I Think I Might Need Some Protection While Waiting For The Wii Release

Crowds, gunfire greet release of coveted PlayStation 3

NEW YORK (AP) -- Days of waiting paid off for Sergio Rodriguez, one of the relatively few able to buy Sony's PlayStation 3 when the coveted console went on sale early Friday.

He was among the die-hard gamers and entrepreneurs across the country who braved foul weather and heckling by passers-by all week for the chance to shell out $500 or more for the sleek game machine.

With shortages resulting from production problems, many had camped out for days without knowing if they'd be going home empty-handed. At some stores, the crowds got rowdy and stampeded for the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Wal-Mart store in California.

In Connecticut, two armed thugs who got wise to the PS3's high price and tried to rob a line of people waiting outside a Putnam Wal-Mart store at 3 a.m. One person who refused to give up the money was shot, state police said. In Lexington, Kentucky, four people waiting outside a Best Buy were hit by BB pellets, though none was seriously injured, according to television station WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers.

Rodriguez had been waiting outside the New York Circuit City store since Sunday for the a midnight launch event, and he was the first to walk away with the PS3 as people still standing in line outside the store cheered.

"This is the best game ever. It's so worth the wait," the 25-year-old graphics designer said. "Some people may call me crazy, but I really love to play."

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores -- even those that weren't going to begin sales until later Friday.

Saby Madrigal, an 18-year-old college student who worked for a month at a liquor store to save for a PS3, waited in line outside the Circuit City for 24 hours without success. Still, she vowed to keep looking.

"For the work we had to do to get all the money to get the stupid system, I'm going to search every single store in town," she said. "I don't care, I'm going to get it."

Read the full story at http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/11/17/playstation.ap/index.html.

This is craziness. David, who is about to cream his pants waiting for the release of the Nintendo Wii on Sat at midnight, has asked me to wait with him or at another location (motherfucker!). It is supposedly supposed to be about 35 degrees at midnight that night. Give me a gun and a bottle of Rumple. Do not worry about chilling it, it will be plenty cold. Luckily, Nintendo is not as greedy as Sony and has shipped more stations to the U.S., all the while being almost $ 300 cheaper. Some Playstation 3's have already reached $1,800
on E-bay!!