Is someone in your house begging you for a new PlayStation 3? With all of the hype surrounding the game console’s debut, I’m not sure Santa even has a chance of getting his hands on one. Frankly, I think the mayhem that has transpired over the new PlayStation is crazy. Yesterday, two men waiting in line (outside) of our neighborhood Wal-Mart in anticipation of the release of the game console were taken to the hospital after a brawl broke out.
And, according to news reports, similar scenes have been reported at other stores around the country. In Milwaukee, some people started camping outside a local Best Buy on Monday morning and were still there last night hoping to get their hands on one of the store’s 30 PlayStation sets, which went on sale at 12:01 this morning.
While some people in line planned to purchase the PlayStation for their own enjoyment, others were looking to get their hands on one of the coveted game console’s and sell it on eBay for three times the retail price of $600. Still other “creative” people were selling their places in line for more than $1000 to those who wanted to get their hands on the new PlayStation, but didn’t want to have to camp outside for a week to do so.
As for that brawl I mentioned earlier… according to news reports, about 60 people had lined up outside our local Wal-Mart by Thursday night, but the store only had 10 game consoles in stock. So a manager set up 10 chairs and told the crowd that whomever got a seat would get a PlayStation 3. That’s when things turned ugly. According to witnesses, people basically trampled each other to get in line. And once they were in line, people sat on each other trying to get the seats out from underneath the ones who were lucky enough to get one. In the midst of the chaos one man hit his head on a flagpole and dislocated his jaw while another was seriously hurt after getting tossed around.
And in true holiday fashion, the man who hit his head on this flagpole hired a lawyer. He said he’s looking into suing Wal-Mart over the whole thing. Merry Christmas!