Because gamers are oh so normal

[giza]

Full article.

This is disturbing:

NEW YORK - Die-hard gamers and entrepreneurs prepared to shell out $500 or more for the new PlayStation 3 console that goes on sale Friday, many of them after waiting in line for days despite the likelihood they'd go home empty-handed.

Retailers across the country arranged midnight sales at some of their stores. Lines sometimes stretched around the block, even where the first consoles wouldn't be sold until Friday morning. Deliveries went down to the wire with FedEx vans sending boxes of the sleek black or silver consoles to individual stores Thursday.

Then there is this individual, who clearly has her child's best interests at heart:

Nine months pregnant, Julie Mosley said she tried to ignore her contractions for the chance to score machines for her family, her daughter's father and her younger brother.

Also are these model citizens:

In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Super Wal-Mart after some shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday and started running around inside the store. In West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man ran into a pole and struck his head racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.

At a Circuit City Stores Inc. location in New York, potential buyers traded accusations of line-cutting and tried to avoid fights amid heightened emotions.

"You can't even sleep unless you have your eyes open," Wataru Nada said.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a crowd that likes to make fun of furries and call US weird? Personally, I think waiting in line for DAYS is just a tad bit obsessive.

[Edit: Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to buy a PS3. It'll just be in a year or two once prices have come down, bugs have been worked out, and game reviews have been written. :-) ]

Comments

[simbab.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're not wrong...personally, I tend to get repulsed by the mass commercialization of video games; they treat gamers like drooling, two-brain-celled cash machines (which some of them unfortunately are). At least our little fandom is authentic and not too terribly interesting from a mass marketing perspective.

Gamers calling furries weird. Something about glass houses is echoing inside my head.

[cyriljackal.livejournal.com]

For a shitty console that will take a dive within 6 months. Yep normal people are weirder than weirdos.

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

Here's something interesting to consider:

Many of these people are camping to capitalize on the demand, and re-sell on ebay for a profit. Camping out for 2 nights to get $1000+ doesn't seem like such a bad deal.

But what happened in Japan was that so many people were doing the same exact thing that ebay japan started to get flooded with PS3s to the point where they were selling for about retail.

Imagine the same happened in the US?

[giza.livejournal.com]

> Many of these people are camping to capitalize on the demand, and re-sell on
> ebay for a profit. Camping out for 2 nights to get $1000+ doesn't seem like
> such a bad deal.

Are you SURE about that? :-)

For the purposes of this argument, let's make some assumptions:

1) If they're camping out for 2 nights, that means they'll be in line for a minimum of 48 hours

2) The $1000 figure you referenced is profit, not merely revenue

3) They only get one unit (if they get one at all, more on that later)

Doing the math, dividing $1,000 by 48 hours gives you a rate of $20 an hour. If you're a student, that's a lot. But if you're a professional, that's not really so much after all. Plus, you're going to have to camp outside, in the cold, possibly in rain, which is rather uncomfortable -- more so than a nice cushy office job, at least.


Now about #3 in that list. There are two possible scenarios: 1) They get a PS3. 2) They do not.

From a risk/reward standpoint, that's a really bad deal. If you get a unit, you can resell it and make some money. But if you don't, then that 48 hours you spent is wasted. You'll have made $0/hour for your efforts. Plus, time spent waiting in line is time you could have spent doing other things, such as pursuing other business opportunities. Oops.

So yeah, I'm gonna keep working my day job and get a PS3 sometime next year. :-)

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

If it means anything, it seems they're going for closer to $2000 on E-Bay right now. While I don't think that /most/ people are camping for profit, there are a good deal of those people- you can take my word for it. You could also pre-order a PS3 at one place, and camp for another in hopes of selling one to cover the one you're going to keep. You said it- gamers are crazy.

ph34r me, I am gamer and furry! rawr. :3

[zealianbadass.livejournal.com]

Game Over

[theottsel.livejournal.com]

Holy fuck. I wish I had waited in line.

[wendingo.livejournal.com]

Are you SURE about all that? :)

1) Generally most educated hardcore gamers and those seeking to make a profit here can pin point the number of systems getting into a store well before they are even in route to shipping.

By now, anyone smart in line would have gone home if they knew they wouldn't be getting one by the numbers (average is 20-26 per bestbuy, 2-8 for Wallmart) With this knowledge, your risk and time drops considerably when you do your homework and know expectations.

