PS3 pre-order procession (East coast edition)
by Kyle Orland 
{ Oct 10th 2006 at 4:25PM }
The line to fork over $100 to reserve a Playstation 3 started at 6 a.m. at the Gamestop on Route 1 in Laurel, MD. Mike (the red-shirted gentleman in the picture above, who refused to give a last name) lined up at the early hour to ensure he got a system for himself and said he planned to go to another local store to reserve a system "for eBay." By 9 a.m. the line had grown to the seven hearty souls above, who still had an hour to wait before the store would open and take their money.
By 9:45 a.m. there were 16 people eagerly awaiting the 10 a.m. opening of the EBGames on Route 198. The line, which started developing at 8 a.m., ranged from college students to police officers to air force pilots, and even included two parents reserving a system for their children.
Just before 10 a.m., EBGames manager Craig Gosnell (left) came out to tell the line that he was only expecting to receive 11 systems in the first (and only) shipment before Christmas. On hearing this news, some people in the back of the line headed off to try their luck at other stores. Gosnell later admitted he couldn't reveal exactly how many units he'd be getting, and used the rough number to thin out the crowd a bit.
David Cummings, a Best Buy employee, places his pre-order with an EBGames clerk. Manager Gosnell only allowed one customer into the store at a time to avoid any confusion over positioning in line.
A restless line peers in at a table filled with other pre-order offers and goodies.
Vince Tinio shows off his pre-order receipt in front of the EBGames in Laurel Mall. Tinio drove an hour from Germantown when he realized his local store wouldn't have enough pre-orders to satisfy the line, getting to Laurel just 15 minutes before opening. Despite his late arrival, Tinio was fourth in line for a pre-order at the mall store.
Other Notes:
- All three Laurel-area stores had sold out of their pre-order allotments soon after opening the store. If you didn't line up, you were out of luck.
- Liner-uppers learned about the pre-order opening in a variety of ways. Some got e-mails from Gamestop's promo list, others got phone calls from their local store, still others found out from various gaming news sites. One man came down after hearing about the opportunity on CNN 15 minutes before. Another got the info. from a clerk only after pre-ordering a PS3 game yesterday.
- Rumors of employees snatching up systems before consumers could get their hands on them drew the ire of many waiting in line.
- Almost everyone in all three lines already had an Xbox 360 and was planning on pre-ordering a Wii when they could.
- Most pre-orderers expressed a preference for sports or racing games. Madden and MotorSport were popular PS3 pre-order picks, as was Resistance: Fall of Man.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
DocWho @ Oct 10th 2006 4:33PM
wii - ftl
Nter @ Oct 10th 2006 4:35PM
Is that Kevin Rose?
DocWho, suck my titty whattas!
Kamal007 @ Oct 10th 2006 4:36PM
Niceee, the ps3 is finally arriving, just pre ordered mine:)
reguy @ Oct 10th 2006 4:37PM
and to think, some girls think us to be undateable geeks. the nerve!
esp that studmuffin holding up his receipt.
an unbiased squirrel @ Oct 10th 2006 6:18PM
I was going to say, I lived in Laurel...good thing the people from Germantown were coming out, because about 2 percent of the laurel population could afford them..oh yeah, that's right. Minorities in Laurel would rather buy Jordan's, Roccawear and PS3's with their welfare checks than get jobs. Oh well.
Chris Clark @ Oct 10th 2006 4:41PM
The local gamestop here had one last reservation up until about 3:00pm!
Sengoku @ Oct 10th 2006 4:40PM
No news today, so check out the lamers waiting in line. Nice.
DocWho @ Oct 10th 2006 4:40PM
if and when the wii goes on pre-order, there won't be a passing mention of it
there will also be plenty of wii this xmas, so don't even bother pre-ordering, like teh GC, it won't sell out this xmas
this is good and bad for Wii. good that it won't have stories about shortages, and bad that it won't have stories about shrotages
Wii is not the hot item this xmas, even with the PS3 already sold out.
DojoRacoon @ Oct 10th 2006 4:40PM
I wonder if people have taken sort of a defeatist attitude. A line of 7 isn't a very big line. Is this because people know their chances are slim or is it only the most extreme of fanboys are going to try to buy at launch while cooler heads will wait.
