Launch Day Insanity

Why does it seem that the launch of a next generation system always has to bring out the worst in people? I know I went through it last year myself, or so I thought. When the Xbox 360 came out, there were reports of muggings and assaults and of course, the insane bundles and price spikes on eBay (one reaching as high as $13,000!) Lucky for me, my Xbox 360 launch day experience went smoothly.

In fact, most of the people I camped with were actually pretty cool to me, even providing me lunch from McDonald's and a tent to shield myself from the rain. There was none of the violence that other launch locations have gone through.

This year is a different story. Before the PlayStation 3 came out Friday night, I was shocked to hear some of the stories that came out in the days leading to the huge event.

Case in point is the story of group of individuals who I like to call "The Burbank 10." These are ten guys who decided to camp in line at their local Best Buy WEEKS before the PS3 was released. One of the Burbank 10 quit his job to wait in line, and another one used the money he saved to give his girlfriend an engagement ring to buy his new console! And how did Best Buy thank these no-life losers? They ban the camping a few days before the launch!

Apparently Best Buy has a policy against people camping in front of their stores until 24 hours pre-launch. I even checked with the two local BBs in the area and they verified the mandate. However, I also checked the local Circuit City and they allowed camping. One of the guys I spoke with said he was waiting since Monday afternoon, and it was Wednesday when I first spoke with him.

The other Circuit City I went to was in Rockville, Maryland – you know like in the REM song, which seemed to get the most PS3s. Not only did they have 100 units for sale (which were already lined up for,) but in conjunction with "old fashioned" radio station DC 101, they also gave away an additional five units with Monster HDMI cables (which I'm sure cost a fortune as well. After all, Monster Cable=Lose the deed to your house.) I tried to procure me one of the five consoles, but my name wasn't called out. Oh well.

After the fifth name was announced, I decided to head home and play it safe. I already heard about the heathens that did a BB gun drive by in Kentucky, and didn't want to be part of any violence.

Since the launch, there have been reports of a Connecticut man shot outside of Wal-Mart, an EB in Ohio as the target of an armed robbery, and even a guy who ran face first into a pole because some stupid Circuit City manager (probably a former Circuit City manager today) having 300 people make a run for it as he opened the doors. Another similar riot occurred in Boston's Sony Style store, requiring 12 police cruisers to halt the anarchy. The city manager of Boston even considered billing Sony for crowd control!
Even in Tyson's Corner, Virginia, about 20 miles from where I live, police had to use pepper spray balls to control the riotous crowd.

And to tell you the truth, is the PlayStation 3 really worth all this? My answer is a resounding "hell no!" Since I first saw the PS3 at E3, I have been less and less impressed with the product. It is exorbitantly expensive ($600 pre-bundling or eBay). The Blu-Ray technology is a huge cause for the price (standalone BD players go for anywhere from $800-1,000,) while competing against HD-DVD (which Microsoft has as an attachment for the 360,) and the launch lineup fails to impress me.

Aside from Resistance: Fall of Man (which someone told me was great, when it was named CALL OF DUTY,) about 70 percent of the launch titles are ports of Xbox 360 games. And to make matters worse, what about those who own CRT HDTVs that can only display in 1080i? Unlike the Xbox 360, which does upscale to 1080i, games on the PlayStation 3 will be downscaled to 480p. That's right, freaking EDTV!

I'm hoping that Sony gets this matter fixed, but I thought the PS3 was supposed to be a high definition gaming system? It must be one only if you buy a Sony 1080p HDTV. I do not have any intention of picking up a PS3 for a long time. Of course, my opinion over the matter has caused me a lot of negative controversy, even thrusting that dreaded slur on me: fanboy.

My opinions were not spoken as a fanboy. They are based on fact. Sony is losing money on every PS3 they sell (over $300 for the 20 GB model, and just under $250 for the 60 GB model.) Sure, companies lose money on console sales, and make it up with software, but this is still some heavy bleeding. And of course, there are those early reports about PS3 games going for as high as $100. So far, games are being offered for $60, the same as third party Xbox 360 titles. So that's a good sign, but that can always change"

The only possible reason to get a PS3 is for monetary gain, or in this case, eBay selling. Prior to Friday's launch, pre-order auctions ran rampant, with one going as high as $30,000! However, the winning bidder had a zero feedback rating, usually the sign of a deadbeat bidder who will fail to make payment. Even a friend of mine was able to procure a PS3 and got a winning bid of over $2,300, but again from a potential deadbeat zero feedback bidder.

Of course I'd love to have the extra money, as I could use it to buy myself a nice LCD 1080p HDTV, but not at the cost of injury.

On a lighter note, the Wii also made its launch, and from what I've heard so far, went much easier than all the PS3 hysteria. Of course, Nintendo having more units available in stock helps out a lot, but there were still people camping in front of Best Buy the night before waiting to get their hands on it.

CURRENTLY PLAYING: GEARS OF WAR (X360), CALL OF DUTY 3 (X360)

WAITING FOR: Wii (But I can wait until after Christmas) ARMY OF TWO (X360)

(Special thanks to www.engadget.com for all the PS3 Crime Spree information.)

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