The Best Buy PS3 camp out begins

57 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Nov 8th 2006 9:25PM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3

With nine days to go, it's time for people to pack provisions and start waiting in line at Best Buy for their PS3 ... wait, what? Yup, people have already begun waiting outside one -- of the unconfirmed 18 -- Best Buy stores with midnight PS3 launches. Best Buy doesn't intend to have a midnight Wii launch according to sources (something about having 4 million units).

We will be sure to update this post as soon as we can get confirmation on which Best Buy store this is. According to NeoGaf, it's Burbank, store #137, which isn't on the list of midnight launch locations; however, CheapAssGamer says it's the West LA store, which is #109 and on the list.

We're glad to see that some gamers will wait a week for their shot at owning what will certainly be the most elusive console of the holiday season but, let's face it, we're talking about California. That's not hardcore. Once we see people waiting outside of stores: #408 (Ann Arbor, MI), #804 (Landmark Center, Boston, MA) and #281 (Richfield, MN) ... then call us impressed.

The rumored 18 stores with midnight PS3 launches are:

#58 Park Lane, TX
#109 West LA, CA
#143 Chesterfield, MO
#184 El Cajon, CA
#254 Superstition Springs, AZ
#278 Chapel Hill, OH
#281 Richfield, MN
#291 Galleria, TX
#301 Butterfield Rd, IL
#393 West Hollywood, CA
#408 Ann Arbor, MI
#504 Gwinnett, GA
#555 Hialeah, FL
#561 South Tampa, FL
#583 Mt. Laurel, NJ
#609 Manhattan NoHo, NY
#804 Landmark Center, MA
#1028 Manhattan Midtown, NY

[Thanks TopaZ for the pic info and everyone else who sent this in. Thanks Tyba for the Best Buy list!]

Tags: best buy, BestBuy, launch, ps3

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

Pete C: Nov 8th 2006; 9:35PM

24 hours a day, for 9 days to get a PS3. That is f-ing stupid.

Lex: Nov 8th 2006; 9:35PM

Only in America would people be retarded enough to wait a full week prior to release for a video game console.

Especially with the real possibility that the first waves of the Wii and PS3 will probably have some sort of defect.

silkylove: Nov 8th 2006; 9:36PM

Fools. Why wait 8 days for a DRE? Buying first gen sony hardware is not smart IMO.

Kevin: Nov 8th 2006; 9:46PM

Someone REALLY wants to guarantee them selves a couple grand profit from eBay.

Exbzurg: Nov 8th 2006; 9:48PM

Congratulations on proving your comsumer-like whoreing out. I hear being raped feels better if theres a 9-day wait.

Traveller: Nov 8th 2006; 9:54PM

LOL these ppl are stupid...

${v_o}$
{v_o}: Nov 8th 2006; 9:59PM

No wonder darryl and azn don't post much anymore; they're out sitting by BestBuy like the complete fucktards they are.

Me: Nov 8th 2006; 9:59PM

correct me if im wrong, but im pretty damn sure that waiting outside in the elements for OVER A WEEK for a damn console is HARDCORE !!! You guys are crazy for even saying that sh*t..(not hardcore) lmao why dont you go wait outside for a week !!!

Petrie: Nov 8th 2006; 10:01PM

The sad thing if this is for Ebay, is that for his time he'll be earning less than $10 an hour if the system sells for $2000 more than what it costs. Considering I make far more than that at my workplace, that hardly seems worth it.

A Gupta: Nov 8th 2006; 10:02PM

Holy... I read chapel hill and thought you meant NC... I had my hopes up, and then I read... ohio. Weak. Oh well, not like I have the cash to get a PS3 anyway.

Guy in the know: Nov 8th 2006; 10:03PM

All I can say is, I feel sad for some of those people, because that list of stores with midnight openings is not very close to being correct. I won't go into more details than that...but it's not very correct. Good luck shoppers!

${v_o}$
{v_o}: Nov 8th 2006; 10:03PM

Oh, look, it's Me.
He would be out with darryl and azn but his mommy said he wasn't "HARDCORE !!!" enough to feed the cats and dry the dishes, so he doesn't get to hang with his klan.

BrandonPhunk: Nov 8th 2006; 10:04PM

Have fun getting it stolen at launch.

Foetoid: Nov 8th 2006; 10:07PM

LMAO! This is totally hilarious, i hope they all get hypothermia and pnumonia, then take home thier dodgy ps3 consoles with 5x the loading of the ps2, and have a real hardcore 10 hour gaming session in which the Cell cpu totally fries itself. Was those 10 days of camping worth the 10 hours of PS3 gameplay...idiots! I will be getting a ps3 way way down the track, when it doesnt cost AUS$999.99. Maybe when it's the cost of the Wii (AUS$399.99) i might get one. By then there might be 2 or 3 games worth playing.

