Continuing our Joystiq World Team PS3
The line of about thirty passed a few shops, including a boot store, terminating in front of a seafood market. (My favorite part of this fish store is the laminated dive-cards in the window, identifying how the fish would look if encountered underwater.) As I was shooting photos, a man in a white jumpsuit -- maybe on his way to repair a refrigerator -- stopped next to me. He asked, "What are they waiting for?"
"PlayStation 3," I said.
"Why?" he replied and kept walking.
I mingled with some of the waiting people and ended up talking with the scruffy 1UP-show staff. They were the first in line; one had been there since 4:45 this morning. They mentioned that other 1UPers were at the Union Square store, reporting another 30 or 40 people queued. While the Mission guys were shooting B-roll for their show, they were also making their own pre-orders.
A few minutes before 10:00, the line, an indifferent entity in itself, was briefly excited by the clanking of store-window security bars. But it was just the boot store opening.
At 10:00, the metal garage-door grate inside EB Games lifted, and a nonplussed employee surveyed the line with just her eyes. As everyone filed in, she said not to shoot pictures inside.
They wouldn't say how many systems the store was getting or how many pre-orders they were taking. It seemed like the EB overlords made sure the stores didn't give any real numbers.
I didn't stay long in the library-quiet store. Clearly, something was missing that would have excited everyone. Oh yeah, I think it was the PS3.
See also: PS3 pre-order procession (East coast edition)