2) Your not really working. Your sitting in a tent, reading a book, playing games or even catching up on other work. Even when sleeping, your cashing in that estimated $20 ever hour nearer. Very few jobs 'legally' carry those benefits. The camp out 'community' is pretty cool too.

I'll give you the rain and more constructive purposes, but even $1,000 dollars of profit might be low figure with PS3's not even getting a second shipment in some places. If you hold out till the second week in December, Supply will reach a peaking low, and demand will still be strong (73% of all Christmas lists have a PS3). Then resale could reach an estimated high of close to upwards of 5 grand.

Crazy :)

[streakthetiger.livejournal.com]

Yeah, obsessive. Heh. And i`ll end up doing the same. Never buy a launch system. They always have bugs. Wait at least 6 months for them to figure out what is wrong and why the processor melts after 3 hours of play.

There was a BOX on ebay, just a BOX for the xbox 360, that was selling BEFORE the xbox was released. Just a BOX! It sold for over $600.

[alexismckee.livejournal.com]

Gamers camp outside Walmart
Furries camp inside 4 star hotels

Enough Said...

Seriously though, if you're prepared to spend days waiting in line for a gaming console you need to reconsider your life... Is gaming really that important??

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

Well, for those who aren't convinced... look here

[giza.livejournal.com]

Take a close look at the bid history. Be sure to check the feedback ratings of the bids above $2K, especially the "-1" ones.

[felix-carni.livejournal.com]

"Ok, earlier today I was surfing the web, cause I like that, and then I saw something about gamers and Playstation 3, and I have no idea what that is so I looked it up. And I have found the most tragic thing you will ever see or hear. It's tragic. It's people, but they don't really think they're people. They think they're gamers. And it's really geeky. And I swear to god you'll get sick when you see this *shows picture of gamer*.
People are like really really weid.
These people stand in line at Wal-Mart and stuff, and preorders stuff and cut in lines and stuff.
This is horrible. I might kill myself over this, cause I don't wanna be a part of the human race anymore."

[giza.livejournal.com]

That was AWESOME.

[felix-carni.livejournal.com]

There are some mornings where i'm incredible bored at work. This was such a morning XD

[silver-huskey.livejournal.com]

Nah, the furs are just more interested in the Nintendo Wii for the time being. ;) At least they are at furry_gamers.

http://community.livejournal.com/furry_gamers/243627.html

I do want a PS3, but NOT at launch, even if I had the money I still wouldn't get it. I'm just waiting for the flood of news reports covering the bugs to come out. They've already found one where it won't play some PS2 or PS1 games. ^^; At the same time, I'm more interested in the Nintendo Wii, so I'll probably have one by the end of 2007. I can wait a year or two for the PS3.

[omnibahumut.livejournal.com]

oooo Furry Gamers... *investigates*

Ooh, were infamous!

[coyoteden.livejournal.com]

The Best Buy here in Bel Air, MD cancelled the PS3 and Wii launches. I don't know what exactly that means, as far as if they will not be selling any on Friday/Sunday or just not opening early.

Apparently the cops and management them do it, because people were camping out on nearby public property (baseball fields, neighborhood streets, mall parking lot, etc..)

FWIW, the management of the mall & surrounding property has a ridiculously low tolerance for any kind of loitering.

The recorded phone message is HERE

[nemetfox.livejournal.com]

I'll snag a PS3 at some point, I know, because of four little words, or at least three words and a number: Metal Gear Solid 4

But, a Wii will make it's way into my house first, just because I won't have any trouble snagging one, and it looks like a heck of a lot of fun.

[skippyfox.livejournal.com]

Okay...

1) I waited two nights, 38 hours (not 48), and immediately sold my low-end PS3 profiting $600 for myself, avoiding financial risks/loss with E-bay. During those 38 hours: I slept, sat in a warm car reading, socialized with other campers, played poker, got drunk, and relaxed. The hard part was sleeping in a tent on a sidewalk (not easy; I slept in the car on night two) and enduring the storm Thursday at some health risk.

It was very much worth it, especially if you look at it from a "salary" standpoint instead of an "hourly" one, and the fact that absolutely no labor was involved--With the exception, of course, of Miss Mosley. :)

2) "Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this a crowd that likes to make fun of furries and call US weird?"

Uh...wtf is this all about? You are the first person I have ever heard accuse the entire gaming community of calling furries weird. I know you're not the type of fur who goes pointing shaky fingers at people and screaming "FURSECUTION!" So with that in mind I don't know exactly what you're trying to say here. MOST furries are gamers. I have no clue where this assumption of yours came from, but I'm kind of shocked.