Kyle: Nov 8th 2006; 10:08PM

This is definitely the burbank store. I went over there yesterday to grab a copy of elite beat agents, and I was confused by the line. I asked them what they were there for, and they informed me they were waiting for their PS3 and pointed to where the 'end of the line' is. When I asked why they weren't waiting by the West LA store, they responded with "well, is there a line over there? besides, I don't care. I'm first in line and I'm getting my PS3!".
When you think about it, after waiting for 11 days, (they've been waiting since Monday), the extra 8 hours until the store opens is pretty trivial.

sam: Nov 8th 2006; 10:10PM

Hmm... the dude at my local Best Buy told me they were getting roughly 1/2 the number of 360s they got(40). So that's 20 consoles. I would hate to be #21 in line and wait for 9 days! What an idiot that guy is!

I would bet 9/10 of these folks are gonna hawk it on ebay. If you don't have a job, why not? Make an easy 2Gs for 9 days of hanging out in front of best buy. Not too shabby.

S out

Steven I.: Nov 8th 2006; 10:13PM

Oh god this is so strange, id never think Hialeah would ever be talked about anywhere on the internet. (I live in Hialeah, I also do not plan on buying a PS3)

teknomusik: Nov 8th 2006; 10:16PM

LOL

ill trooper: Nov 8th 2006; 10:19PM

EL CAJON, California! Yes! That's where I bought my 360 last year...

Rob: Nov 8th 2006; 10:36PM

are they giving them away for free?

moksha: Nov 8th 2006; 10:38PM

I was planning on waiting out at the Landmark store, but not with this kind of wait…

Snatcher: Nov 8th 2006; 10:39PM

I snagged some PS3/Wii scans from Wal-Mart out of a binder. They have layouts of all the gear, store #, item #, and its says "WAL-MART STORES, INC - CONFIDENTIAL". Would these (one if Wii, one of PS3, and theres an xbox 360 item I hadn't heard of) be worth posting on the internet. I don't wanna post and have everyone say they're shit or something, nor do I if it's not worth it, and I can just keep the info for my store.

Jeff: Nov 8th 2006; 10:55PM

You're right Kyle, it is Burbank, these people are idiots. There is a Target, around six hundred feet away, who will also get some PS3's. There's also the Best Buy in Los Feliz (5 minutes down the 5) the Target in North Hollywood (six minutes in the other direction) the Target in West Hollywood. It's freaking LA! Not some town in the midwest with one big store. If I decide on the 16th I REALLY want a PS3, and I get to a big chain store and the line has more then 10 people in line, I'll drive two minutes up the street to the next location.

otakucode: Nov 8th 2006; 11:00PM

Lex: You are dead wrong. The reason Sony has starved the Japanese market for PS3s is because of a cultural difference. Over there, shopping is nearly a national sport. Camping out for days to hit a big sale is not an oddity at all. Stores will do things like offer the first 10 people a $2000 item for $5 and have people lined up for a week ahead of time. It's not looked down upon with derision as it is here in the US, and they know that starving the Japanese market will do nothing but increase cognitive dissonance.

Yeah, I said cognitive dissonance. Look it up.

Josh: Nov 8th 2006; 11:05PM

Tragic.

Quaddw: Nov 8th 2006; 11:07PM

Someone should run up and steal the penguin, and they wouldn't be bale ot do anyhitng baout it becuase they can't leave their seats :P

GoPodular: Nov 8th 2006; 11:32PM

Actually it was in the 70's today in Richfield, MN. (it's currently 64-degrees @ 10:30 at night) I even cut the grass.

Tomorrow however... colder, 50% chance of snow by Friday.

But I would have camped today! LOL

JW: Nov 9th 2006; 12:12AM

Usually I'm quite open-minded about things. However, when I read this story I must say that these people must be the biggest failures at life in order to put their jobs, their families and their lives on hold for a game console. I pity those poor pathetic fools.

nsolo1717: Nov 9th 2006; 12:14AM

waiting 8 days in the street for anything, besides the fountain of youth or maybe an orgy full of women and you're the only dude, is retarded

digitalFrequency: Nov 9th 2006; 12:34AM

they have to goto the bathroom or eat sometime! then you can ninja their spot 3 hours before the opening =D

kvnphm1: Nov 9th 2006; 1:04AM

I believe the only people who have the right to call these people "losers" are their family member and love one. I dont know their situation so i'll hold off on the childish comments.

T-Bag: Nov 9th 2006; 2:46AM

- silkylove,

Oh yeah, because Microsoft has a flawless track record. lmfao

Phil B: Nov 9th 2006; 4:10AM

You know what that is? DEDICATION... how many people were camping out 9 days for an xbox360? NO ONE. Mark my words, 12 mos from now there will be more ps3's sold than 360s.

colormegreenwithenvy: Nov 9th 2006; 6:17AM

i for one am jealous. i want one, and i wish i had the time to chillax in the Cali sun like these lucky bastards... get me one!

TMCM: Nov 9th 2006; 6:44AM

Why the hell didn't these "hardcore" gamers just pre-order?

