Midnight Best Buy Launch Locations for PS3

If you're on pins and needles looking forward to November 17th, you'll be very interested to know that Kotaku has a list of Best Buy stories opening at Midnight on PS3 launch day. The list of 18 stores allowed to open at the very start of the day comes from what is apparently an internal memo. The other stores are slated to open at 8am, assuming there are no restrictions on the time they can open (if they're in a mall, for example). As a refresher for launch day fans, make sure and check out the list of launch window titles, and the accessories price list.

Comments

That's unfun.

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the fun of a console launch if you don't spend all night urban camping?

PS3 and Wii launch two days apart: That means a 4 day urban uber camping fest (or UUCF for short). An event like this only comes around once in a life time.

Re:That's unfun.

[rudeboy1]

An event like this only comes around once in a life time.

That's a pretty liberal use of the world life there pal...

Re:That's unfun.

[DDLKermit007]

Small difference between the two. A whooooole lota Wiis will be available vs very few PS3s available.

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212

Re:That's unfun.

[Guppy06]

"urban camping"

I don't know about where you're from, but around here we call it "vagrancy."

Consumer campouts

[Mr. Samuel]

Can anybody think of another type of product that people campout to buy? To me this seems like a game console sort of phenomenon, which I find rather odd.

Re:Consumer campouts

[jonwil]

Event tickets for one, people will camp out for days to secure good tickets for big sporting events, concerts etc.

Re:Consumer campouts

[Anonymous Coward]

What are you talking about? I see people sleeping on the streets of Chicago everyday!

Re:Consumer campouts

[Anonymous Coward]

I remember back in the day that people queued outside stores waiting for Windows 95 to be launched. People also queue for sports events and concerts.

Of course, over here in Britian, people have also been known to queue for days waiting for their passports to be granted.

Re:Consumer campouts

[porcupine8]

My dad collects toy cars, and also happens to be a stocker at Wal-Mart, who sells toy cars. It's not exactly camping, but other collectors (well, not so much the collectors as the profiteers who hope to resell on eBay) will show up an hour before the store opens or more if they think there will be anything rare in the day's shipment. Often there will be "special edition" models that come only one to a whole crate of Hot Wheels, and these guys want to be in first to grab that one special edition so they can sell it to the people who didn't get there first. Which, of course, is what a lot of the people first in line for the PS3 are planning.

Re:Consumer campouts

[DrXym]

Hyped Apple / Nintendo / Sony / MS hardware, MS Windows Vista (???), store sales, movies (Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter) etc.

Some people lose all capacity for rational thought when things are hyped. More sensible people sit back and wait for the hype to dissipate and then try to make an objective evaluation once the good, the bad and the ugly are known. If a console really is THAT GOOD, then the chances are that you could walk into any store in several months from now or at any time in the next 5 years and pick one up with no effort at all. And if its THAT BAD well then... you've just saved yourself hundreds of dollars by waiting.

Let the nitwits unwrap their Wii / PS3 on day 1 and discover the thing is broken, or that the online service is borked, or the thing fuses to their carpet, or any number of other things that traditionally occur with new releases. Let them piss and moan that they were scalped on eBay and could have bought 2 or 3 of them if they could wait a few months.

Personally I'd rather wait. There are enough people who can't so let them be guinea pigs.

Re:Consumer campouts

[Shawn is an Asshole]

You live somewhere that has Walmarts that actually close? Where are you? Here (Florida) there's about five Walmarts within 35 miles and they're all 24/7.

Re:Consumer campouts

[gfxguy]

And just out of curiosity, do you think that's bad? I don't do it, and never would, but then again, I don't have the patience of fruit fly...

Which means I wouldn't spend $1.00 more for a console than the going rate, I don't care how long I have to wait. In fact, it'll probably be several years before I buy one, at which point the price will have come down significantly and the library of games will be large.

It's just that if somebody is such an idiot they'd actually pay MORE for an already overpriced console because they have more money than brains and simply can't wait, can't we just let them do it?

Now, your dad's situation is a bit different, as rare toy cars are just that: rare. But in the case of the PS3, it's just people being impatient and getting what they deserved.

