PS3 shooting victim is unemployed eBay profiteer
by Kyle Orland 
{ Nov 28th 2006 at 10:15AM }
A few weeks ago, gamers across the country were shocked at the devotion of a Connecticut man who was shot and hospitalized during his wait for the PS3. Such a man must be extremely devoted to video games to risk his life for the latest next-gen system, right?Wrong. A follow-up article by the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reveals that 21-year-old Michael Penkala was waiting "not because he's a fan of the popular game system but because he saw a business opportunity." The unemployed Penkala, whose "only means of income at the moment is selling T-shirts, Beanie Babies and New England Patriots plush toys on his front lawn," was carrying $2,600 in cash to purchase four PS3s to resell on eBay (with the help of three friends waiting in line).
What's more, after being shot by the fleeing would-be robbers, Penkala's first instinct was to make sure his friends got the money to purchase the systems. "For some reason I wasn't thinking about my wound, I was all about those PlayStations," Penkala is quoted as saying.
The eBay proceeds from the four PS3s Penkala eventually picked up likely won't cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars in health care costs for the uninsured Penkala. Despite this, Penkala rejected the idea of pimping out his auctions as "the system he got shot for." Classy.
[Thanks Avias]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
OM @ Nov 28th 2006 2:53PM
Idiot, why would you carry $2600 in cash on yourself? Buy four of those rechargable debit cards you see in supermarkets and put it on that. I dont get the idiots that carried around that much cash on launch day, you're totally open to be being mugged.
DeezNuts420 @ Nov 28th 2006 1:22PM
People actually bought the PS3 to play it?????
Chris @ Nov 28th 2006 10:22AM
So is joystiq saying it's okay he got shot now that we know he was just selling the systems on ebay? I don't like ebay sellers eigther, but I hardly think they rank as low as murderers and pedophiles.
Chris @ Nov 28th 2006 10:33AM
Hmm. The tone of this article seems to suggest he was somehow more deserving of a gunshot wound because he was selling PS3s on eBay. Scalping PS3s might not be the most respectable way to make money, but it doesn't mean you should be shot.
djDaemon @ Nov 28th 2006 10:31AM
Anyone who carries that much cash (or even $600 in cash) at such a high-profile even deserves to be shot.
GG, gunman.
makattack @ Nov 28th 2006 10:46AM
Ooooo joystiq is soooo teh biased! you wii60-bots are trying to make all us P$3 phans look like unemployed get-rich-quick schemers. Hey, why didn't he buy any games with his console?
djDaemon @ Nov 28th 2006 10:33AM
...make that "event", not "even"...
DiRT @ Nov 28th 2006 11:43AM
"I hardly think they rank as low as murderers and pedophiles."
No, they are the step above, but still below the rest of humanity and pretty much got what he deserved since guys like him caused most of these problems with the launch in the first place.
devi8i @ Nov 28th 2006 11:02AM
Wow, first Joystiq makes fun of people being shot by BB guns waiting in line for PS3s now they imply that a shooting victim deserved to be shot..... way to go stiq, another shining example of quality "journalism"
Prof-KOS @ Nov 28th 2006 10:42AM
I don't think that's the tone at all. This guy was an idiot for sure, but stupidity does not deserve a shooting response.
Ebay sellers are a scourge, but then they're no different than ticket scalpers, who are mugged, beaten or shot on a regular basis. I'm glad this guys okay, but part of me is glad he won't be making a profit overall (if he does it will at least be a smaller one).
Babbon @ Nov 28th 2006 11:03AM
"The unemployed Penkala, whose "only means of income at the moment is selling T-shirts, Beanie Babies and New England Patriots plush toys on his front lawn,""
So the US really is a third world country.
Fish @ Nov 28th 2006 10:48AM
I feel bad for the guy. He gets SHOT and still has to pay full medical costs. It's not like it was his fault.
That said, ebayers aren't THAT bad. What's worse? Selling a PS3 for 3 grand, or being dumb enough to pay that much?
Datix @ Nov 28th 2006 10:50AM
$2600 is nothing. They should have waiting until he and his three friends got the machines, THEN killed them and sold the PS3's on eBay. $2600 < $4800.
Shooting unemployed losers who should have been standing in line to apply for a job FTW.
cade @ Nov 28th 2006 10:54AM
It's not like he was killed. He probably only deserved a good caning or possibly light tortue for being such an jerk. Buying one system and selling for a profit on E-bay is ok I guess but to have your loser friends stand in line for you is pathetic. Maybe if this bonehead put as much effort into trying to get a job rather than trying to rip people off he would have had a job and insurance.
FrankTheCrank @ Nov 28th 2006 10:54AM
Just sucks that the people who are really into gaming, buy the systems, the games, never got a chance to buy a PS3 on launch. Instead we get these guys who just want to make money and take advantage of the limited quantities. Kinda sucks. So now, me, Joe Gamer, has to wait 4-6 months before I can even consider picking one up because these jokers ate them all up so they can make a quick buck.
