Official "I'm camping Best Buy/Walmart/ect for PS3/Wii" Thread
11-16-06, 12:14 PM
#226
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by coladar
Okay, first a question and then a rant... My only hope, since if I left right this second I'd be out of luck at every store, is that SonyStyle store that's in some malls. Does anyone know what the deal with them and the PS3 is? How many they're getting, any idea how lines are/what'll be going on since the mall locks up over night? I'd get in line tonight at midnight if I had any shot, but I have no idea what to expect. Okay, rant time:
I couldn't believe when I went by Best Buy to get Everquest 2: Echoes of Faydwer yesterday at noon, what I saw. This being the Best Buy in the area I'd expect to have the least business of any in NoVa. There were at least 20 people in line, tents ready. 20 people, 48 hours early, least busy Best Buy. On top of that? We're getting rain now and from noon to 6pm we're supposed to get some insane thunder storms, torrential rain, 60-70mph winds, dime size hail and possibility of a tornado.
It really sucks that people have gone so insane over these new consoles that probably 10,000 people nationwide lined up 48 hours before the console went on sale. I always used to get consoles the first day they went on sale: SNES, Sega, Sega CD, Sega 32x, Nintendo 64, Atari Jaguar, Playstation 1... This was when I was a kid, so I got my parents to take me as soon as the store was open, and boom, went in and bought one.
Between people going apeshit for these consoles now and the fact that the morons making them seem to always have "massive shortages" for no reason other than to drum up the free publicity and cause people to make "impulse" buys since they fear they won't get them... Then as each store gets a shipment of 20 once a month until next Summer, it guarantees that people will buy them faster than they would otherwise since they fear not getting one. Add to that that since the 360, now you've got complete fucking dipshits paying people to camp strictly to sell on eBay... I couldn't believe my fucking ears when I watched the news this morning. Live reports from five Best Buys. They each went down the first ten people in line. Nine out of ten at all five, when asked why on earth they were there in this weather: It's a good investment, I'm going to sell mine on eBay. I'm just praying the price of the PS3 being what it is, these pathetic waste of lives buying them in mass to sell will find themselves stuck with it as people don't buy these up. Will that happen? Nope, but I can dream.
Okay, my rant is over. I've been planning for the past year that I'd go to a store at midnight tonight, wait 8-10 hours, and I'd get one. Then I went by Best Buy, watched the news and read online. Unless I've missed something, between Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City, CompUSA, Gamestop, EBX and everything else, I won't have a chance in hell.
I couldn't believe when I went by Best Buy to get Everquest 2: Echoes of Faydwer yesterday at noon, what I saw. This being the Best Buy in the area I'd expect to have the least business of any in NoVa. There were at least 20 people in line, tents ready. 20 people, 48 hours early, least busy Best Buy. On top of that? We're getting rain now and from noon to 6pm we're supposed to get some insane thunder storms, torrential rain, 60-70mph winds, dime size hail and possibility of a tornado.
It really sucks that people have gone so insane over these new consoles that probably 10,000 people nationwide lined up 48 hours before the console went on sale. I always used to get consoles the first day they went on sale: SNES, Sega, Sega CD, Sega 32x, Nintendo 64, Atari Jaguar, Playstation 1... This was when I was a kid, so I got my parents to take me as soon as the store was open, and boom, went in and bought one.
Between people going apeshit for these consoles now and the fact that the morons making them seem to always have "massive shortages" for no reason other than to drum up the free publicity and cause people to make "impulse" buys since they fear they won't get them... Then as each store gets a shipment of 20 once a month until next Summer, it guarantees that people will buy them faster than they would otherwise since they fear not getting one. Add to that that since the 360, now you've got complete fucking dipshits paying people to camp strictly to sell on eBay... I couldn't believe my fucking ears when I watched the news this morning. Live reports from five Best Buys. They each went down the first ten people in line. Nine out of ten at all five, when asked why on earth they were there in this weather: It's a good investment, I'm going to sell mine on eBay. I'm just praying the price of the PS3 being what it is, these pathetic waste of lives buying them in mass to sell will find themselves stuck with it as people don't buy these up. Will that happen? Nope, but I can dream.
Okay, my rant is over. I've been planning for the past year that I'd go to a store at midnight tonight, wait 8-10 hours, and I'd get one. Then I went by Best Buy, watched the news and read online. Unless I've missed something, between Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City, CompUSA, Gamestop, EBX and everything else, I won't have a chance in hell.
11-16-06, 12:24 PM
#227
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Originally Posted by sailor_moon
Is anyone going to try Sam's Club tomorrow? I'm thinking since my parents are business members and they get to go in an hour before everyone else maybe I'll get lucky and snag a PS3.