The best outcome would be if everybody learned a little patience, and no one would buy from these people at anything but the retail cost of the system. Then they'd be the ones wasting their time and shelling out tons of cash up front for nothing.

Re:Consumer campouts

[doctor_nation]

People camped out for the opening of the Ikea store in Michigan recently. The actual store itself- not something in particular to buy inside. And yes, the store is still there, it wasn't blown up five hours after opening or something.

Re:Consumer campouts

[Anonymous Coward]

Indeed, what sort of people? Must be true nerds... like these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFazQ0yjBbE

Re:Consumer campouts

[Neoprofin]

As a former Target employee, I just want to add that those Hot Wheels collectors had to be the single most annoying people on the planet if not because of their behavior then because of the fact that it was litirally an everyday occurance.
If the sign says (paraphrased) "What we have out is what we have, don't ask, even if we had more we wouldn't bring them out" then why do people ask? If the cars are all neatly hung on their pegs when the store opened, why should their be dozens laying on a pile on the shelf below them five minutes later? If you're a grown adult why are you racing another supposedly grown adult accross half the store in the hopes that you'll be the first to find a rare toy?

That job made me unhappy.

Re:Consumer campouts

[rayde]

in PA i've seen a few Wal*marts that still actually close, but most have transitioned to the 24/7 variety, even the smaller ones.

Re:Consumer campouts

[drinkypoo]

Every Wal-Mart I've ever seen closes - and that's about 30 of the fuckers.

Re:Consumer campouts

[wolrahnaes]

I've only ever seen one 24 hour Wal-Mart.

Re:Consumer campouts

[porcupine8]

I'm not a fan of the artificial scarcity scalpers. I collect Barbies, and this was a big problem in the late 90s when Barbie collecting was somewhat trendy (it's fallen out of fashion a bit since then, although the quality of the dolls has gone way way up).

Back then, the problem was the people who actually worked at places like Target - a new doll would come in, they'd buy as many as their store would let them (often all of them), usually at below retail with an employee discount or something, and then put them on eBay. Now, even the collector editions of Barbie dolls are often not rare. For other doll companies, a Limited Edition is 10,000 or even 5,000 - for Mattel at that time, I believe Limited Edition was 50,000 and Special Edition was 100,000. Collector dolls without a designation might be made in the millions. So there was no scarcity, but the first few weeks a doll came out you could not find it in the stores due to these people, and they'd often make a nice profit on eBay, especially on new collectors who didn't realize there would be a glut of the doll on clearance in six months.

Generally, on the Barbie forums I went to, anyone who admitted to or was "caught" doing this was pretty much shunned. And yes, eventually people wised up, got more patient, realized that these dolls are more likely to go down in value than up, and the scalping dropped off.

I'm with you - as much as I want a Wii, I doubt I'll get one until the price has dropped to $150 tops.

Re:Consumer campouts

[gfxguy]

You also make a good point - the difference between these consoles and the "rare" cars is that keep making more, and often enough they fix problems with the first generation, or they add features... I remember people having to use their PS1 upside down; the PS2 got slimmer... there's just no compelling reason to waste your life camping out for a PS3.

Uh oh...

[Null Nihils]

If you're on pins and needles looking forward to November 17th ...

I bet there's a disparaging joke in there, but I'm sure there must be some people out there who want to rootkit -- er, root -- for Sony's new console. In the name of fairness, wii all should give the P$3 the benefit of the DRM^H^H^H doubt, despite the large price tag and dubious overall entertainment value... to say nothing of Sony's utter contempt for the consumer...

So yeah! Go PlayStation 3!

Re:Uh oh...

[Mr. Samuel]

I bet there's a disparaging joke in there, but I'm sure there must be some people out there who want to rootkit -- er, root -- for Sony's new console. In the name of fairness, wii all should give the P$3 the benefit of the DRM^H^H^H doubt, despite the large price tag and dubious overall entertainment value... to say nothing of Sony's utter contempt for the consumer...

P$3? Oh, yeah, I forgot, only Sony is in the video game business to make money. The other corporations wish to entertain us because it makes their shareholders warm and fuzzy. Give me a break! Or was the point that Sony's console costs too much money? Then

• don't buy it

!

