Random acts of kindness for the PS3 line folk

by Blake Snow { Nov 16th 2006 at 6:55PM }

Madness. That about sums up the cold, hostile, and high stakes state of PS3 lines around the nation right now. Make fun, call it crazy, whatever. Then enter benevolent Jimmy Canuck. The man's a stud. Here's his story:

"I had to pop into my local Best Buy this morning and saw about a dozen fanboys and one nice grandma huddled under plastic tarps and tents to keep themselves out of the freezing rain. So I drove across the parking lot to Tim Horton's and brought them all back hot chocolate. I thought about writing 'Buy a Wii instead' on the bottoms of all the cups, but by the time I thought of it they were already full of delicious chocolately goodness. It's an easy thing to do, especially if there aren't too many line campers in your area - so on your way home from work today stop by your local PS3 line-up and do something nice ... After all, these people might be trampled to death at any moment."

Maybe "desensitized" gamers can have a heart after all.

[via Kotaku]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

copa @ Nov 16th 2006 7:02PM

I think Jimmy was just feeling guilty about filling them with BB pellets last night.

zooloo @ Nov 16th 2006 7:03PM

A random act of kindness? why thats unspeakable...

FSK405K @ Nov 16th 2006 7:02PM

Sure beats the BB's that other guy gave away.

kiwi @ Nov 16th 2006 7:06PM

Are they getting one for themselves or for someone for Christmas? Sure.

Are they getting one to make a quick buck on eBay? No way, you deserve a kick in the shin, not a hot chocolate.

Kevin @ Nov 16th 2006 7:07PM

Darn, #2 beat me to it :P

Good to know there are some good people in this world.

BklynKid @ Nov 16th 2006 7:48PM

Why would I support these degenerate morons by buying them hot chocolate??

Meophist @ Nov 16th 2006 7:09PM

As often as I've been to Tim Horton's, I've never tasted their hot chocolate. Is it any good?

Intellectualdiot @ Nov 16th 2006 7:09PM

Considering I'm having a difficult time fathoming why someone would be inclined to do this, I might have to agree with Zooloo here.

Of course, I could spend a copious amount of time attempting to reason what kind of person who do something as "altruistic" as this, but it wouldn't change that fact that it couldn't hurt if more people were similiarly mannered. Or just didn't shoot each other. Whichever is easier.

Maybe a bit self-congratulatory, but meh.

NarmaK @ Nov 16th 2006 7:10PM

Hot chocolate gives me diarrhea.
I wonder if any of the line waiters share this ailment.
If so, HA!

James @ Nov 16th 2006 7:11PM

How about I hose them down with cold water in the middle of the night tonight? Not everyone could enjoy this treatment of course, maybe only the first 15-20 people.

Mooch @ Nov 16th 2006 7:13PM

@#6 I work at Timmy Hoes, Our hot chocolate rocks, but I still think a sprite with a raspberry flavor shot wins.

Oro @ Nov 16th 2006 7:13PM

Resellers are people too. My friend and I are planning to do this later tonight. The weather today was absolutely awful; I had trouble walking from my dorm room to class. I've waited in line for a console launch for a few hours, and these people have been waiting a few days. I figure it'd be nice to show a little compassion.

Who knows, maybe it'll warm the hearts of the eBay resellers and they'll opt to post as a buy-it-now for just $100 over retail? :p

Pulse @ Nov 16th 2006 7:17PM

Just goes to show how kind the Nintendo fans are compared to the 360 fans, lol, for this, any Wii fans I shall see waiting, I will give a huge box of chocolates.

Hold on a sec, just scribbling off 'instead' and writing 'also'

"I had to pop into my local Best Buy this morning and saw about a dozen fanboys and one nice grandma huddled under plastic tarps and tents to keep themselves out of the freezing rain. So I drove across the parking lot to Tim Horton's and brought them all back hot chocolate. I thought about writing 'Buy a Wii also' on the bottoms of all the cups, but by the time I thought of it they were already full of delicious chocolately goodness. It's an easy thing to do, especially if there aren't too many line campers in your area - so on your way home from work today stop by your local PS3 line-up and do something nice ... After all, these people might be trampled to death at any moment."

Ahh, thats better :)

Mathew Smith @ Nov 16th 2006 7:18PM

Tim Hortons rules all. The original Tim Hortons on Ottawa St. in Hamilton makes the world's greatest double-doubles.... most of the time.

roger @ Nov 16th 2006 7:19PM

thats good to read.
I did similar for the people waiting for the 360 last year, except i brought them coffee.

