|
More PS3 Insanity (Now with muggings!)
|
View this Thread in Original format
| RJT |
http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/17/new...dex.htm?cnn=yes
| quote: |
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The debut of Sony's PlayStation 3 game console resulted in reports Friday of disorder outside stores throughout the United States, as well as a robbery attempt in Connecticut that left one man shot and wounded.
Police in Putnam, Conn., said fans resisted two armed men in an attempted robbery outside of a Wal-Mart.
Video More video
The mania over the new PlayStation 3 video game system turns dangerous in Wisconsin. (November 17)
Play video
According to Lt. J. Paul Vance of the Connecticut State Police, officers were called to the Wal-Mart at 3:15 a.m. ET after two armed men tried to rob people waiting in line to get the PS3 when the store opened.
Shortages: PS3, T.M.X, Elmo, Plasma TVs
Vance told CNNMoney.com that about 15 to 20 people were outside the Wal-Mart (Charts) store when they were confronted by the robbers who demanded money. The lieutenant said one of the men in line was shot after he confronted the armed suspect. The robbers fled the scene after the incident.
Wal-Mart declined to comment on the incident.
Wal-Mart shuts store
In a separate incident, the manager of a 24-hour Wal-Mart supercenter in Palmdale, Calif., shut the store and called the cops after crowds became unruly.
Deputy sheriff Dan McPherson at Palmdale station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said about 50 to 100 people had gathered outside the store before midnight in the hopes of scoring a PS3.
"We were called after the manager told us that these people were arguing and pushing each other," McPherson said. "We told them they had to leave the premises."
Review: PlayStation 3 can't hide its flaws
Best Buy (Charts), the No. 1 electronics retailers, saw isolated incidents of unruliness, according to spokesman Justin Barber.
Barber said a Best Buy store in L.A. requested police presence for a midnight opening tied to the PS3 launch.
"Overall we're very happy with how things went. Most of our stores had people waiting in line for a few days," Barber said. As expected, Best Buy sold out of the system in under an hour at most of its 800 locations.
Sony (Charts)'s PS3 was one of the most-anticipated products of the year. But what's likely triggered the hysteria over it was the awareness that the new gaming console would be in very short supply this year after Sony was forced to correct problems with the system.
Sony's has set aside just 400,000 PS3 units for sale in the United States at launch and a total of two million units for worldwide sale.
Next up: Nintendo's Wii
The situation was a little more orderly at Toys 'R' Us stores - even though store staff were forced to turn away many disappointed consumers who were hoping to score a PS3, according to a company spokeswoman.
The toy retailer initially had hoped to stock the systems at all of its 587 U.S. stores.
"But Sony gave retailers their initial inventory allocation only at the beginning of the week and then they staggered the delivery of the systems," Toys 'R' Us spokeswoman Kathleen Waugh told CNNMoney.com.
As a result, the company had to scale back its availability."We had enough to fulfill pre-orders of PS3 but we couldn't offer the system to walk-in customers," Waugh said. For competitive reasons, she wouldn't disclose how many PS3 units were given to Toys 'R' Us.
"Obviously all retailers wish they could have more," Waugh said, adding that the company hopes to receive more inventory over the holiday season.
"People should keep checking out stores and our Web site. Whenever we have more units we'll offer them immediately," she said.
Meanwhile, Toys 'R Us is hosting the official midnight launch event of this year's other hot gaming system - Nintendo's "Wii" - at its flagship location in New York City on Sunday. Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, will hand out the first Wii unit to it's first U.S. customer.
Nintendo's plans to ship 4 million units of Wii worldwide, although it hasn't disclosed how much of that inventory is slotted for sale in the U.S.
Even so, Waugh doesn't anticipate the same kind of unruliness to follow Wii retail debut. "We're in good position with inventory for Wii," she said. |
Ahhh, what is this world coming to? Gaming is no longer what it used to be - Have we really degenerated to the level of Tickle Me Elmo or Cabbage Patch Kid moms?
:( |
|
|
| biznology |
same happened with the 360 -MS fanboy...lol.
dumb people buy the console when its first released| |
|
|
| Arbiter |
| quote: | Originally posted by biznology
dumb people buy the console when its first released| |
Haha, exactly. |
|
|
| RJT |
| It didn't even come close to this level for 360. Not by a long shot. |
|
|
| Vlad |
Honestly, its the Manufacturers fault it happens. Instead of being pricks, they should just release a load of them so people dont feel like there is a chance they wont get it.
Honestly, Sony would make more money out of it too because they would sell so many more with the release season markups. |
|
|
| Clovis |
| I blame Wal-Mart and their horrible customer base. |
|
|
| hadi burpee |
they should have some security
either way
i was just on ebay and watched two ps3's climb like 1500 dollars in like 2 minutes, i just saw two sold for at least $3500 each. i couldnt see close to the final price because with like 45 seconds left, the page wouldnt load anymore, haha
there is also one up for 5000 and a buy now option of 27,000, haha in aye, hmm, should i get a ps3 or a new car |
|
|
| Googooly |
| that crazy, crazy i tell ya. |
|
|
| tribu |
I waited in line 30 hours to get a PS3. I plant to immediately turn around and flip it on ebay, where it looks like i could profit 1000 or 2000 dollars. i jave no desire to play it, but im happy to let some rich parent pay me more for waiting outside than if Id gone to work yesterday.
Thanks Sony! |
|
|
| RJT |
While I have no issue with people making the so called "smart move" and selling their PS3's for a boatload of profit, I have to admit that it (the sale of systems like this - and yes, it did happen with 360 last year) really just saddens me.
I'm glad people can exploit the rich, don't get me wrong, I'd just rather see video games end up in the hands of people who truly love them :( |
|
|
| Vlad |
| Eventhough only a few games really interest me, Im gonna get one in the summer anyway cause its just insane. |
|
|
| RJT |
PS3 will definitely be the 3rd in this generation of consoles that I purchase, mostly due to price, but also because they just don't have the exclusive titles they used to.
I definitely will not have one before next Christmas, and will likely be happy with 360 & Wii to that point. Once Sony has a true "system seller" under it's belt, my tune may change. |
|
|
|
|
