Playstation 3 madness

John Strother, manager of the El Dorado Wal-Mart Supercenter, is thankful. Unlike dozens of other stores across the country, which were mobbed early Friday morning by people seeking the scarce Playstation 3 game console, his store was relatively quiet.

The El Dorado Supercenter had just 10 units available for purchase, and people began camping outside the store as early as Wednesday evening hoping for a chance to buy one of the much-coveted gaming machines, which promise “cutting edge graphics.”

Just before midnight, Wal-Mart handed out vouchers to the first 10 people in line, all but ensuring an orderly crowd, Strother said.

“We had seats numbered, and they had to stay in those seats,” he said. “We then gave the first 10 a coupon, which they had to present in order to purchase (the Playstation 3). We didn’t have a single problem here.”

Strother said that the Playstation 3, priced at more than $500, definitely ranks at the top of ultra-hot “must have” items this holiday season.

With Sony promising only 400,000 systems for the nationwide launch, the chance of disappointment was high. While retailers tried to keep expectations low, lines snaked around the block at many stores — even those that didn’t begin sales until later Friday.

“It’s what everyone wants,” Strother said of the game system. “People want it not so much for themselves, they want to sell it on eBay it seems.”

A check of the online auction site Friday afternoon showed at least two Playstation 3 units in Smackover. The price? A cool $4,000 for one unit if you use the site’s “Buy It Now” feature. One of the highest “Buy It Now” Playstation 3 prices Friday was a whopping $25,000.

Dr. Marshall Horton, associate professor of economics and finance at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, said the phenomenon surrounding the Playstation 3 launch is known to economists as a “speculative bubble.”

Every year, almost without fail, such bubbles occur when items like the Playstation 3, Tickle Me Elmo or Cabbage Patch Doll became the “it” item for Christmas.

Many who stand in line for days at a time never plan to actually use these items — they only hope to resell them for as much as 100 times the purchase price.

But before you rush out and buy a Playstation 3 with hopes of making three times what you paid for it, Horton said you might want to make other plans.

“Like all of the others, this bubble will surely burst,” he said. “People just better hope they can sell their items at a higher price before it does.”

The Playstation 3 madness came to a head Friday morning in Putnam, Conn., where two armed thugs tried to rob a line of people waiting to buy the game system, according to the Associated Press. At least one man was shot when he refused to give up his money, authorities said.

Another shooting occurred in Lexington, Ky., where police were investigating a drive-by involving BB pellets that peppered four people outside a Best Buy store. Only minor injuries were reported, the AP said.

In Palmdale, Calif., authorities shut down a Wal-Mart Supercenter after several shoppers got rowdy late Wednesday. And in West Bend, Wis., a 19-year-old man was injured when he ran into a pole racing with 50 others for one of 10 spots outside a Wal-Mart.

Hearing reports like this, Strother is happy that things were calm at his El Dorado store Friday morning, but he’s sure this won’t be the last hot item that sends shoppers into a frenzy.

“We had to do this before with things like the new Gameboy or Playstation 2,” said Strother. “And we will be ready again.”
Strother refused to speculate on when the El Dorado Supercenter would receive another shipment of Playstation 3 units. Just don’t expect them anytime before Christmas.