In The Line of Duty: A PS3 Launch Recap

UPDATE: Apparently, I appeared on Fox News while waiting in line for the PS3. If anyone can find that footage anywhere, please send me the link and I'll be forever appreciative. Thanks!

Now that I've had a chance to catch some ZZZZZ's and mess around with the system, I'm so glad that I waited in line. Originally, I wasn't going to and was going to rely on Randy's willingness to give me one of his pre-orders. He's so nice! In the end, though, I felt bad and decided that the PS3 is one of those systems that actually was worth waiting for. Well, I guess that train of thought wasn't straightforward. Actually, my coworker Ethan checked out the Metreon on Wednesday afternoon and let me know that a line of around 25 people had already formed. With that shocking knowledge, I decided that heading over at 6am Thursday morning probably wouldn't be that great of a decision anymore (Though, a lot of people who did arrive at 6am did get systems, but they were the 20GB ones).



Anyway, Ethan decided to head over at 4pm, which was still a bit shocking for me but I told him that I would probably show up around midnight. At around 7, I called him again and the line had jumped up to around 150 people, which is just plain ridiculous. I actually started to panic a bit and was almost debating not going at all given a rumor that the Metreon was only getting 150 systems. Thinking about it a bit, I convinced myself that the store would have to get at least 200 or so since several Circuit City stores were getting over 100 units. This was the PlayStation store, after all, and they were bound to have the most units of any location.



After grabbing anything edible that wasn't nailed down, I jumped into the car and headed across the bridge to the city. By the time I arrived, the line had swelled to around 250 and I sat down in my portable chair and waited for the long (and cold) night to begin. For about 40mins or so I was actually the last person in line, which worried me a bit. What if there was only going to be 15-200 units and everyone else knew it but me? Should I stay? Fortunately, a few people turned up followed by what would be another 250+ people. I was in good company and in the middle of this amazing line of gamers, ebayers and A/V fans. We were all united in one purpose: Get a PS3 at all costs (oh, and not to let anyone cut in front of us).

While there was obvious turmoil, some rain spells and another line that turned up, everything ended up ok. Sony really did a great job of organizing everyone and the free food was totally great. Starbucks coffee, Mel's burgers, fruit, candy bars and burritos were just some of the things available for us to munch on. Adding on to that were the countless freebies, such as key chains, stickers and bracelets that Sony reps let fly as they walked by. I hate to say it, especially after knowing my wife thinks I'm a total idiot for lining up, but I enjoyed the experience. I don't think I will ever do it again, but I definitely had fun, met some new friends and joined around 700-800 people in a gaming experience that won't easily be forgotten.



The PS3 is finally here, folks, and it's about to usher in a new era of gaming that is sure to full of countless hours of enjoyment and thrills. I'm just glad that I can finally use that HDMI cable I've been storing in my garage for a good purpose and to finally have a console with a purely digital output. My DLP is happy, I'm happy (but tired) and I'm just looking forward to going online and teaming up with some new friends in Resistance for some all-out 40-player battles.

Over the next week, I'll be providing some more insights into my overall thoughts about the system. Is it truly everything a gaming system should be? Well, the A/V snob in my does have some gripes but we'll just have to talk about that at another time. I'm headed to work and a nice cup of coffee.