I'm not too sore...the launch titles weren't that hot and there are kinks out of the gate. 360 seems to be where it's at...a much more mature platform with decent games, finally. Although I hate bowing down to the dark side(M$).
So, for now, I'll just site it out, keep playing on my PS2 and Nvidia7800. And watch as Microsoft and Sony have a billion dollar cock fight.
Dan O\\\'Leary @ Nov 28th 2006 11:36AM
This might be the first person that acutally plans to play a PS3. Now that's news!
Thomas Crymes @ Nov 28th 2006 12:40PM
Any true gamer with the extra scratch would pony up market-value for the console they want.
Sony, MS, Nintendo, all create these scenarios by selling the units at below market value.
rand @ Nov 28th 2006 3:39PM
Hundreds of thousands of dollars? Is this a misprint?
If not, your medical system needs a serious upgrade?
Also, so the guy wanted to make a few bucks,
not notble, however, not worthy of being
lynched.
How come nobody has said the would be shooters
are a bunch of low life cowards? Couldnt they
work and stand in line? What happened if a
stray bullet killed some innocent kid?
Sad state of of affairs when a bunch of hoodrats
come out of the dark to mame and murder for second
rate electronics if a few years and the victim
gets criticized.
fester @ Nov 28th 2006 11:14AM
21 you say? He looks twice that age in the photo!! :P
Seriously though he didn't deserve a shooting, the only ones that deserve that are the idiot fanboys who KEEP the console to play games on.
Lectoid @ Nov 28th 2006 11:12AM
Where does an unemployed person get $2,600 in cash?
Matt @ Nov 28th 2006 11:14AM
Beautiful world we live in, where a guy just tryin' to get by is scorned and ridiculed, even after getting fucking shot, just because he's doing what most people who have half a brain would. If I had a PS3, I'd sell the stupid thing on ebay in a heartbeat and not give it a second thought. It's a perfectly respectable way to make money when you're unemployed and trying to make ends meet. Sony deserves all the bad press they get, after the way they shit on fans with a horrible launch like this.
Pedro @ Nov 28th 2006 1:07PM
Hmmmm....he has beautiful ears!
Erik Novak @ Nov 28th 2006 11:22AM
I feel bad for the guy. Just a trip to the emergency room without health insurance can cost you thousands of dollars.
Farseer @ Nov 28th 2006 11:26AM
"I don't like ebay sellers eigther[sic], but I hardly think they rank as low as murderers and pedophiles."
No, you're right. I think the lofty title of douchebags will suffice.
battman23 @ Nov 28th 2006 11:28AM
Who really cares if people scalp game systems at launch. It is a business opportunity and they are taking advantage of it. Who are they really hurting? Impatient people with nothing to do but play games? I mean, really, put things in perspective, please.
Abhinav @ Nov 28th 2006 11:33AM
Oh holy hell they had to go ruin it. Some guy got shot to play the PS3... wait he got shot to resell the PS3... wait they didn't finish him off?
Comtar @ Nov 28th 2006 11:32AM
This is a post for those people who think most people got a PS3 to play instead of sell...
In a line of people getting PS3s here in California.. 32 of them got their hands on it. Only 5 said they were actually going to play it, that means 27 other people openly admitted to selling it. My friend got his hands on 3 PS3s, I got one. And one person sold his spot in line for $600 to someone who was going to sell it on Ebay for $4000.
DirtDevil @ Nov 28th 2006 11:42AM
Should I feel sorry for him? No. But to get shot he does not deserve, he just wasted his time and effort of getting a PS3 instead of looking to find a job, loser.
New 360 owner. @ Nov 28th 2006 12:05PM
It should have been titled "Ebay profiteer gets what he deserves. Shot waiting in line to scalp PS3's."
crono141 @ Nov 28th 2006 1:00PM
Once again, 20 people in line and nobody tried to stop the gunmen.
It makes even MORE sense that he resisted them. 2600 dollars in cash is probably the totallity of his liquid assets, being unemployed. If only the people around him had the courage not to take being held up at gunpoint.
ill trooper @ Nov 28th 2006 11:46AM
Hey all you line-waitin' EBAY DORKS:
I'M LURKING AT UR AUCTION
BIDDING MSRP
crono141 @ Nov 28th 2006 11:50AM
"I'M LURKING AT UR AUCTION
BIDDING MSRP"
Umm, I think they actually want that. As soon as someone bids MSRP, they break even. You don't think nobody else will bid above MSRP, do you?
crono141 @ Nov 28th 2006 11:51AM
Umm. I think I have a double negative in there. You get the point though.
MrHoju @ Nov 28th 2006 3:14PM
Dude was just featured on CNN. CNN reports that the two people involved in the shooting have been arrested. They didn't mention that he was going to sell the PS3s on ebay. They did mentioned that he refused to give up his money.