Jason W @ Oct 10th 2006 4:47PM
I got my preorder (#3 in line) and will be getting my system. It was not that hard and I only got to the store an hour early. I have no plans to stand in the cold rain like I did for my 360. Now with all the great games comming out on the systems I already own im not sure what game or games Ill buy for the PS3.
Mr, Objectional @ Oct 10th 2006 4:43PM
It's worth mentioning that not every store had the same number of preorders- perhaps they have a better idea of what they're getting than the article implies. One store in particular said they had more than most and sold out around noon.
I've got #3 at my local Gamestop, right behind the two employees. A friend got #15, but if they don't get fifteen in the initial shipment he's gonna be pissed...
aZn_1080p @ Oct 10th 2006 4:44PM
Just an observation... but does anyone else notice how racially diverse the audience of PS3 and Sony consoles/games in general is compared to Wii and 360? It seems like a lot of the people who buy the 360 in particular are pasty midwest farmboy types who seem to enjoy the generic FPS and 'kill them dirty A-rab terrorists!' type games which are the 360's bread and butter, whereas on the city streets where I roll, everyone is talking about PS3. The first time I got to play a 360 outside the store was when I went to visit my friends family in a small town, aroudn here no one has one.
DojoRacoon @ Oct 10th 2006 4:49PM
scratch my last comment even though I think the lines are still underwhelming i realize they were bigger than I stated. The stats of people who were bought is interesting. It seems they were mostly hardcore gamers not Sony fanboys. Which means they will buy all three systems no matter what. I wish I had that kind of money. So then where are the fanboys. I mean besides posting here of course.
crono141 @ Oct 10th 2006 4:49PM
Thats probably because "on the city streets where" you "roll", nobody is informed about the load of BS that is sony and the PS3. They're all talking about PS3 because they all have PS2 and assume its going to awesome. Its too bad Sony isn't actually targeting that demographic.
untitled @ Oct 10th 2006 4:51PM
Just don't to do like me. I blew the $600 I saved up for the PS3 on a high-classed prostitute the other night. So much for me getting a PS3 at launch, and now all I have are Giant Enemy Crabs... :(
jk.. 4th out of 8 @ my GameStop w00t ;)
Kevin @ Oct 10th 2006 6:30PM
Wow. I remember lining up for a Dreamcast when I was 20. I felt pretty ridiculous standing in line with a bunch of basement dwelling sweat balls at the time...
My wife, to this day, makes fun of me for it.
I'm 27 now, and I just couldn't bring myself to stand in line for a PREORDER. When I see grown men doing that.... Ugh. Time to grow up, fellas.
Shadow Hog @ Oct 10th 2006 4:54PM
Christ, that's my hometown. What were the odds of that?
Haven't been to any of the locations recently, though, and certainly wasn't there for the PS3 pre-order. If the Wii pre-order comes soon, though...
OTAM @ Oct 10th 2006 4:55PM
I wasnt even aware PS3 reserves were starting today.I mean,I don't plan on getting one or anything but still.
So how many of these assholes are going to put it on ebay and charge insane amounts instead of letting someone who wants one buy it and actually enjoy it?
Wulkar @ Oct 10th 2006 4:57PM
@#10 at least we don't have to sell drugs to get enough money to afford a console.
reguy @ Oct 10th 2006 4:56PM
@docwho
i guess you got tired of leaving rational comments on joystiq and your new thing is to hang flame bait and see who bites. sorry doc, you wont get a cent from me, but im sure others will reply to you. but they shouldnt because they will be falling for your trap
SonyBlowsGoats @ Oct 10th 2006 4:58PM
@ 10.
I don't know about the racial divide, but there is definitely an intelligence divide.
Anyone who would line up for a PS3 is a complete idiot.
Rob @ Oct 10th 2006 4:58PM
The Laurel, MD EB!! That's the one I go to!!
LOL....hardcore indeed.
steve @ Oct 10th 2006 4:59PM
Got my preorder in time, number 13 out of 13 preorders....
