My PS3 story
by Ed Stasick 
{ Nov 20th 2006 at 8:45PM }
I've spent the better part of a week camping. Camping for consoles. During that week, I made new friends, missed out on getting a PS3, scored a Wii and developed a deep, deep hatred for Target. This is my story (the PS3 part anyway).I showed up at Target on Wednesday afternoon and joined a small line forming outside the electronics entrance to the store. I was definitely getting a 60-gig PS3! High-fives all around. That's about the time a Target Manager showed with a Target rent-a-cop and asked us to leave, telling us that no one was allowed to camp until Thursday at 3:00 p.m. And that was it, we were booted. Certainly not trusting that people would just patiently wait unitl 3:00 p.m. the next day, I returned at midnight. A camp had been established. Tents had been erected and an unofficial line list had been started. I was number 9. Again, I was definitely getting a PS3!
Two managers showed up at 6 am.
Manager: You boys need to leave.
Me: Why? Other Targets aren't kicking people out. They're taking care of their customers.
Manager: It's individual store discretion.
Me: Right. Well, I would be concerned with liability and safety issues.
Manager: *silence*
Me: Besides, we have a list.
Manager: There are no lists. You can wait in your cars. Clear out the tents and remove yourselves or we'll call the cops on you boys (yes, he said "boys" again.)
Me: That would be a mistake. Do you know who I am? I'm Chris F'ing Grant! Managing Editor of Joystiq.com!
Ok, I didn't say that last part, but the line was dispersed... and there was a free-for-all at 3 p.m. for one of a very few, very sacred PS3 spots. I didn't get one. Yet!
Thanks Target!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Alan @ Nov 20th 2006 9:07PM
Bummer. I had the opposite experience at Target -- a great one. I too showed up on Wednesday afternoon and was second in line. By the end of store hours on Wednesday we had well over 20 people in line and were informed that the store "unofficially" (but with a wink or two) had 10 units. The camping ensued and I got to know the people around me. We had some fun conversations, played some DS & PSP games, and kept a list of people that Target said they would "take into account" or something along those lines. In the end they had 10 units with campers #11 and 12 going home disappointed. Target security checked in with us frequently during the camp as well as giving us free popcorn and soda on Thursday evening. All campers honored the list in the end.
My friend camped at the same Target for the Wii and it didn't go quite as smooth. There were a lot more people (obviously) and someone cut in line in the very end. Target didn't cooperate at first but eventually made the man leave. This was the same guy that had broken some camper-made line rules for the ps3 camp and screwed camper #11 out of a system. Overall justice was served and Target beat my 360 camping experience at Wal-mart hands down.
Willie @ Nov 20th 2006 9:38PM
I wish that I had a positive story. I was one of the lucky eight to get a preorder through Gamestop back in October. It turns out that seven is no longer a lucky number. I was number seven and the very first one cut when the number of units were cut early last week. It is a shame they only got six instead of the eight. It was the first time I never owned a Sony console on launch day.
Jason @ Nov 20th 2006 11:28PM
I was number 4 on the Game Stop preorder list and they got 6 units. They called me Friday morning to tell me they were opening 2 hours early at 8 am and that my system was waiting for me. I drove right over, was first in the store - no waiting in line, no camping - just an all around pleasant experience. PS3 is nice, but I can say that it just feels like another console right now, while it seems the Wii fans are having a fun 'ol time getting used to the nifty new (possibly gimmicky) controls. Once the PSNetwork, PSP 3.0 update, and games get under way, the PS3 IS going to be hard to beat....but until then, yes.....its just another console.
Brandon M @ Nov 21st 2006 5:34AM
Boy let me tell you, target was the biggest bitch on the 16th. I was told by a manager that they were not letting anyone line up until the store closed on the 16th. I stopped by in the afternoon to see what was up and the line had started. I asked the security guard who said they had received an email from corporate saying let them line up. So i went to another target 10 mins away, no luck, called a few other targets and found one that said they were not letting anyone line up. I drove out there just to find a mob, some cops and the store manager, left and stopped by costoc to see how they were handling the launch, told they were selling them online only. So I headed home, stopping at a Kmart which only got 2 units which were to be raffled of the next day. Stopped by sears, they didn't get any systems. Found another target 45 mins away that wasn't letting ppl line up yet. got there to find a large mob of people, waited around a little and decided to leave. Next morning I hit costco.com and was able to get the unit submitted to my cart, but the site was hit so hard that I was never able to go any further, later costco's site was closed for some time. When it was back i logged in and checked my cart. tried to processes it, only to see it disappear after going to the next step. Got my hopes up for nothing.
Mike @ Nov 21st 2006 10:43AM
A lot was said before the launch about going to less-populated stores to find your hallowed PS3 at launch.
But between rumors of cut shipments, and "individual store policies" regarding camping, I choose the obvious route of Best Buy camping. I knew they'd be getting a (relatively speaking) crap-ton of systems, and I hadn't heard any stores booting people.
Sometimes, conformity is good. I got my PS3 on Friday ;-).