Josh: Nov 9th 2006; 8:38AM

I agree with whoever said it was a waste of time to try to stay out there all 9 days just to turn around and try to flip it on ebay. If you worked a 7.00 per hour job for just 9 days, you would probably make more friends, gain more valuable work experience, and make more money. My hope is that these nutcases are doing this for the love of videogames and nothing else. Personally, Id rather be out partying, playing hoop or talking to women than be waiting for a game machine.

DrkMatter: Nov 9th 2006; 8:42AM

Well, if they can wait in line for 9 days, it seems doubtful they have a job. And if they have don't have a job, how can they afford a PS3?

Silly Californians.

Aludra: Nov 9th 2006; 9:38AM

You know, the funny thing should be that they wait a week in line, to find out all over the internet news has been posted that the PS3 has been delayed or something XD

silkylove: Nov 9th 2006; 9:52AM

T-Bag,

Who said I have an Xbox? I have a PS2 that I have to turn upside down to get it to play games, and even then I sometimes get DRE. I have a gamecube too. I could probably open it up and pee on the graphics chip and I bet it would still work. 1st gen sony hardware is notorious for being flawed.

Dre: Nov 9th 2006; 10:24AM

This is getting ridiculous. Why not just wait until there is more in stock. It can not be that deep to get the console on day 1.

tim: Nov 9th 2006; 10:28AM

No way they sell more in by next christmas. When all 400,000 sell next friday morning by noon 200,000 will be on ebay or in a newspaper for sale.

Jordan Lund: Nov 9th 2006; 10:34AM

For the record, 9 days x 24 hours = 216 hours.

Soo... $1000 profit = $4.63/hr ($.52/hr. less than the Federal minimum wage.)

$2000 profit = $9.26/hr

$3000 profit = $13.89/hr

$4000 profit = $18.52/hr

I would be in that last category. I would have to make at least a $4000 profit before it would be worth taking time away from my job.

Bhil P: Nov 9th 2006; 10:34AM

PhilB, you know what that is? LACK OF SUPPLY... no one needed to camp out nine days ahead of time just to have a chance of seeing a 360 at launch. If you're not camped out well ahead of Nov 17, you might as well just consider the PS3 launch to be sometime next year.

Todd: Nov 9th 2006; 12:34PM

Idiots. Just buy them from eBay like everyone else.

Zumadin: Nov 9th 2006; 12:37PM

Unless they are crack dealers and deal by night and camp by day. "Yeah, just meet me @ midnight at the big blue building... ya can't miss it. I'll be the guy in the sleepingbag!"

ackmondual: Nov 9th 2006; 12:40PM

Anyone seen this and last week's episode of South Park (It was a 2 parter)? Cartman freezing himself b/c he couldn't wait 3 weeks for the Wii's launch date doesn't seem that farfetched compared to what these ppl are doing now for a PS3. They'd be better off freezing themselves for several months till the PS3 supply gets replenished.

On the otherhand, I wonder if god, Zeus, or whomever will play a cruel trick and bring on a snowstorm. That'll get these ppl to go home instead or freeze trying for their precious PS3s.

@ #35
> Why the hell didn't these "hardcore" gamers just pre-order? <

I don't believe pre-ordering is any better of a garuantee that they'll get one on launch day. Even if they did, AFAIK, u'd still need to line up again to pick it up on launch day

Jackson Pritt: Nov 9th 2006; 12:41PM

A lot of you are using really bad maths here, and assuming that they'd be working 24 HOURS at a normal job, something you CAN'T LEGALLY DO. If we do the math as a 10 hour work day (8 hours + 2 overtime) and count the rest of the hours that they're camping as "hanging out" (what they would do with their free time) here's what we get in terms of math:

For the record, 9 days x 10 hours = 90 hours.

Soo... $1000 profit = $11.11/hr

$2000 profit = $22.22/hr

$3000 profit = $33.33/hr

$4000 profit = $44.44/hr

And so on. Granted they're unlikely to get more than a $2,000 profit, but even $22.22 is pretty fucking good if you normally make minimum wage. Most of these people are probably college students who have buddies with them, so they're just skipping class and hanging out and playing video games like they normally would be.

Tony C: Nov 9th 2006; 2:14PM

I can't believe there isn't a midnight madness anywhere between Ohio, New Jersey and Georgia!! Doesn't make sense to just limit then event to what only amounts to a handful of Best Buy stores... Gah!

GWBUSH 2004: Nov 9th 2006; 2:40PM

someone should actually start a site for anti-sony fanboys who would donate money for a person to wait in line for 15 days and get a ps3 and then once they get it open it up in front of all those that waited in line but werent unable to get one and just smash it against the concrete with a hammer and have it shatter into hundreds of pieces. People would cry in agony knowing that their only chance to a ps3 would be to super glue the pieces back up and hope the blue-ray drive could still play ridge racerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

* Ey someone did this when the xbox 360 came out, their was a video of it on youtube.