VampireHunter Z @ Oct 10th 2006 4:59PM
Does aZn_1080p stand for asian_1080p or does it stand for asinine_1080p? I really can't tell.
BklynKid @ Oct 10th 2006 4:59PM
#10, I don't know where you "roll" but I roll in Brooklyn, and a lot of people I know have Xbox 360s.
DojoRacoon @ Oct 10th 2006 5:02PM
Lmfao @ azn1080p
Sony is promoting racial diversity alright. Making the world a better place through console gaming (sarcasm). The diversity you see probably has more to do with area it was sold than Sony's "univeral racial apeal".
Nice try but we know who you are. You just can't pull off not sounding like a fanboy. That's cool be yourself.
Oh yeah
"whereas on the city streets where I roll, everyone is talking about PS3"
thank you for that line I haven't had that kind of laugh for a long time. If you're on this site as much as you are you don't "roll" on any streets.
KilgoreTrout XL @ Oct 10th 2006 5:02PM
aZn_1080p:
Nice! You've established a new watermark for stupidity & hypocracy with your baseless racial generalization. Hell, weren't /you/ the one bitching about racism last week?
I welcome your response, complete with threats and [hysterical] YouTube rap video links. The last one had the office positively ROTFLMAOWTFBBQ-ing.
Cheers!
Brent D @ Oct 10th 2006 5:11PM
I got in line at my local store about 20 minutes before opening. I was third in line at that time, but by 10AM the line had grown to 16 (unfortunately, this particular store only had 7 to preorder, after the store employees got their take).
Without exception, the racially diverse crowd ALL owned Xbox360's, and many (about 80%) also said they were going to preorder a Wii. Most said they intended to flip the PS3 online, if only to finance a second unit as a freebie.
The email the store employee showed to us told us that store preorders were strictly limited to one per household, and that EB would supposedly be cross-referencing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. Any violators would lose all their preorder dibs simultaneously (but could still get a refund). This is supposedly done chainwide, so you couldn't surf the stores and score multiple units. They did say, however, that the online preordering would be considered separately (so you could order one in-store, and one online), but that we could expect heavy bundling restriction online.
aZn_1080p @ Oct 10th 2006 5:15PM
I'm not saying sony is promoting racial harmony, but their consoles certainly seems to appeal to a more diverse audience.. personally I think its because the game lineup is not dominated by 'GO ARMY' type FPSs where you take out the big bad 'terrorists', and has a broader range of titles and more cool, stylish, and edgy games. Thats just my opinion though, just like my comments on what I see in my hood was just an observation, I'm curious if anyone else finds the same.
Another example - around here I see lots of PSPs, and not many DSs, even though I know DS is selling better, so again, Sony seems to be getting more buys from the 'urban' (read: ethnic) crowd, at least in my area, and I assume M$ and Ninty must be selling better to your midwest 'wannabe soldier boy'/country 'good ol boy'/suburban soccer moms.
SteveZ @ Oct 10th 2006 5:15PM
oh shiznit
laurel is about 15 min from my place
too bad im getting a gaming PC and a Wii (WiiC instead of Wii60?) over that ridiculous PS3
hyperion @ Oct 10th 2006 5:31PM
aZn_1080p
completely ignoring the fact that %65 of americans are white, the author kyle orland wrote "Almost everyone in all three lines already had an Xbox 360 and was planning on pre-ordering a Wii when they could." This tells me that the xbox 360 had the same diverse crowd that the ps3 has. However, im sure that in your rough streets of you conviently unnamed city, only a hick would have an xbox 360.
polly @ Oct 10th 2006 5:17PM
Could someone just go ahead and shoot aZn_1080p in the head so we can have one less shameless Sony corporate shill posting here?
"people who buy the 360 in particular are pasty midwest farmboy types who seem to enjoy the generic FPS and 'kill them dirty A-rab terrorists!' type games...on the city streets where I roll, everyone is talking about PS3"
See what he does here? Attempting to attribute some "street cred" and "urban cool factor" to his product of choice in the same vein as the lame ass PSP commercials with the ultra hip dust balls and squirrels. Surely if you are not with the PS3 camp then you must be a slack jawed yokel with strong republican political leanings. Bravo sir! You have associated everything that is cool with your Sony product and everything that is not with your competition. A round of applause please. It's pure genius!