Yeah, Sony has done some bad stuff. Microsoft does bad stuff. I'm sure if we dig deep enough, we'll find a case for Nintendo doing bad stuff (although, to be fair, likely not on the same level). So what? Are you so passionate about making sure that people don't buy the game console you hate that you need to make this off-topic comment? And on top of that, what has Nintendo done for you personally that causes you to become their unpaid billboard? It's highly unlikely you've gotten your hands on either product yet. If you put your faith, trust and energy in a corporation, you'll most certainly find it misplaced down the road.

Good grief people, it's just video games!

Re:Uh oh...

[Anonymous Coward]

Bull!

The DS in Nintendo DS stands for DEAD SOULS.. Why? Because the Nintendo DS is powered by the SOULS OF DEAD BABIES!!

Re:Uh oh...

[Null Nihils]

  (^_^) -  -         <-- Joke

   ,,,,
  (> < )             <-- You (put a shirt on, please!)
   \o /
  /. . \
/ |.  |  \
   || |
   || |

These diagrams never get old, I tell ya.

Re:Uh oh...

[Bob_Geldof]

No wonder I like it so much, and it looks like someone shrunk my MacBook. Where's Wayne Szalinski? I need to shake his hand.

Re:Uh oh...

[Trogre]

Well maybe some people want a controller that doesn't care about the rooms lighting conditions and games that aren't regionalised. Or enough computing power to actually render decent games.

Just a guess but I'd say after the Wii is released there will be even more people queuing up for the PS3.

And then what?

[realinvalidname]

Maybe they chose 18 stores because they've been told to only expect 18 units to sell, and they want to spread the love.

--realinvalidname

Re:And then what?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe they chose 18 stores because they've been told to only expect 18 units to sell, and they want to spread the love.

Do people really still believe things like this? I mean, obviously it's a slight exaggeration. But do that many people think that the PS3 won't do well? Come on... of course everyone here has read all the Sony screw ups and missteps and what nots. But what about Joe Consumer that tells Mommy and Daddy that he has to have the new Playstation to stay cool in school. Or Billy Bad Ass Frat Boy that just MUST have the newest console so he and his buddies can sit around their filthy frat house or apartment playing video games all day because they're awesome?

Those people very likely do not read Slashdot. They may not even know much of the internet or news or information outside of email forwards and Myspace bulletins.

It will sell. And it will definitely do well. Even if Sony just takes a dump in a box and ships it out... people will still buy it.

Re:And then what?

[realinvalidname]

Do people really still believe things like this? I mean, obviously it's a slight exaggeration. But do that many people think that the PS3 won't do well?

Of course, they'll sell what they have. I'm saying that they've screwed up so badly, they have far too few to sell. They've gone from 2 million units promised for launch day to 500,000... actually, that's not even right, because Japan's gone from 100,000 to 80,000. And it costs too much. And both of these can be blamed on a certain white elephant of a feature. Or, more accurately, a "Blu" one.

Remember how the original PlayStation was praised for its laser-focus on games and not education or movies (um, hello, CD-i)? Well, they seem to have forgotten that in the last 10 years. The PlayStation brand still has hardcore fans who will clear out the initial shipment in minutes, but I think Sony has pushed a lot of fence-sitters into the 360 and Wii camps.

Re:And then what?

[FatherOfONe]

"I think Sony has pushed a lot of fence-sitters into the 360 and Wii camps."

Really. From where I sit there are a few types of people that buy consoles.

1. Nintendo fans - The 10 and under crowd. They love Mario and want a system that they know their young kids will play. These people have no intention of buying a $500 PS3 or even a $300 PS3.

2. XBOX fans - They already bought a 360 and given that less than 10 million sold with a year head start this console looks bleak at best. Unfortunately for Microsoft they are the middle child in this race. They don't have the kids games and they don't have the power/storage of the PS3. I would argue that a lot of these fans will also buy a PS3, but it will be late next year, and they are waiting on a price drop.

