SPOnG's PS3 Get! Tokyo Launch Special

When a new console launches, there’s only one place to be. So, SPOnG dutifully spent yesterday hanging around the world capital of futurism that is Tokyo, looking to get its dirty hands on the first retail PlayStation3 consoles anywhere on Earth. (And you can find out if we managed it by skipping to the end of the article, or by deciphering the hidden meaning of this story’s title!)

Because we’re a social bunch and mad keen on the International Language of Gaming, we mucked in with the locals and began loitering outside Shinjuku’s Yodobashi Camera on Friday afternoon. This was one of only two major Tokyo retailers which had planned to sell the PS3 on a first-come, first-served basis. The rest, goodness knows why, had decided to operate lotteries where only the lucky were allowed to buy PS3s. Not willing to leave our prospective PS3 ownership to chance, we stuck with the Shinjuku branch of Yodobashi to the very end.

This particular store had three PlayStation TV demo kiosks set up outside, and another inside the shop. There was no sign of any queuing action when we arrived at 4pm, so we joined 25 other hopefuls in staring at those HD screens till our retinas were burnt in 1080p. We heard all sorts of comments from passers-by and onlookers:

“The graphics are much better than Xbox 360s.”

“It doesn’t look that great.”

“HD’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

For more on SPOnG's queue-ish conversations, and reaction to the launch click here.

By 5pm there were 42 people gathered around the front of Yodobashi, including a group of four Thai gamers who had come to Tokyo specifically to buy PS3s. They’d been here for the PSP launch, as well. “Whenever Sony releases a new machine, we come to this shop,” explained the leader of the pack, before adding that he’d like to get Ridge Racer 7 and Gundam with his machine. At this point, no one even knew how many units Yodobashi would be getting, but the Thais seemed reassuringly optimistic. The power of green curry, perhaps.

At 6pm, there was an announcement from Yodobashi staffers (armed with megaphones) that it’s dangerous to start waiting now because the street is narrow and traffic can’t get through properly. The store would open Saturday morning at 7am for those who wanted PS3s. Of course, nobody moved. By now, the siege mentality was beginning to creep in, seasoned with some paranoia and excitement.

We asked a staff member what he really would suggest we do.

“Well, you can’t start queuing yet, because there’s no space. We’ll announce when you can begin to queue, but until then try not to block the traffic.”

And how many units did Yodobashi have?

“I’m not sure, because they haven’t been delivered to us yet.”

About 100 people had gathered now, but the store wasn’t scheduled to close until 10pm. And we didn’t expect anything to happen until then. We conferred with a couple of local chaps who looked suspiciously like Shenmue characters. (Actually, just like suspicious characters.) A few minutes later, at around 9.30pm, we saw them gesturing in conversation that something was happening to the left-hand side of the shop. One of them sprinted off; a minute later the other guy legged it, and then so did we.

Turns out they knew where the queue was going to be formed. Right on cue (sorry), unannounced, a Yodobashi staff member appeared in that direction holding a sign which read ‘Queue here for PS3’. We were already there, but the huge groups that had been waiting as close to the store entrance as possible were left behind. There was a stampede away from the store to a point roughly 50 yards away, where the sign-holder stood.

A couple of women fell and there were a few screams of panic. By which time we were safely near the front of the queue, slightly out of breath, and feeling quite happy with ourselves. (And no one was seriously hurt, so that’s good.)

This was ‘The Queue’ – none of that lottery crap. Numbered tickets were handed out by Yodobashi staff at 10pm, and those in the queue were allowed to choose from 20Gb or 60Gb machines. SPOnG chose the 60-gigger (ooh, chrome!) and received a ticket numbered 64. It transpires that Yodobashi had received an impressive 1,000 units, 500 of each variety. Among the first 100 people in line, though, we saw no one opt for the 20Gb model. People near the back of the line – which eventually extended all the way to Shinjuku Station to include 1,000 people – had to take what they were given.

After a long, uncomfortable night of trying to sleep on cold tarmac, we eventually awoke to see the surreal sight of Sony Europe’s Phil Harrison walking down the road and taking a few pictures of the Yodobashi store display as it was being set up. There was a countdown by staff members, and then it was 7am. And then it started to rain. The hour of the PS3! Because we were 64th in line, we had to queue for an additional ten minutes and got a bit wet as the downpour became heavier, but then we handed over the Japanese currency – and received a 60Gb monster. SPOnG PS3 GET!!!