Kudzu-like grass causing havoc in Bayou Lafourche
November 21, 2006
Mary Guidry
November 24, 2006
Hundreds of people around the country, including the Tri-parish area, took time off of work, voluntarily skipping a payday, or missing class for a surprising cause: Games.
With the unveiling of Sony’s PlayStation 3, gaming fanatics made plans to get their hands on the most advanced system on the market, by any means necessary, on Friday’s release date.
Beginning Thursday, 26 gamers secured a spot in front of Houma’s Best Buy, located on Martin Luther King Drive, posting camp the night before.
“I took a little time off of work,” said Rory Guidry, No. 1 on the unofficial list of PS3 hopefuls. Guidry, 21, has played on each PlayStation system since its conception in 1995 and made certain to setup a storefront tent promptly at 8 p.m. Wednesday night, equipped with a portable DVD player and a pack of Ding-Dongs.
Six of the gamers camped-out may have gone home empty handed; word amongst the group was that Best Buy was selling only 20 units. According to a Best Buy representative, the total number of units was not known until the morning of the release.
Sony produced only 400,000 consoles for the first American release. Electronics managers around the Tri-parishes were clueless as to how many PS3s they would have for gamers Friday morning until shipments arrived.
Houma’s Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City, EB Games responded similarly n uncertain exactly how many units would be sold. Gamestop located at the Southland Mall only offered pre-ordering of systems.
In some cities around the country, chaos ensued. Two armed thugs robbed and shot one person waiting outside a Wal-Mart in Connecticut, while in Wisconsin, one man was injured after disgruntled customers stampeded for shelves.
Sony PS3s do not come cheap. Depending on the console, gamers spent between $500 and $600, excluding tax and price of games n about $60 a piece.
The difference between the two consoles: Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash slots, wi-fi, and an increased hard disk drive. Both come equipped with the hi-tech Cell Broadband Engine microprocessor, Blu-Ray Disc for high-definition video as well as Internet and Bluetooth capabilities.
“When I was at Wal-Mart, someone offered me $1,600 for mine,” said Shane Prejean, 20, who took off of school and work to wait in line.
PS3s are valuable enough that many people will wait in line, pay store price and re-sell them on Internet auction sites like eBay for a profit, he said.
“All you need is $600 and you can double your money,” Prejean said.
Josh Hart, 19, a student at ITT Tech student, decided to take Thursday off from classes. Hart doesn’t know how many hours he spends gaming a week, and plans on keeping his PS3. His favorite game: Metal Gear Solid.
Hart entered his 12th hour in front of Best Buy at 11 a.m. that day.
“I came out here with a chair, and I’ll run to Wal-Mart if I need anything else,” he said.
Sony will continue distributing PS3s as manufacturing continues. Stores will receive additional systems on daily basis, totaling 1 million units by year’s end, only half of its projected 2 million units.
The Associated Press contributed to portions of this report.
Andrea Carlson can be reached at (985) 876-3008 or andrea@tri-parishtimes.com.
Staff photo by Andrea Carlson/ Campers set up outside the Best Buy on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma last Wednesday evening in hopes of being among the lucky shoppers that gets the new PlayStation 3. The game went on sale across the country last Friday morning.
