As you know, many BestBuy locations around the country began selling the new Sony PlayStation 3 at midnight tonight. People began camping out and forming lines at these BestBuy locations much earlier in the week. The West L.A. location of BestBuy had people lining up as early as this past Tuesday. Heck all of this camping out business reminded me of people waiting to see Episode One of Star Wars!

Thus given how close I live to the West LA location of BestBuy, I just had to go down to the location and film the people lining up for the new game console. Of course along the way, I managed to interview some of the folks standing in line as well as friends waiting for them to exit BestBuy!

The clock strikes 11pm…

My wife and I get to BestBuy at around 11pm or so and we see this nice long line starting from the entrance of BestBuy and continuing all the way around the corner. Now of course.. there was no way in hell that everyone was going to get a PS3.. so why did they all stand there anyhow?

Here’s a video clip of us getting to Best Buy and of the line itself.

Note - there is police presence here. SMART IDEA BestBuy!! The last thing you need is an unruly crowd.. or worse.. fights breaking out (which apparently happened earlier in the week!) 

As we walked towards the back of the line, we ran into BestBuy personnel who were informing customers that they had received exactly 108 consoles. 108 and that’s it. Every customer in line eligible to purchase a PS3 was given a wrist band with a number. We all wondered who number 108 was… (and we quietly feared for his life!!)

As we walked towards the end, we noticed how incredibly dirty the sidewalk really was. There was trash littered everywhere! Check out this video!

 

Back to the front, we actually ran into the person who was number 108 but unfortunately it was too dark in that part of the line to film. What we did find out was as follows:

  • He had camped out at BestBuy for 2 days
  • He went to the bathroom across the street at Tomys
  • He has NO intention of playing the PS3… but rather, he’s going to sell it.

Alrighty.. so we decided to move back up towards the front. Along the way, we noticed another camera crew (looking way more professional than us of course) filming there. We think these guys were from LiningUpTV but honestly.. I’m not sure. The funny thing was - the camera man was wearing an Xbox 360 Launch Party Zero Hour sweatshirt - the same sweatshirt my wife was wearing tonight too!  (and yes.. I just had to wear my 360 gear too)

We then decided to interview two young men standing near the front of the line. Here’s their story.

Amazing huh? They’ve been waiting for days now just to get a PS3. Now bear in mind - of the 108 consoles available, BestBuy only had 20 in the form of the 60GB unit. TWENTY! You can be sure that the first 20 folks to get into BestBuy were getting the 60GB system vs the 20GB system. Talk about being shafted. These guys waited in line for days and what do they get for that? A 20GB PS3. *sigh*
 

So we wondered - who was Mr. 20? Well sure enough we came across the man right here.
 
Honestly - he looked a bit zoned out but hey - wouldn’t you if you had been sitting there waiting since Tuesday? Yeah.. I would be too!
 
The clock strikes MIDNIGHT
At this point, midnight is nearing and the crowd is anticipating the doors opening. We pulled aside and interviewed some people waiting for their friends to get a PS3 - now that’s dedication folks. It’s one thing for people to wait in line for days - it’s another thing for your friends to come out and support you (and maybe protect you?)

 
Finally the time arrived.. and the horde slowly walked in..
 
and came out with their PS3’s in hand.. ready.. waiting.. to be sold on eBay.
 
 
Seriously - I couldn’t help but wonder how many people were actually going to play their PS3’s tonight. I’m sure there were a bunch … but Sony really has created a black market of PS3’s as a result of this limited supply.
 
Finally - the friends that those other guys were waiting for, came out to show off their stuff and man… it was a sight to behold. A PS3 box right there in their hands.. so close to my reach. So close to 10 grand on eBay.. ever so close. As Borat would say - “IS NICE”
 
We did notice people in the back harassing others for their PS3’s. Yes - I couldn’t help but wonder if someone was going to get mugged tonight. It happened at other retailers as reported by CNN. Nuts huh? It’s a crazy world we live in and Sony surely isn’t helping by launching only these limited # of units.
 
So that was the PS3 launch at BestBuy.. lots of people and lots of fun but unfortunately just not a lot of PS3. We also learned - a PS 3 is a great way to make a lot of money on eBay.
 
Many thanks to my wife for braving the chilly (at least by LA standards) night to help me out with this piece.
 
Finally.. I thought I’d end with this comic clip from Penny-Arcade (thx to Greg for pointing this one out):
 
Krunker out.

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