i'm home with a 20gb. despite having not showered and not slept all too well for the last 24 hours the first thing i did when i got home was watch my rockets recording. the 290 walmart was very generous with the privledges they gave us as i don't think there was any other stores allowing people to line-up inside and definitely not with a tv and such. there was 18 of us there for a long time with guranteed systems but quite a few who lurked around trying to get one off a credit card decline. don't think it happened for them. if anyone still wants one, i heard both the circuit city and target in meyerland weren't allowing lines till an hour or so before open. leave now and drive around the parking lot then push your way to the front of the line. it's kind of dangerous what they're doing but it's an opportunity still.
Hah, I was about to come and post this, I drove past earlier and they were REALLY enforcing that 7am rule. Good luck whoever shows up and tries out there. Circuit City I think only has 8, and Target, who knows.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4342033.html PlayStation 3 wait over for some gamers By BRAD HEM Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle The midnight release of the new Sony PlayStation 3 created some new entrepreneurs in a Best Buy parking lot early this morning. There were a handful of excited gamers ready to get home and try out their new toys, but they were outnumbered by those eager to turn a quick profit. As proud new owners walked out the front door, they were met by offers of more than double the $499 or $599 retail value. One buyer who declined to be interviewed or identified counted out 13 $100 bills in his driver seat before trading them for the 20-gigabyte PS3. The 60-gig model is getting more than $3,000 in online auctions. Ivan Gonzalez was among those tempted more by the high-definition Blu-ray DVD player and new graphics on the PS3 than big money. "Oh I'm keeping it," he said. "After being here three days, I'm keeping it." One group of new friends in the line reported four men ahead of them had paid day laborers $400 cash and delivered three meals a day to them in exchange for standing in line up until about 11 p.m. The men declined to comment. The Best Buy near the Galleria was one of a handful of Houston area retailers who started selling the PS3 at 12:01 a.m. today. Other stores, including Target and Circuit City, put the item on sale when they open this morning. Best Buy turned away scores of people this morning. The store put 20 60-gig systems and 84 20-gigs on sale immediately at midnight. It held back another 20 for the first 20 people willing to wait until the store opens for normal business hours at 8 a.m. today. Casey Schulin, 21, was two spots away from being in the first group of 20, and he and his friends opted to wait until this morning rather than take the cheaper model. "We've been here for over 50 hours, so another eight isn't that big a deal," the University of Houston business major said. He's hoping to get $1,800 for the $599 system. Actually they'd been there closer to 60 hours, but they stayed busy monitoring the eBay bidding and playing video games on a TV plugged into a nearby car. Jose Martinez, the 16-year old who started the line at 11 p.m. Monday, walked out of the store to cheers but said he was too tired to go home and play the new system. "I'll probably just go to sleep," he said. Brenda Rodriguez managed to get enough sleep during her three days of sitting on a curb, she said. More rest will have to wait. "I'm going to open that box and Hallelujah!"
8 AM Pacific. Still an hour and a half to go. I'm refreshing the home page in another window on a nearly constant basis just in case they ry to sneak it out early.
When I heard the PS3 didn't have rumble controllers...I couldn't believe it. I couldn't imagine having to do without them on a console that seemingly has everything else. It's not a huge deal but...bummer.
At least no one has been shot in H-town yet. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/storie...ME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-11-17-07-41-29 1 Shot in Conn. Playstation Waiting Line PUTNAM, Conn. (AP) -- Two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting to buy the new Playstation 3 gaming console early Friday and shot one who refused to give up the money, authorities said. The two confronted 15 to 20 people who were in line outside a Wal-Mart store shortly after 3 a.m. and demanded money, said Lt. J. Paul Vance, a spokesman for the state police. The new Sony consoles are selling for around $500 to $600. "One of the patrons resisted. That patron was shot," Vance said. He said the two gunmen fled and the victim was taken to University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester. There was no immediate word on the victim's condition. Vance said police were searching for the suspects, both believed to be in their teens. He said one was wearing a ski mask and brandishing a handgun, and the other had what appeared to be a shotgun. Short supplies of the PS3 and strong demand led to lines of buyers, some waiting for days, outside stores across the country. In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Super Wal-Mart after some shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday. In West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart. In Lexington, Ky., police were investigating a drive-by shooting that hit four people with BB pellets outside a Best Buy store, causing minor injuries, according to WKYT, whose own reporter was hit as she interviewed buyers in line. A Best Buy in Boston, aware it had only 140 of the consoles, got smart - its employees gave out tickets to the first 140 people in line so everyone could go home.
i actually only recieved three since i sold a spot for 500 dollars in the last minute i might decide to keep one for myself and sell the other two
AAAAAAAAAAAAND....CostCo's website just went down. Great. Oh well, I guess I can wait for the 2nd, hopefully bug-free, shipment.
AAAAAAAAAAAND now it's back up. This does not bode well for the avalanche of traffic it's going to get in an hour.
