Marathon Queuing Ends: Police, Hypothermia and the PlayStation 3
Four days of sidewalk camping ends in glory for most
The queuing frenzy gripping the US came to its natural inevitable today as retailers opened their doors to the hoardes of gamers besieging stores across the country. SPOnG was again tagging along at the Silverdale, WA Best Buy to see the culmination of the mass wait. The store, it turns out, was allocated 20 60GB PS3s and 6 20GB versions, three more than was predicted by those waiting in line last night.
We were secretly hoping for a brawl to break out between those queuing and those turning up on spec at the last minute. Things were very calm as it turned out, all beef was settled in the early hours of yesterday morning. According to those queuing, one of the members of the throng was actually a Best Buy employee who'd taken a few days off work in order to obtain a machine. At some point during the night, disputes broke out as to peoples' places in the queue. This compounded earlier arguments about whether people had spent enough time in line to justify their spots. The Best Buy employee then tried to eject some members of the line, who refused to go.
No punches were thrown and the situation calmed itself down to the point that when SPOnG rolled in at about 7.00AM, everyone in line was simply standing around miserably complaining about being cold. It's interesting that as the 8.00AM opening drew near, those lucky enough to have a purchase allocation ticket didn't exhibit much in the way of excitement. There was a general feeling of relief but that was as far as it went.
The police rolled by about half an hour before opening time to keep an eye on things. A single armed sheriff in a cruiser was let in by store staff and stood with them throughout the briefing that was going on inside beyond the main vestibule. A sure sign that action is expected we thought...
Then an emplyee came out and addressed the crowd, telling them to file in and that everything would be laid out on tables. Everyone was to pick which games and accessories they wanted to purchase, before being handed a console and paying. The first few people walked in but then the line faltered. Amazingly, the people who had camped since Tuesday night were uneasy at the prospect of claiming their prize. Perhaps it was for fear of doing something wrong, perhaps they were just conditioned to being outside the store in the cold, and the prospect of actually completing their mission was overwhelming...
Inside the policeman stood around baffled by what he was seeing. After about five minutes he realised that people with mild cases of hypothermia, clutching handwarmers and shivering, were incapable of fighting. He excused himself and left shaking his head. The queue ambled forth politely. Waxy-faced men in survival gear stared blankly at tables of games. The actual moment of purchase was simple relief at not having to queue any more and the prospect of going home for a shower.
And that was that. The nearest we came to capturing any action was when we were ejected several times for taking photographs, something against Best Buy's policy. "But we bought these cameras in this very store!” we lied. It made no difference. When we were asked to leave and didn't, the policeman was summoned and there was something of a heated exchange. Common sense prevailed and we were granted the privilege of taking pictures of cold people in a shop.
The point that those queuing to own the latest in videogaming, as opposed to those simply trying to make a fast buck, most wanted communicating was that they had enjoyed the queue. It was obviously seen as a rite of passage by many and is, it has to be said, a top-notch gaming achievement.
We were secretly hoping for a brawl to break out between those queuing and those turning up on spec at the last minute. Things were very calm as it turned out, all beef was settled in the early hours of yesterday morning. According to those queuing, one of the members of the throng was actually a Best Buy employee who'd taken a few days off work in order to obtain a machine. At some point during the night, disputes broke out as to peoples' places in the queue. This compounded earlier arguments about whether people had spent enough time in line to justify their spots. The Best Buy employee then tried to eject some members of the line, who refused to go.
No punches were thrown and the situation calmed itself down to the point that when SPOnG rolled in at about 7.00AM, everyone in line was simply standing around miserably complaining about being cold. It's interesting that as the 8.00AM opening drew near, those lucky enough to have a purchase allocation ticket didn't exhibit much in the way of excitement. There was a general feeling of relief but that was as far as it went.
The police rolled by about half an hour before opening time to keep an eye on things. A single armed sheriff in a cruiser was let in by store staff and stood with them throughout the briefing that was going on inside beyond the main vestibule. A sure sign that action is expected we thought...
Then an emplyee came out and addressed the crowd, telling them to file in and that everything would be laid out on tables. Everyone was to pick which games and accessories they wanted to purchase, before being handed a console and paying. The first few people walked in but then the line faltered. Amazingly, the people who had camped since Tuesday night were uneasy at the prospect of claiming their prize. Perhaps it was for fear of doing something wrong, perhaps they were just conditioned to being outside the store in the cold, and the prospect of actually completing their mission was overwhelming...
Inside the policeman stood around baffled by what he was seeing. After about five minutes he realised that people with mild cases of hypothermia, clutching handwarmers and shivering, were incapable of fighting. He excused himself and left shaking his head. The queue ambled forth politely. Waxy-faced men in survival gear stared blankly at tables of games. The actual moment of purchase was simple relief at not having to queue any more and the prospect of going home for a shower.
And that was that. The nearest we came to capturing any action was when we were ejected several times for taking photographs, something against Best Buy's policy. "But we bought these cameras in this very store!” we lied. It made no difference. When we were asked to leave and didn't, the policeman was summoned and there was something of a heated exchange. Common sense prevailed and we were granted the privilege of taking pictures of cold people in a shop.
The point that those queuing to own the latest in videogaming, as opposed to those simply trying to make a fast buck, most wanted communicating was that they had enjoyed the queue. It was obviously seen as a rite of passage by many and is, it has to be said, a top-notch gaming achievement.
Companies:
Sony
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Comments
warbaby 17 Nov 2006 20:28
1/3
I think I lost 5 cool points for just reading that story... The ending totally blew me away, was not expecting it at all.
TwoADay 17 Nov 2006 21:36
2/3
The series of stories were pretty good, Spong. Thanks for showing that things didn't go crazy everywhere.
Here in Nashville, the local news interviewed the poor nerds and quick-buck people that were standing out there for the past few days. They came up with a good system of having each person sign in, and introduce each other. it became a self-protecting pack that allowed those that were there longest to get in first, even if they had to go off somewhere to get food or use a restroom.
But nationally our focus will be on the melees that break out, and it's too bad.
Here in Nashville, the local news interviewed the poor nerds and quick-buck people that were standing out there for the past few days. They came up with a good system of having each person sign in, and introduce each other. it became a self-protecting pack that allowed those that were there longest to get in first, even if they had to go off somewhere to get food or use a restroom.
But nationally our focus will be on the melees that break out, and it's too bad.
tyrion 18 Nov 2006 12:51
3/3
TwoADay wrote:
They came up with a good system of having each person sign in, and introduce each other. it became a self-protecting pack that allowed those that were there longest to get in first, even if they had to go off somewhere to get food or use a restroom.
I read a bout a few places doing such a "scroll of honour" system. It seems like a better way of doing things than the generally unpleasant way other places handled it.
If I had to guess, I'd say the ugly incidents were where there were more scalpers than gamers and the nice places were where the gamer community was strongest.
I don't think I'd be as bothered about losing out if I knew that everybody before me had queued honourably and were going to play the thing and not just hock it for bucks.