PM

DANGIT!

There are none here in CA. :(

David Van (Cool Prizes Inc.) @ Jun 13th 2008 9:38PM

YEP! >.> T_T

McKey1991 @ Jun 13th 2008 10:03PM

It's mostly in the Mid-West.

Meximan @ Jun 13th 2008 11:27PM

So what does SONY think the other 45 states should do? I think I'm gonna move to one of those just for the cards. I can't stand not having those map packs for Warhawk... :(

Mana Knight @ Jun 14th 2008 12:30AM

Everyone, please just be glad the cards are just in a few retailers right now, to assure the employees are activating them correctly (they work differently than cards on other consoles in ways) AND they are working. How would you all feel if you got a PSN card (like me) and it didn't work? I don't think many of you would be happy spending $20 or $50, to see your card not working when adding the money to your wallet. Then, you'd have to call support and spend a lot of time troubleshooting. Just be thankful it's being kept to a smaller audience (like me) who is very patient and went through everything.

Once everything gets squared away, I can pretty much guarantee many other retailers will see it.

Niko_Bellic @ Jun 13th 2008 9:52PM

Why does Sony tease us like this? This is the first I've even heard of this store. Hey, how about, shit, I dunno, Wal*Mart??? These should have been out more than year ago.

ZenGaijin @ Jun 13th 2008 10:03PM

Michigan based company.

I hopefully will be picking up a PS3 in a few days and I don't have a creditcard that the Sony store would accept. This is right up my alley.

Niko_Bellic @ Jun 13th 2008 9:54PM

This is the first I've even heard of this store. Why does Sony tease us like this? Hey, how about, shit, I dunno, Wal*Mart??? These should have been out more than a year ago.

Sorrow880 @ Jun 13th 2008 10:14PM

Yeah, the Miejer on 37 in Fort Wayne, IN has them too. I actually just saw them today for the first time. Some guy was buying one along with MGS4.

Elliott @ Jun 13th 2008 10:15PM

If you live in Michigan and shop at Wal-Mart instead of Meijer you might as well wear a t-shirt that says, "I'm Trashy".

SamuraiBubba @ Jun 13th 2008 10:22PM

Wal-Mart probably sells those :P

Mana Knight @ Jun 13th 2008 10:19PM

I explained in my blog my entire story. I had issues with the cards yesterday, where I kept getting an error. Today I got an invalid entry or whatever. So I called SCEA, they said Meijer didn't activate it right. Got another one, and still got an invalid entry. Called SCEA again, got in touch with someone high up, told him my problem. He called me back, told me to that Meijer could not sell the cards until 6/13/08, which is why anyone who purchased before then did not work. And if someone continues to get invalid entry (like I did), clear the cache and cookies on your computer (when using the PS Store for PC) or clear the brower cookies/cache on the PS3. I did that and the PSN Card worked great. If anyone has questions, mention it and I'll try checking this blog entry every once in a while.

SamuraiBubba @ Jun 13th 2008 10:17PM

Finally, living in a state as crappy as Ohio pays off lol

jerard @ Jun 13th 2008 10:19PM

im glad i live in detroit

mike @ Jun 13th 2008 11:16PM

hey i have a question about the PSN cards. I have a psp and want to download/buy some of the games off of the PSN, do i have to have a PS3 and or a credit card? or can i just buy a Card and use the money off that? Help would be great

baronjon @ Jun 14th 2008 6:09AM

i live in norway and do not have a us credit card (obviously). but can i use these cards and buy stuff from the US PSN?

Mana Knight @ Jun 14th 2008 6:42AM

No, the U.S. PSN Cards will ONLY work in the U.S. store. It states that on the card, and it's in USD currency. I cannot confirm, but a forum user at Gametrailers (if I'm not mistaken) says they are coming to Europe (someone who works in retail), but there's still some things that need to be straightened out first (possibly with dealing with multiple currencies).

Kees Dijkstra @ Jun 14th 2008 6:50AM

Exactly the same here in the Netherlands, besides having extremely high gasprices ($2,50/L regular) we don't have creditcards (in general). At least for teenagers and students it's not normal to have a creditcard.

My suggestion: Buy a bunch of these cards and start selling them on Ebay with a bit of profit!!!
Then email the 'code' to the buyer and he will be able to buy stuff from the US-store (I guess).

With the current exchange rate $€ you will sell tons of them, almost everone here has an US account.

Kees Dijkstra @ Jun 14th 2008 6:55AM

@ Mana Knight: It will work probably, because we use the US-store to (better updates).

I would be happy to try! Even if they would start selling them here in europe I'm pretty sure it would still be cheaper to buy US-PSN cards, because of the exchange rate $/€.

cy-rano @ Jun 14th 2008 9:30AM

On the US store, yes. You can even do the same in Japan, actually (there are a few websites that sell Japan PSN cards).
I am not sure if there are american credit cards on ebay yet, but i am sure it won't be long!

baronjon @ Jun 14th 2008 6:54AM

well the point with my comment was that i wish to buy stuff in the US PSN store. because as you might know.. they have not released echochrome here in europe yet.. but if i can create a US PSN-account and then use the US point cards (bought off ebay or whatnot) i might be able to get games earlier..

that was what i was asking about. will this work?

jakoff @ Jun 14th 2008 6:59PM

I want this for Sweden too.

jakoff @ Jun 14th 2008 7:13PM

I want this for Sweden too.

gman @ Jun 16th 2008 1:23PM

Haven't you guys ever heard of a pre-paid credit card?

ferangper @ Jun 17th 2008 8:25AM

Ok guys, I've been hunting these cards for very long. I've had my PS3 for over a year, I live in Mexico and have had to live with game demos since I could not buy anything in the PlayStation Store even though I have 2 credit cards (Visa and Mastercard).

So I am in Cincinnati for training this week and come across this blog, I google Meijer in Maps and find the closest one to where I am, got to the store as soon as I could and found them!! Beautiful 20 and 50 USD cards. I bought a 20 one and immediately call a friend back in Mexico so he can test it in his PS3. Funds increased and he could buy two games!!!

I am definitely getting a bunch of these cards, they DO work outside the US, hopefully they will get better distribution and to other latinamerican countries as well.