Attempted burglary theft nets duo linked to other burglaries
November 15, 2006Trenity Ja’Nye Rainey
November 17, 2006
Hundreds of people around the country, including the Tri-parish area, are taking 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 its Friday release date.
So far, 26 gamers have 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. The 21-year-old has played on each PlayStation system since its conception in 1995 and made certain to set up 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 go home empty-handed; word amongst the group is that Best Buy will be selling only 20 units. According to a Best Buy representative, the number of units will not be known until they arrive tomorrow.
Houma’s Wal-Mart, Target, Circuit City, EB Games responded similarly. Gamestop located at the Southland Mall only offered pre-ordering of systems.
Sony PS3s do not come cheap. Depending on the console, gamers will spend between $500 and $600, excluding tax.
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.
PS3 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.”
Josh Hart, 19, a student at ITT Tech student, decided to take a day-off from classes. Hart doesn’t know how many hours he spends gaming a week, and is planning on keeping his PS3. His favorite game: Metal Gear Solid.
Hart entered his 12th hour in front of Best Buy at 11 a.m. Thursday.
“I came out here with a chair, and I’ll run to Wal-Mart if I need anything else,” he said.
The PS3 is slated to go on sale early tomorrow. Local merchants are predicting it will be this shopping season’s “hard-to-find” holiday gift.
Campers set up outside the Best Buy on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Houma Wednesday evening in hopes of being among the lucky shoppers that gets the new PlayStation 3. The game is set to go on sale across the country tomorrow morning. Staff photo by Andrea Carlson.