Todd @ Oct 10th 2006 5:18PM
"whereas on the city streets where I roll, everyone is talking about PS3"
Whew...thanks man I needed that laugh. It's been awhile since a post has made laugh so loud that it got the attention of others in the office.
Now I've got to get the picture of you "rolling" on your bicycle in your subdivision with your collar popped, talking ghetto to everyone, and a upside down visor out of my head so I can try to get some work done without getting a case of the giggles.
Tim @ Oct 10th 2006 5:19PM
MotorSport? I think you mean MotorStorm.
Luke @ Oct 10th 2006 5:23PM
Looks like the PS3 bombed. Good run Sony, but you guys guck ass.
$600 ftl
Jarrett @ Oct 10th 2006 5:25PM
I'm curious.....
Look at the math on this for a minute....500,000 consoles for North America until Christmas. So on a rough count....take all the Walmarts, SAMS Club, Best Buy, Circuit City, Toys-R-US-, EB Games, Gamestops, Targets, etc. I'm in Houston and there are a lot of those stores here and in the suburbs. Then take 50 major cities with these same stores...So one has to wonder...how many stores will be getting PS3's?
Makes me wonder if each store may and I mean may get 3 or 4...so then you have put your 100.00 on a PS3 and a new shipment won't come in before Christmas? No sense in that...
I want to know about the employees taking up pre-order slots. Theirs should be kicked on principle alone. If an employee address comes up...they need to lose their slot. Do what my man did from Best Buy and go to a Gamestop to Pre-Order. Keep it real.
Luke @ Oct 10th 2006 5:28PM
The math suggests that stores are better off not selling the PS3 at all.
What a failure of a launch, confirmed distance last place for Sony.
Atleast they have the PSP right, right, right???
Oh
Dana @ Oct 10th 2006 5:28PM
I was 2nd in line and me and my friend got their at 1am. The guy before me got their only 30 min before (he was actually an old friend from HS). But unlike most of you, I want to be one of the first to sell it on Ebay.
eye_h8_mtv @ Oct 10th 2006 5:32PM
@aZn_1080p
sony has diverse racial appeal, huh? anybody remember that seemingly racist psp ad?
hooray for irony!
Nate @ Oct 10th 2006 5:36PM
Azn_1080p...
I'm curious...what "hood" do you live in that is so urban? I mean, you can obviously afford a computer...so it can't be much of a ghetto.
Jarrett @ Oct 10th 2006 5:36PM
@ Luke....
Not my suggestion at all....I just pre-ordering is useless if 1.) The employees are going to take up the slots and 2.) each store is only going to get 3 or 4.
Sony knew what is doing when it allocated 500,000. Keep the masses wanting more. You have to clap your hands and pat them on the back for that. Perfect business sense. People who didn't get one will be chomping at the bit after Christmas.
My thing is why fuel the hype. I could understand if I had a legit chance of getting one.... but 3 or 4 per store when store employees have first dibs....??? And this is the kicker....if the employee gets a pre-order and he is 5th and you are 4th all he has to do is call and tell you is "our store didn't receive the allottment we thought...so therefore your order is on the next shipment" take your PS3 that you busted your ass to get in line for and put it on ebay by days end. How opportunistic is that??? Pre-Ordering a console is not a good idea when allocations are going to be that low.....
uchiha5 @ Oct 10th 2006 5:36PM
Actually aZn_1080p has a good point. I live in the Bronx and the DS is close to non existent. The PSP is overall the cooler handheld. As for PS3 being the most talked about, the only reason is because thats all anyone KNOWS about. Mainly because if you got PS and PS2 the next would obviuosly be PS3. Also you still have alot of people talking about the whole E3 05 killzone trailer thinking its real gameplay. Anyway even after Wii comes out PS3 will still be the most talked about because Sony has the cool factor going for them. As for who sells most worldwide is anybodys guess.
reguy @ Oct 10th 2006 5:41PM
@eye_h8_mtv
dont you mean racist ad(s)?
because last time i checked squirrels that talk like an old african american stereotypes and dustballs that sound like hispanic gang members sure sounds racist to me.
look what i got ese - psp vato, hells yeah!!!
ninja @ Oct 10th 2006 5:49PM
Okay, 1 thing seems to be left unanswered...