11-16-06, 12:45 PM
#228
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I called 4 Sams Clubs in my area, and was told they were getting 0, 1, 1, and 2. That is INSANE. Xbox 360 had 12-24 units in every Costco and Sams Club in the country. This is now conclusively the worst launch in console history. And no more, Sony is making them rare to drum up demand. That is incorrect, and they are fighting a 2 front war vs. games (XBOX and Wii) and HD movies (HD-DVD players and drives). Billions of dollars at stake and Sony's chances are going right down the drain to win this war.
11-16-06, 12:46 PM
#229
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Originally Posted by 03euroSVT
Are they even getting any? I thought I read that Sam's Club won't be getting any launch PS3 but don't quote me.
11-16-06, 12:57 PM
#230
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
I think the stores around me are getting tired of people calling.
I call Sams Club and a very nice lady greets me with a "we aren't get any PS3s so stop calling" and then hangs up.
I call CC and get a "we have 10 systems and 40 people in line. I don't think you're getting one here."
I call BB and get a "we don't know how many we're getting yet since the truck isn't here. you can come down and get in line though since there's only around 75 people here right now."
I call Sams Club and a very nice lady greets me with a "we aren't get any PS3s so stop calling" and then hangs up.
I call CC and get a "we have 10 systems and 40 people in line. I don't think you're getting one here."
I call BB and get a "we don't know how many we're getting yet since the truck isn't here. you can come down and get in line though since there's only around 75 people here right now."
11-16-06, 12:58 PM
#231
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by nickdawgy
That's nothing. I read on another board where there's actually a paying homeless people/college students discussion that one dude is paying them $450 each to get him a system. So far he has 15 people in lines.
Considering 90% plus of these systems are likely going to scalpers (and thus flooding the Ebay 'marked up' market), and the system is expensive even at retail prices, how many true gamers are actually going to be able to (let alone be willing to) pay over $1500 for this thing? Yeah, I know they are selling for that right now, and I'm sure there will be many more that sell at insane prizes, but how many more?
11-16-06, 01:00 PM
#232
DVD Talk Godfather
Originally Posted by ChrisHicks
I think the stores around me are getting tired of people calling.
I call Sams Club and a very nice lady greets me with a "we aren't get any PS3s so stop calling" and then hangs up.
I call CC and get a "we have 10 systems and 40 people in line. I don't think you're getting one here."
I call BB and get a "we don't know how many we're getting yet since the truck isn't here. you can come down and get in line though since there's only around 75 people here right now."
I call Sams Club and a very nice lady greets me with a "we aren't get any PS3s so stop calling" and then hangs up.
I call CC and get a "we have 10 systems and 40 people in line. I don't think you're getting one here."
I call BB and get a "we don't know how many we're getting yet since the truck isn't here. you can come down and get in line though since there's only around 75 people here right now."
And that is probably already 40+ people too many.
11-16-06, 01:00 PM
#233
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Alright - called my mom and had her call Sam's Club. They're going to have PS3s but she didn't say how many. I guess I'll try my luck and if I don't get one, oh well. I'm not standing in line anywhere and I have a feeling Best Buy and the like are going to be very scary places come tomorrow.
My brother is at college out in the middle of nowhere and he's going to try for one at Walmart. He's going to line up in the store sometime around 8 tonight I think. Hopefully it goes well for him.
Good luck to everyone!
My brother is at college out in the middle of nowhere and he's going to try for one at Walmart. He's going to line up in the store sometime around 8 tonight I think. Hopefully it goes well for him.
Good luck to everyone!
11-16-06, 01:08 PM
#234
DVD Talk Hero
We called the four Wal-Mart's and two Target's in my area, along with the Sam's and Costco this morning.
Target 1: "We have a line outside already, we'll be getting some but not many."
Target 2: "There's a line outside, we have already distributed tickets."
Wal-Mart 1 (24 hour): "We had an incident last night (I saw it on the news) where the police were called and we distributed wristbands already."
Wal-Mart 2: "Because of the incident at another Wal-Mart, we passed out wristbands already."
Wal-Mart 3: "We'll be selling them on Friday, but there is a line already."
Wal-Mart 4: "We have a line, not sure how many we'll get."
Costco: "We're not getting any in at all, but a limited number will be available on Costco.com."
Sam's: "I hadn't heard we're getting any but some of the people outside insist we're getting at least two, and there's about 30 people out there."