DCSimian @ Nov 28th 2006 12:41PM
I do think the tone of the article is leaning towards, "We're glad the bastard got shot". Yeah, he's an eBay scalper...I don't like the practice, but in a free market economy, what's to stop him? There's nothing illegal about it. Instead of criticizing him, criticize the nutjobs that actually buy these systems on eBay at insane mark-ups. He didn't deserve to get shot for wanting to sell them.
Silver Gecko @ Nov 28th 2006 12:02PM
Let's not call him a Connecticut man, we're not that stupid.
He's from Massachusetts and just went to Connecticut to try to make some money.
Dave M. @ Nov 28th 2006 12:21PM
Have you seen eBay's PS3 auctions?
A week ago, I looked at the list. There were over 600 pages of ads for auctions. Over 15,000 PS3 were being auctioned off for various prices including 20,000,000!
I don't feel sorry for any of the folks in line to buy them. Odds were they were just looking for a quick buck the expense of a poor parent that wants to get one for his kids.
Matt @ Nov 28th 2006 2:55PM
I'm guessing the shooters just wanted a system that can play vice city now that their ps2 has a DRE.
They probably weren't going to sell it for money. if they were...then ebay scalpers are on the same level as attempted murderers
Rob @ Nov 28th 2006 12:23PM
If there are people in this world who are willing to pay thousands for a $500-600 machine, then there's a problem with society and with those individuals, not with the people who profit off of their idiocy. Stop trying to criminalize people because they took an opportunity to make some easy money. The only ones to blame here are the idiots willing to blow grands to play Genji before anyone else, thereby facilitating the kind of hype and hysteria that caused incidents like this.
Buckshot @ Nov 28th 2006 12:23PM
Crackhead Loser
Joost Schuur @ Nov 28th 2006 1:15PM
Looks like they may have caught one of the guys:
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=14565
Community-Based Song Lyrics @ Nov 28th 2006 12:26PM
I don't think he will be stuck with those medical bills. A civil suit against the shooter should take care of that, and more.
Silver Gecko @ Nov 28th 2006 12:32PM
#33, what good is a civil suit against someone who doesn't have any money?
justin @ Nov 28th 2006 12:40PM
they were only reenacting Grand Theft Auto
Scott Jon Siegel @ Nov 28th 2006 12:43PM
let it be noted that the reason this man got shot is because he refused to hand over his wallet at gunpoint. Nobody's saying he deserved it, but this is by far the most dangerous thing you could ever do. I don't care if you have $10,000 in your wallet. If someone points a gun at you and demands your money, you give it to them. Your life's more important than cash. This man is lucky he's still alive.
- sj
Adran @ Nov 28th 2006 5:04PM
I find some of the reactions on here surprising and almost appalling: a man was shot in line for a PS3, and because he was trying to make some money off of it, many of you are coming just short of saying "Well, since he was selling it, he deserved it."
I don't understand the negativity towards PS3 resellers. They put in every bit as much effort to get the system as people who want the system for their own sake (waiting in line for days, etc) with the hope of selling it to make enough money to make the time spent in line worthwhile. Yes, they use up the supply so that gamers have a harder time getting one, but this is not a necessity. If people were doing this with food or clothing or medicine or any other such necessity, that would be unethical, but this is no necessity, not by a long shot.
Furthermore (and to me, most importantly), the only thing that gets resellers their money is the impatience of gamers with more money than sense. In a few months, you'll be able to find these on store shelves, no problem. Nobody is even missing out for more than a few months. And most resellers don't even set a high starting bid: it's gamers bidding it up, willing and eager to spend far more money than they should.
I'll finish with this: I waited in line for a PS3 at launch in order to sell them. I didn't get one, but of the 12 people in the launch line, every single one was selling. The people in the line ranged pretty widely in age and status... most of them were pretty nice people who were just using this as an opportunity to come up with a little extra Christmas money for their families. Hardly the scum of the earth that some of you seem to make them out to be.
Bill @ Nov 28th 2006 1:16PM
How much total was stolen from the people in line?
Did he have $$ stashed in his shoe or was he taken for all of it?
El Tiante @ Nov 28th 2006 1:17PM
Offering resounding proof that even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day, Marx observed that one may ration commodity or service by money or by time. That is, if you don’t want to wait, you’ll have to pay and if you don’t want to pay, you’ll have to wait.
You want a PS3 launch, then you’ll be camping outside your local BB for a week OR you can pay 3X retail. There is no fairer system for distributing PS3 given the supply / demand imbalance.
Suck it commies
richard @ Nov 28th 2006 1:20PM
lol medical bills! Makes me glad to live in the UK. NHS FTW!!!!!
David @ Nov 28th 2006 1:42PM
It's probably better for a child's upbrining that they don't get to play a launch system. When they get their new system, the majority complain that it's riddled with bugs and has a severe lack of decent software, but children should be entitled to play them?