The wait for Sony's next-generation PlayStation 3 came to an end at midnight Friday, at least for the lucky gamers who were able to grab a console.
Sony promised only 400,000 systems for Friday's nationwide launch -- raising the possibility that a lot of people would go home disappointed, despite being willing to spend $500 or $600 for the system.
In Indianapolis, television station WRTV reported that Meijer department stores and Wal-Mart completely sold out of their allotments just after midnight.
The station said that people reported that sellers on eBay -- which had tried to limit fraudulent listings -- were getting tens of thousands of dollars.
In many places, tents were erected outside Best Buy as gamers lined up with anticipation of the store's opening. Some people in line in Indianapolis said they were getting PS3 for their own personal use, while the budding entrepreneurs in the crowd quietly admitted they would be reselling theirs at astronomical profit.
In West Hollywood, Calif., Nathaniel Lord spent more than $700 on a console and game after camping out for three nights at a Best Buy. The California Institute of the Arts graduate said after making his purchase he was going to down another energy drink and log on as soon as he gets home.
The launch is not the only big news in the video game world. Nintendo's Wii system -- which is less powerful than Sony's but features new methods of game play with a new kind of motion-sensing controller -- goes on sale Sunday.
Police said a gunman robbed a teenager of his new game system in a the parking lot of a mall near Allentown, Pa. The 17-year-old victim told police said he was in the back seat of a car at the Lehigh Valley Mall when he was robbed Friday.
A Webster, Mass., man is expected to recover after being shot while waiting for a chance to buy a new PlayStation 3 outside a Wal-Mart in Putnam, Conn. Two gunmen tried to rob a group of people waiting for the store to open. Twenty-one-year-old Michael Penkala was taken to University of Massachussets Medical Center after the shooting. The assailants fled.
A store in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Englewood didn't get a chance to offer customers a few of the hotly awaited consoles. Five of the units were stolen by robbers last night as the EB Games store was closing up.
Fresno, Calif., police said they were forced to declare unlawful assembly outside a store that was selling the new console after customers got unruly. One youth was arrested but there were no serious injuries Thursday. People began getting in line as early as Tuesday morning for Friday's launch of the new video game system.
Columbus, Ga., dentist Dr. Murray Newlin was so determined to buy 15 pieces of the latest video game hardware as Christmas gifts that he hired people to stand in line for him. But the west Georgia man's plan fell apart when other customers complained. He said he wanted the games for his grandchildren.
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