So yeah, that and the fact that I read last night around 9pm there were 50 people lined up in front of Best Buy and about the same amount in front of Circuit City. Looks like no PS3 for me yet, not that I care. I honestly was going to try and profit, but I have to give kudos to the people that actually waited all week and want it for themselves. They deserve it, and I am happy for them.
Target 1: "We have a line outside already, we'll be getting some but not many."
Target 2: "There's a line outside, we have already distributed tickets."
Wal-Mart 1 (24 hour): "We had an incident last night (I saw it on the news) where the police were called and we distributed wristbands already."
Wal-Mart 2: "Because of the incident at another Wal-Mart, we passed out wristbands already."
Wal-Mart 3: "We'll be selling them on Friday, but there is a line already."
Wal-Mart 4: "We have a line, not sure how many we'll get."
Costco: "We're not getting any in at all, but a limited number will be available on Costco.com."
Sam's: "I hadn't heard we're getting any but some of the people outside insist we're getting at least two, and there's about 30 people out there."
So yeah, that and the fact that I read last night around 9pm there were 50 people lined up in front of Best Buy and about the same amount in front of Circuit City. Looks like no PS3 for me yet, not that I care. I honestly was going to try and profit, but I have to give kudos to the people that actually waited all week and want it for themselves. They deserve it, and I am happy for them.
11-16-06, 01:09 PM
#235
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I just got back from my local Best Buy in Westbury NY, there was a bunch of tents lined up in orderly fashion. When I was leaving I spoke to a couple of Best Buy workers who were happy they were off tomorrow.
11-16-06, 01:12 PM
#236
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Originally Posted by Gallant Pig
I think this PS3 launch is going to make the 360 launch look like the Neo Geo launch.
I don't think so. The cost pushes a lot of potential buyers out of the market. Plus, the PS3 doesn't have a launch game that shows up the 360. Xbox never competed with PS2 because PS2 had several years of head-start, sold on the back of the DVD playback feature, and had a ton of huge exclusives.
But the Xbox has built up a really solid cachet behind its brand. The marketing has been very savvy and Halo is huge. Breaking Sony's exclusive on Grand Theft Auto is also a big deal.
It's really hard to get excited about the PS3 launch. From the reviews and screens, "Resistance" sounds very good, but it doesn't give someone playing "Gears" much reason to run out and line up with $600 in hand. There is no software on this platform that creates any sense of urgency.
It seems like many early-adopter types, who usually drive demand for this kind of product, are taking a wait-and-see approach to PS3. It also seems like a large percentage of the people in the launch lines are looking to flip the systems on ebay. I would be very surprised to see these getting a significant markup from SRP on ebay once the launch is out. My feeling is that the scalpers favor the stores with lines because they can buy the systems a-la-carte, instead of bundled like pre-orders. I think last year's Xbox frenzy has motivated more people to try to flip these, and has motivated people who have done this in the past to attempt to get more units. I think the e-bay market is going to be glutted.
Last edited by ScandalUMD; 11-16-06 at 02:18 PM.
11-16-06, 01:17 PM
#239
DVD Talk Godfather
Originally Posted by nickdawgy
Sam's: "I hadn't heard we're getting any but some of the people outside insist we're getting at least two, and there's about 30 people out there."
11-16-06, 01:20 PM
#240
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i guess that's really the only way you could justify waiting, knowing you are near the back of the line, but have the hope that miraculously, some tractor-trailer will pull up, carrying JUST enough systems so you get one as well.
11-16-06, 01:44 PM
#241
DVD Talk Special Edition
from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ---
THURSDAY, Nov. 16, 2006, 11:32 a.m.
By Dan Benson <mailto:[email protected]>
Man injured in sprint for place in line
West Bend - One person was injured early this morning outside the
Wal-Mart department store in West Bend as a crowd of about 50 people
lined up for a chance to buy one of 10 coveted video game systems the
store has for sale.
Police have provided details of the incident late this morning:
An assistant store manager announced to the crowd, which had formed
about 7 a.m., that the store expected to receive only 10 of the Sony
PlayStation 3 game consoles, and that they would become available at
12:01 a.m. Friday.
The store official placed 10 chairs outside the store and directed the
waiting customers to another area. At a signal, the customers were told
to run to try to occupy one of the chairs. During the contest, a
19-year-old man ran into a pole and struck his head, injuring himself.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said the case was one of helping an injured person, and was not
the subject of any criminal investigation.
THURSDAY, Nov. 16, 2006, 11:32 a.m.
By Dan Benson <mailto:[email protected]>
Man injured in sprint for place in line
West Bend - One person was injured early this morning outside the
Wal-Mart department store in West Bend as a crowd of about 50 people
lined up for a chance to buy one of 10 coveted video game systems the
store has for sale.