Which system are they offering pre-orders for (20g or 60g) AND how many of each were available? Are you gauranteed the model you pre-ordered or just any PS3?
OMAC @ Oct 10th 2006 5:48PM
I heard about the preorder lastnight here on Joystiq. I figured I'd go to the gamestop in the local mall, Apple Blossom mall in Winchester VA. There are a total of 2 Gamestops and 1 EB in Winchester. My plan was to drive by the Gamestop in the stripmall on the way to the other one inside the mall. At 9:55, when I drove by, there were 8 people in line. I decided to hit this one instead. Since I was dressed in my work clothes, khakis and a polo shirt, they all thought I was the manager coming to open the store. What a disappointment that was.
The posted hours on the door were 10:00AM opening time, and at 10:15 no one had shown up to open the store and the line had grown to 12. There was no movement inside the store. The last guy in line thought we were all there because there was a new Tiger Woods golf game.
The second to the last person in line was a pregnant lady who called her hubby to tell him what was going on. A few of the other people in line called the Gamestop in the mall to see if they could call someone.
Around 10:45 or so someone comes tearing into the parking lot and makes for a close parking spot. Out jumps a grey shirted Gamestop Manager and he opens the door.
As he was quickly going through the store opening, turning the lights on and booting the store systems up, he explained that his assistant was scheduled to open today, and he apparently quit literally a few minutes ago.
13 made it into the store and he had 14 preorders to sell. I made it out the door with preorder #8 :)
Ethan @ Oct 10th 2006 5:56PM
yay, Im 4th in line at my local eb games, yay.
DocWho @ Oct 10th 2006 5:58PM
Wii FTW. PS3 FTL.
Ryan @ Oct 10th 2006 5:58PM
@aZn_1080p
Hmm, by "area" do you mean parents basement? By "city streets where you roll" do you mean hallways? Don't worry many young gamers create realities to be cool.
I know a few people who "roll" and are "urban" you know what they think about the PS3? They don't. They just want to play Madden/NBA2K on their PS2's/XBox's (no they really don't care about 360's either).
See don't try to think the PS3 or Sony is cool. It's not, neither is this site. We are geeks, nerds we care about the next gen, cool urban people don't give a sh*t, they bought their PS2's for $99 and they only care about the next Madden.
Wii is interesting to me... not to my friend who works as a mechanic, tell him to come home after a hard day of work to jump around trying to throw the ball and he will throw his beer at me.
PS3 (and 360 at this point) will get smoke blown in my face and something along the lines of "F*ck that, I can spend that money on booze/weed/rent/car"
That's reality, this website isn't. The Wii may sell a ton, but to adult gamers its PS3 or 360 who will in the end "win" and the only thing that is going to convince my "cool" friends to buy one of them is when the price drops. Right now the 360 has a $200 price advantage. That's all that matters.
I'm guessing if you and all your fake homey little friends are talking about getting your PS3's you never seen the people who make up the "100 million" PS2 owners. They didn't buy them at launch and they sure as hell didn't buy them for JRPG's. They bought it because it was cheap and they could play some sports games. Sony has a long way to go to be affordable. Even if the PS3 turns out to be 10x more powerful than the 360 if the 360 hits $200 first it wins.
Martin @ Oct 10th 2006 6:00PM
Crap what are you guys doing in laurel MD. Oh and Laurel Mall is GHETTO!!! Should have went to Columbia mall, much nicer!!! At least you didn't go to Greenbelt mall!
NoHitHair @ Oct 10th 2006 6:06PM
EBGames/Gamestop employees were allocated two PS3 preorder slots just for them. It's entitled jerkoff customers like yourself, Jarrett, that make me delighted that the employees are, at the very least, guaranteed some systems at launch. Most employees who work at a video game store are inherently hardcore video gamers and not casual retailers just waiting for the next paycheck. The employees deserve those preorders and I'm shocked that EBGames/Gamestop did the right thing here - thankfully corporate doesn't take advise from Mr. Keep-it-real.