Hiroken @ Nov 16th 2006 7:27PM

I say that's really nice. As for the resellers, they may be people too but as far as I'm concerned they can stuff it. I'm just a regular guy who loves games and I really want a PS3. Can I get one? No, because- for reasons beyond my control- I was not able to preorder (I live in the middle of nowhere and because preorder day was a weekday it was impossible for me to do so without losing my job) and for the same reason cannot wait in line for 18 hours (this is what Wal-Mart, the only place in my town that is getting any units, is requiring). I'm not saying "life isn't fair" or any of that BS, but when I think of the people out there who simply want to take advantage of people like me by buying two or three of these and reselling them instead of letting the people who just want to play games get them, it makes me ill.

~

Silver R. Wolfe @ Nov 16th 2006 7:39PM

I did this too to the people waiting in front of the local Circuit City. I went and got some coffee from Starbuck's for them.

EihBeir @ Nov 16th 2006 7:27PM

Think the chocolate was spiked with laxatives?

Hmm...AFK, running to Walgreen's and a coffee shop.

CanadiansAreSoPowerful @ Nov 17th 2006 12:52PM

Canadians do, in fact, rule. It's official. Indoctrinated as such by the masters of Joystiq.com, home of Fanboys near and far.

robrob @ Nov 16th 2006 8:02PM

you know, i thought about doing something along those lines, and then i remembered that 90% of them are there to "hit it big on ebay" and I lost interest.

Actaully, i should wait till it rains and head over and sell them $4 umbrellas for $20 a piece.

or maybe go get a few large pizzas for $8.99 each and sell them to the line for $5 a slice.

No sympathy, no mercy. Crap like this used to be fun, but the 360 launch tipped the scale and now greed dominates. Instead of spending aday (or 4) with other hard core gamers, you get to hang out with profiteering life losers who can justify missing work for 5 days hoping the ebay slot machine pays big. Fuck 'em.

Tom @ Nov 17th 2006 12:02AM

Raspberry / Hazelnut hot smoothee at Tim Hortons = Win

Andy @ Nov 16th 2006 8:12PM

I bought the campers a dozen donuts this morning. It was about 40 last night with sleet and rain, and the Krispy Kreme is right across the street. So i got them a fresh dozen donuts and they were pretty happy. Theres six of them at that particular walmart and theyve been there since monday night.
Wished them luck and went to work. Didnt tell them i got one at EBgames, confirmed to be picked up tomorrow.

Brandon @ Nov 16th 2006 8:13PM

I agree with number 19 and 18. Make some cash off of morons. Works in your favor and theirs, they all need to eat or drink, or want an umbrella.

Pulse @ Nov 16th 2006 8:56PM

I'd laugh at all those you bought a PS3 if they try to resell and little or noone buys, when these PS3's go up, I wanna go on eBay and call all buyers stupid and rather impatient. Lol

number40one @ Nov 16th 2006 8:22PM

My gods... listen to you people. You'd think that making a buck on ebay was equal to giving children razor-blade-filled-gummi-worms at Halloween.

eBay opens up a market to many people. People who do not have direct retail access. People who didn't have the opportunity who wait in the launch lines. People who are willing to pay a sum extra in order to be early adopters. People who are savvy and willing enough to wait for days in the cold to make a good profit.

All of these are people who CHOOSE to do these things with their time and money. They're not beating panda bears, or raping babies, or molesting abused baby panda bears. They're engaging and participating in a dynamic, capitalist marketplace.

Sounds like part of the American Dream to me...

refinedsugar @ Nov 16th 2006 9:58PM

Nice on Jimmy ... glad to know there are people like this still around, but I have to share fellow sediments about the state of greed and ebay reselling with robrob having said it rather nicely ... "Fuck 'em".

Akukami @ Nov 16th 2006 8:27PM

Guess there's hope for humanity after all!

jc @ Nov 16th 2006 8:44PM

I just got back from the local Walmart. There were only two people in line for 3 or 4 PS3 units. According to the manager, Walmart is going to be giving out tickets around the time the store closes, and people will come back tomorrow and pick up their unit.

I bet I could wake up tomorrow, and pick up a PS3 if I wanted to (already could have gotten one tonight). I guess there arn't that many gamers in my town.

Should have seen the look on one of the kid's face when I told him about the drive-by bb'ing in Kentuky... lol, he had a spot picked out behind the pop machine pretty quick.

robrob @ Nov 16th 2006 8:52PM

number40one: I am not saying they are doing anything illegal, or even morally wrong, just that I personally would rather give a pack of smokes to a homeless guy than attempt to coddle an ebayer.