Police have provided details of the incident late this morning:
An assistant store manager announced to the crowd, which had formed
about 7 a.m., that the store expected to receive only 10 of the Sony
PlayStation 3 game consoles, and that they would become available at
12:01 a.m. Friday.
The store official placed 10 chairs outside the store and directed the
waiting customers to another area. At a signal, the customers were told
to run to try to occupy one of the chairs. During the contest, a
19-year-old man ran into a pole and struck his head, injuring himself.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said the case was one of helping an injured person, and was not
the subject of any criminal investigation.
11-16-06, 01:45 PM
#242
DVD Talk Hero
Originally Posted by Sominex
Whoooaaa man. Chill. We're all friends here. 
And I understand he and his brother's plight and agree with him. But in the end it's SONY's fault for (what I believe to be true) making sure this thing is in short supply to generate hype. I don't think his brother should have to do extra leg work to get it.
And I understand he and his brother's plight and agree with him. But in the end it's SONY's fault for (what I believe to be true) making sure this thing is in short supply to generate hype. I don't think his brother should have to do extra leg work to get it.
11-16-06, 01:48 PM
#243
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I have friends who both work for BB and CC and neither of them is looking forward to work tomorrow. Their respective stores are opening early(8am, I believe) and they will sell out of their allocation within minutes. What they're not looking forward to is all the people coming throughout the day tomorrow who have no clue about the extremely limited availability of the console.
11-16-06, 01:51 PM
#245
DVD Talk Legend
The Fred Meyer here is opening at midnight for the Wii release. I was planning to go there anyways, but this makes it even easier. I probably won't even have to show up early.
11-16-06, 01:51 PM
#246
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for the people that think Sony is intentionally limiting the quantity, I don't think you realize how much is tied up, and the production costs of each system. They are taking a loss with each unit, so trying to increase systems available takes time, not to mention tying up more assets.
11-16-06, 01:54 PM
#247
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Originally Posted by PalmerJoss
I have friends who both work for BB and CC and neither of them is looking forward to work tomorrow. Their respective stores are opening early(8am, I believe) and they will sell out of their allocation within minutes. What they're not looking forward to is all the people coming throughout the day tomorrow who have no clue about the extremely limited availability of the console.
11-16-06, 01:54 PM
#248
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Originally Posted by JayDerek
from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ---
THURSDAY, Nov. 16, 2006, 11:32 a.m.
By Dan Benson <mailto:[email protected]>
Man injured in sprint for place in line
West Bend - One person was injured early this morning outside the
Wal-Mart department store in West Bend as a crowd of about 50 people
lined up for a chance to buy one of 10 coveted video game systems the
store has for sale.
Police have provided details of the incident late this morning:
An assistant store manager announced to the crowd, which had formed
about 7 a.m., that the store expected to receive only 10 of the Sony
PlayStation 3 game consoles, and that they would become available at
12:01 a.m. Friday.
The store official placed 10 chairs outside the store and directed the
waiting customers to another area. At a signal, the customers were told
to run to try to occupy one of the chairs. During the contest, a
19-year-old man ran into a pole and struck his head, injuring himself.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said the case was one of helping an injured person, and was not
the subject of any criminal investigation.
THURSDAY, Nov. 16, 2006, 11:32 a.m.
By Dan Benson <mailto:[email protected]>
Man injured in sprint for place in line
West Bend - One person was injured early this morning outside the
Wal-Mart department store in West Bend as a crowd of about 50 people
lined up for a chance to buy one of 10 coveted video game systems the
store has for sale.
Police have provided details of the incident late this morning:
An assistant store manager announced to the crowd, which had formed
about 7 a.m., that the store expected to receive only 10 of the Sony
PlayStation 3 game consoles, and that they would become available at
12:01 a.m. Friday.
The store official placed 10 chairs outside the store and directed the
waiting customers to another area. At a signal, the customers were told
to run to try to occupy one of the chairs. During the contest, a
19-year-old man ran into a pole and struck his head, injuring himself.
He was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police said the case was one of helping an injured person, and was not
the subject of any criminal investigation.
11-16-06, 01:56 PM
#249
DVD Talk Special Edition
Originally Posted by ChrisHicks
ok, I'm sorry the guy got hurt but I just find this funny as hell. just what the hell was the manager thinking?
11-16-06, 01:58 PM
#250
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
for the people that think Sony is intentionally limiting the quantity, I don't think you realize how much is tied up, and the production costs of each system. They are taking a loss with each unit, so trying to increase systems available takes time, not to mention tying up more assets.