Gaming madness

[yukionna]

I was traveling in Chicago on business this past week and stopped by a Best Buy and at first glance, thought they were now selling camping equipment. As I walked into the store, I noticed a dozen different types of tents erected outside with people milling around in and outside of the tents. I later found out that these folks were camped out in line waiting for the new Sony PS3 play station to go on sale. I also have seen all the news flashes from around the country with the madness related to limited sales quantity:

1. Shootings
2. Deaths
3. Robbery of $$ from folks in line
4. Robbery of PS3's after they were purchased
5. Tramplings related to door rushing
6. eBay sales of the unit topping $2K

Last night, I visited my local Best Buy in Salem, NH and noticed a line outside, this time related to sales of a new Nintendo gaming unit.

Did anyone wait in one of these lines? Ummmm, I wonder if camping in an Airstream counts as a place in line? Please share your tales of this *gaming madness*.

[wahoonc]

Haven't seen any gaming madness, but then again I live miles from the nearest larger retail centers I do remember seeing some parents get in a shoving match over a Tickle Me Elmo a few years back...it just goes to show how low society is sinking

Aaron

[overlander63]

I'll wait and get one at a pawn shop a couple of months after Christmas, when the kid is tired of the machine and wants to finance another toy.

[markdoane]

Originally Posted by overlander63

I'll wait and get one at a pawn shop a couple of months after Christmas, when the kid is tired of the machine and wants to finance another toy.

Ah, Terry. . . I don't think so. You will never find a PS3 in a pawn shop. This is the last game console that will ever be built. It's the final edition, the greatest machine that will ever exist; anything else that somes later will just be a cheap imitation.

In twenty years they will still be making new games to play on the PS3. There is nothing coming after. It is the zenith of all game consoles.

It is perfected.

[InsideOut]

Yeah, right...keep telling yourself that.

Want some kool-aid?

Shari

[Stefrobrts]

I haven't even moved up to an Xbox 360 yet - still waiting to see if it 'takes'

Seriously, I do not understand the people who are willing to pay thousands of dollars for a console that has very few games available for it right now, and will be in wide release in a few months. At least the people waiting in line have an excuse, they knew they could turn around and resell it to the idiots who were willing to pay rediculously overinflated prices for it. But why there are people willing to do that is a puzzle to me.

I did almost buy a first gen Nintendo at a garage sale the other day for $10. Ah, the nostalgia of little Mario hopping on turtles and picking up coins almost got to me

[azflycaster]

I think Stef is correct about people cashing in on the supply and demand thing. Every Christmas season we see another "got to have it" item appear. Cabbage Patch kids, Tickle me Elmo and PS3. It is really a shame to see what the holiday season has turned into. The day after Thankgining has turned into a contact sport which I have no desire to become a part of. Besides, I am happy with my older video game....

[JimGolden]

I do a bit of programming...and the thing I don't get is why these machines exist at all. I mean, a PC has way more capability than these things. If you compare current state of the art PC's to these game machines, a PC will out process about any of these things, and you can also design your Airstream frame on it. No AutoCAD on PS3

Yeah, I wrote my own version of "Pong" to operate on my Commodore 64, back in '84.

I am asking for MicroSoft Flight Simulator X for Christmas. Have you seen the graphics on it? They're photographic real. Cool!

[Roscinante]

Heck, my favorite game - and I am addicted (along with my wife) is Texas Hold "Em! Everytime we camp we spend hours playing with our fellow campers.

What other games do you all like to play?

Jerry

[GreatPumpkin]

No shootings or robberies to report here. I did get a call from work, and had to come back down to deal with a rowdy "gentleman" who was quite upset that he wasn't allowed to cut in line - mom and son were in line, "holding" his place. I explained to him there was a limit of one per family, and there was no "holding" a place in line. He wanted to argue and raise a stink.
We had people lined up (outside in the cold!) for 36 hours for the PS3. The Nintendo Wii went smoother, more people waiting, but there were more units available.
I thought these people have got to be crazy to spend that much on a GAME, then I checked eBay and saw there were even crazier (read STUPID) people paying on average $1,400 for the PS3.
To put it in perspective, I recall that I have owned no less than 4 vehicles (all working) that I paid less for than the retail price of the PS3.
I finally bought my kids an Xbox last year (not a 360, just an Xbox) for $50 from a guy who had upgraded to 2 of the 360's when they came out.
Some people need to get a life! Now maybe if you skinned the game units in aluminum, I could justify the expense and understand the addiction!

[Astrodokk]

I started out buying all three of the major consoles for my boys so that their friends could bring over any game and they could play it here. XBox, PS1 and PS2, and Game Cube with the GameBoy converter. Now they are whining about the XBox 360 and PS3. Well, I told them that I will never buy another platform for them as these still work and we have games for them. Their Grandma could buy the stuff for them intead of me. Personally, I like Call of Duty on my PC. But really, I see that if allowed to play for extended periods, they become addicted, so I limit that and we do martial arts instead. We can hit for real!

[wahoonc]

I think we have Nintendo 64 somewhere...or it might be the one before the 64...is it worth anything yet

Aaron

[overlander63]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

I think we have Nintendo 64 somewhere...or it might be the one before the 64...is it worth anything yet

Aaron

I don't know...is it installed in an Airstream? I'm not sure if it would make the Nintendo worth more, or the Airstream less.

[azflycaster]

Originally Posted by wahoonc

I think we have Nintendo 64 somewhere...or it might be the one before the 64...is it worth anything yet

Aaron

Everything has value, how much does it weigh?

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

Everything has value, how much does it weigh?

Less than a Univolt got enough cords on it to use as a fishing net...

Aaron

[soldiermedic]

I have an old Commodore 64 and Intellivision in my basement. I am only 29 though.

[pinkflamingoes]

We got up early (5 am) to wait for a Nintendo Wii at Best Buy, and got one. A man standing outside the store offered us $500 cash to buy ours. (The unit was $250 and we had $100 in Best Buy gift cards from a rewards program so it didn't hurt too much...). If we didn't get one on that visit, I was going to give my daughter a card with the picture of the system on it and get it for her after Christmas. And she would have been OK with that. I don't understand this need to have gifts under the tree at any cost. I think it sets a bad example.

I like the fact that the Wii has HD hookups and works with ALL of the old Nintendo games, via some virtual-console thing that I don't really understand, and I don't have any of the old ones anyway. But it goes back to NES games, I think those are the first ones? That is a good feature and all the game system companies should try to do that.

Still, nothing beats a good book and a sunset, preferably reflecting off the sides of an Airstream!

[flitzwhopper]

my son reminds me that the important part of the new gaming consoles is that they have hd dvd players. beats having to buy your own hd dvd player. you just have to loan your kid the ferrari to get him out of the house.

mike