If it were a statistical fluke, or a mere drop in teh bucket, whatever, it's all part of the hyped up landscape. But you heard the reports from pre-order lines and you and I both know that out of those 400k units we'll be lucky if 100k of them get taken out of the box on launch day.

I'm not gonna cry about the greed (though I am certainly not going to pat them on the back for "opening up markets" and "bringing the console to underserved areas". What I will do is not give a fuck about the PS3 until it all blows over, and I don't think I am alone there (ya think hundreds of thousands of people want to play Resistance for $2000?).

electro^plankton @ Nov 16th 2006 8:53PM

Humm, I live in Los Angeles and have no idea what a Tim Horton's looks like. In fact, I don't really see people in L.A. drinking hot chocolate.

Mocha Fraps yes, hot chocolate no.

James @ Nov 16th 2006 9:10PM

Great initial post, robrob. I agree with you 100%. Look forward to reading more of your posts.

Hiroken @ Nov 16th 2006 9:17PM

To post 25:
If these assholes hadn't succeeded in taking the joy for gamers out of a console launch, I'd be cheering them on. But normal guys like me who just want to play games are totally getting screwed. Those of us who CAN wait in line have to hang out by these degenerates the entire time they're waiting. I agree eBay is a good thing in the cases you're stating it's used for--but that's not this.

~

supremespleen @ Nov 16th 2006 9:17PM

When I was at the GC launch a lady brought us all Dunkin' Donuts. It was awesome.

scott @ Nov 16th 2006 9:33PM

We're supposed to feel sorry these campers because they choose to pitch a tent in front of Best Buy for a few days? Not only can they afford the PS3, they can also afford to take that many days off of work/family/whatever for a console with a very limited selection of games at the moment. I am sure they can also afford a cellphone to call their friends to get them a cup of coffee. They can also afford to be called "pathetic."

Einhanderkiller @ Nov 16th 2006 9:41PM

In Gamespot's On the Spot episode today, they showed Starbucks giving drinks to the people in line at the Metreon in San Francisco.

epobirs @ Nov 16th 2006 10:01PM

While I wouldn't treat campers as evil I also don't regard them as remotely heroic either. Certainly not objects of sympathy, just pity. A contribution to a local pyschiatric treatment facility would be a more positive contribution than this enabling act.

It reminds me of the idiots who camped out for days to be first to see 'Star Wars Ep. 1: The Phantom Menace.' It was mostly college age guys who weren't even born when Star Wars came out but this was being treated as one of the most important events of their lives. A friggin' movie.

I like video games and I like SFX spectaculars in the theaters but I'm not going to put my life on hold for days to get early access to either one.

John H. @ Nov 16th 2006 11:07PM

That grandmother is awesome.

Ryan @ Nov 16th 2006 11:18PM

I did something nice for the Wii people; I told the people where the cutoff was. Better to be safe than sorry.

Risky @ Nov 16th 2006 11:21PM

Screw these people. Some people want to actually play this thing and not hock it on ebay. I'd much rather throw scalding hot chocolate at them then give it to them to drink.

Don't do that! @ Nov 17th 2006 12:23AM

Fine, you can call 'em scum. Video games have become a commodity, and many people exploit this; nobody can deny that.

But if only we were all more kind and less ready to judge people, wouldn't we suddenly find ourselves more satisfied with our own lives?

alyx devereux @ Nov 17th 2006 12:34AM

I'd Rather Pour Boiling Oil On Those Greedy Jackasses Then Lift One Finger To Help Them.

Brad Mecoli @ Nov 17th 2006 1:04AM

hmm I did quite the opposite

after I got off of work at best buy they were handing out pizza, I claimed that I worked there and asked for a slice and they gave it to me. I also asked for a mountain dew as well. Free f00d and drink wooooo!

...
what?

puddlejumper @ Nov 17th 2006 1:51AM

Fucking Canadians and their kindness.

GO TO OPRAH, BITCH!

p.s. I'm Canadian;) and we are nice and say thank you too.

NoBullet @ Nov 17th 2006 4:00AM

Now how many people did the same thing and not gloat about it on a blog and send it to other blogs to spread their "kindness"?

bogsnogger @ Nov 17th 2006 3:58AM

I don't get how resellers are any more 'greedy' than the people who open their consoles the day they get them. Both are waiting in line for purely selfish and materialistic reasons (excepting, of course, those who are planning on giving them away as presents).

