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Chaos as crowds try to buy PS3
17/11/2006 19:19 - (SA)
New York - Shortages of Sony's new PlayStation 3 led to long lines and stampedes at its US debut early Friday.
At some stores the crowds got rowdy and rushed towards the shelves, injuring a man in Wisconsin and forcing authorities to shut down a Super Wal-Mart store in California.
One man waiting in line outside a Wal-Mart store in Connecticut was shot after two armed thugs tried to rob the line of people at 08:00 GMT.
In Lexington, Kentucky, four people waiting outside a store were hit by bullets from a toy gun, though none was seriously injured, according to WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers.
Sergio Rodriguez had been waiting outside the New York Circuit City store since Sunday for the midnight launch event, and he was the first to walk away with the PS3 as people still standing in line outside the store cheered.
"This is the best game ever. It's so worth the wait," the 25-year-old graphics designer said. "Some people may call me crazy, but I really love to play."
Looking to make hefty profit
With Sony promising only 400 000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high.
While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores - even those that were not going to begin sales until later Friday.
Sony, which has contended with laptop battery recalls and trails rivals in key products such as music players and liquid crystal displays, is counting on the PS3 to maintain and build its market lead in consoles.
Some customers were buying PS3 machines for themselves or as gifts, but many were hoping to resell them at a profit. Units were fetching several thousand dollars early Friday at the eBay Inc auction site.
Edgar Alcala, 18, who grabbed one of the first spots in line at San Francisco's Sony Metreon Mall on Wednesday morning, said he was looking forward to a hefty profit.
"When I get home, I'm going to take a quick picture of it, slap it on eBay and go to sleep," Alcala said minutes before the store's doors opened at midnight Friday.
Formula for trouble
Sony promised the 400 000 machines in the United States for Friday's launch and about 1 million by year's end. Worldwide, it was expecting 2 million this year, half its original projections.
Short supplies and strong demand were feared to be a formula for trouble as the PS3 hit store shelves, a half-year late because of problems completing work on the console's built-in, next-generation DVD player. Many stores, however, were calm.
At a Best Buy in Boston with 140 machines for sale, employees simply gave out tickets for the first 140 in line so that everyone could go home.
At San Francisco's Sony Metreon mall, a "sacred scroll" notebook kept track of the first 505 people in line so they could go to the bathroom or pick up food without losing their spots. Some got wristbands guaranteeing a unit.
There was even a vibrant economy in Mount Laurel, New Jersey.
Restaurants not only delivered pizza and wings, but also dispatched workers to hand out menus.
Enthusiasm not dampened
The Dick's Sporting Goods store nearby sold camp chairs and more than a few tents.
Jack Tretton, executive vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said retailers will be receiving new PlayStations daily - expedited by plane rather than ships.
"At some point we want to get to some degree of normalcy, but that remains to be seen," Tretton told The Associated Press, adding that seeing all the people camped out and lined up for the console "kind of makes all the effort worth it."
Enthusiasm for the PlayStation 3 was not dampened by its high price tag - $500 for the basic model with a 20-gigabyte hard drive and $600 for the 60-gigabyte version, which also has built-in wireless.
By contrast, Nintendo Co's Wii, which goes on sale Sunday in the US, retails for $250. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360, which had a year's head start over rivals, sells for $300 to $400.
Sony crammed the PlayStation 3 with the very latest in cutting-edge technology, and it dominated the previous generation of consoles with 70% of the global market.
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