Jose @ Nov 17th 2006 1:39PM

Of course this comes from some fucking tree hugging Nintendo fan boy. Keep your kindness to your self Wii boy, granny's packin' heat!

Joseph Melton @ Dec 1st 2006 11:27AM

I never seen such a group of punkass babies in all my life. If I want to stand in line for 2 days for a PS3 and I pay for it then I get to do whatever the hell I want with it! Are YOU the one buying it? No! Then what gives you the right to speak up for everyone else! It`s people like you that scab the face of our society with all your cryin and bitchin. The truth is your jealous that your not doing it and it`s probably because your just too damn lazy! It takes alot less energy to gripe about others. Thank you people who brought things for people in line. That was a nice thing to do. Screww the rest of you winers who sit around and badmouth other people because they`re lives are so pathetic that that`s all they have to do. Idiots.

Joseph Melton @ Nov 17th 2006 8:54PM

Oh, and to the guy who would rather throw scalding hot chocalate on people? I`d like to see you try. I`d put my fist through your face. You talk like a big shot on here but I bet your about 17 and weigh about 120 lbs. It`s easy to threaten someone sitting on your scrawny ass behind your computer, but I bet in the real world you`d run like a scared rabbit. Your a waste of skin. Go over to Iraq and prove how tough you are.

apri @ Nov 19th 2006 9:57PM

well said, joseph.
many people in those line ups were not there to re-sell some hot commodity, you can't always generalize based on only what makes it to the news

thank you to matt in north vancouver for brining our bunch some very tasty hot chocolate. and fortunately for us, majority of the people in that line up waited less than 12 hours

p. femm @ Nov 20th 2006 8:39PM

I know this is about a day late and a dollar short, but i thought i'd write something in regards to the randomn acts of kindness and the whole ebayer/campers anyway.

First:
The Kindness- Xbox 360
Last year i waited in line outside side a Sam's club for my 360. There were about 4 or 5 other nice parents out there in the freezing cold with me and my friends. One gentleman bought every one of us coffee or hot chocolate (our choice).

The Kindness- PS3
While waiting in line at our local walmart we heard alot of news about what was going on at other launches that were lets say less than pleasant. It made me realize how lucky we were. 14 of us (most waiting around only 34 hours) in (8)60gb and (4)20gb and 2 raincheck labeled chairs in the walmart layaway. After the first 6 hours, the manager said they talked about kicking us out side but he didn't have the heart to. Not that that wasn't nice enough. The next day, they offered us some of their holiday luncheon. Turkey, ham, and all the fixings. Everyone in line was supercool and laid back. we played rummy, i knitted two scarves, we had awesome videogame discussions. It was really nice to be surrounded by intelligent gamers that were excited about the same things you were (not just the ps3 but every gaming tidbit). If you're an adult gamer surrounded on a daily basis with people who shrugged off their "child-like" tendancies years ago, you'll understand that it's hard to talk to someone who thinks your ridiculous and need to grow up.
moving right along.

Ebayers-
I personally have no problem with understanding opportunities and taking advantage of them. Yes, I bought my PS3 to sell on Ebay. Why? because damn it, it's been a rough year and i just happened to see an opportunity to hopefully alieviate some of the financial pressure** i have recently gained.

i was willing to give up my time and an investment to hopefully turn around and make some money.

However understand this:
I offered free shipping on my PS3 with the 60gb hd, Xmen III(blu-ray), and Resistance which i paid $750 and got $1100 for it.
now, lets do the math that no one ever sees.
$1100
-$150(overnight shipping and packing materials)
-$150(ebay and pay pal fees)
-$750(cost of system and additions)
=$50(profit)
so, things didn't turn out the way i wished they would. Honestly i always hope for the best and expect the worst. the latter is usually the outcome.

for those of you out there that will say "i got what i deserve" are entitled to your opinion.
But i have this to say: there is now a very happy young man in the middle of Utah that will have his own PS3 tomorrow afternoon by 3:00 and that is honestly good enough for me.

**WARNING:this is TMI-it involved the corner of a mirror, a portion of the human anatomy one centimeter from the anus, the emergency room, blood, missing parts, enima, x-ray, stitches being attempted and failing, and on top of this my insurance not kicking in for 3 weeks, oh and cleaning and packing the injury that wasn't even mine with gauze every time a crap was taken so infection didn't set in for 6 weeks.
Shit happens i guess. It's one of those stories you tell while understanding the horror of it yet being overwhelmed with laughter.

okay yeah. i guess i was pretty bored. The End.