3. Sony Fans - They will buy the PS3 at $1,500. However, how many will do that remains a question. Currently it appears that a ton want to, given the prices on Ebay. However, Sony is due to produce 6 million consoles by March of 2007, and their game lineup looks strong. The big question is this. After the 6 million units are sold will the average family drop $500 on a PS3? Time will tell, but these initial fans don't mind waiting until after Christmas to get the PS3, they see it as a value and want "the best console".

4. Budget gamers - These people says things like "My kid won't be getting a XYZ console if it cost $300+ dollars. Well, they fall in to the PS2 camp then. That console is at $130 now and has a ton of games for it. Heck it is still the number one selling console out and probably will be the number one selling console again this Christmas. Yes I know that the Wii is $250, but by the time you add up another controller and games you are over the $300 mark.

5. Every console buyers- these guys will buy every console, and probably have a PC with at least a $500 to $800 video card(s) in it. These guys generally trash the PS3 price but yet have no problem spending $800 on a new video card just to play Oblivion. These guys are few and far between but they are there. They will buy the Wii this Christmas, trash the PS3 and Sony, then buy one with MGS4 or Vision GT next year.

So the way I see it, those that want a PS3 this year and until March will be the type 3 people mentioned above. They will not buy a Wii or a 360. Will there be enough of them to sell 6 million units at $500 to $600 a piece? Well the research done has shown that there is demand for $8 million PS3's at it's current price point, so it looks like Sony will be good for their 6 million. Will Sony lower the price by next Christmas? Well they have shown that they are willing to do that by the price drop in Japan, so I would say definitely. So when the real battle begins next Christmas you could have the Nintendo at $250, and the 360 somewhere in the middle and the PS3 one price drop away from making the 360 irrelevant.

I would say that Microsoft has a lot to worry about.

Re:And then what?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think Sony has pushed a lot of fence-sitters into the 360 and Wii camps.

Well, anyone pushed into the 360 camp should already have bought one... doesn't make sense to wait all this time and then buy one with no price drop, especially when you were waiting for a PS3 in the first place. So that's pretty much nobody.

As for the Wii-- that probably is a real danger for Sony. Those things are not priced like toys, $250 to start, $60 for extra controllers, $50 for games, memory cards, etc... that kind of price tag will eat deep into the PS3 fund of that fence-sitter.

Re:And then what?

[thatguywhoiam]

Remember how the original PlayStation was praised for its laser-focus on games and not education or movies (um, hello, CD-i)? Well, they seem to have forgotten that in the last 10 years. The PlayStation brand still has hardcore fans who will clear out the initial shipment in minutes, but I think Sony has pushed a lot of fence-sitters into the 360 and Wii camps.

Agree completely on fence-sitters. However I think one detail you neglected to mention is, during the '10 years' where they supposedly forgot their focus on games, was the PS2, the most successful console of all time (save perhaps the GameBoy). And a large part of that was the DVD playing features.

Not so sure Bluray will turn out to be the white elephant everyone on slashdot says it is. The developers sure seem happy about it. I've seen what they were able to do with high-res textures for the PS3 version of Oblivion and it is remarkable. But the cost is significant, I agree. I suppose we shall see if that market exists now - it sure didn't when NeoGeo tried it.

Re:And then what?

[CaseM]

Or you could be completely fucking wrong on every count. Who knows?

Re:And then what?

[FatherOfONe]

"Or you could be completely fucking wrong on every count. Who knows?"

Couldn't you say that about every comment every made? Even the one you just made.

Where's the professionalism?

[brandonlp]

So wait... the text in that article explaining which stores are opening is supposed to be straight from the corporate mouth of Best Buy? There is no way that they would be saying "that'll" "won't" and inconsistently using phrases such as "unless prohibited by law or landlord situations" vs "unless prohibited by landlord situations". That is unless they have their janitor do their memos.

Re:Where's the professionalism?

[thebdj]

Because, the "unless prohibited by law or landlord situations" applies to the Wii launch. Please note that the Wii launch is on a Sunday. In many states, particularly the south, there are laws in place that only apply to the Sunday opening of stores. Actually, it is very rare, if not unheard of, for such laws during the rest of the week; however, it is actually somewhat common in some parts of the country to have laws prohibiting stores from opening before a certain time on Sunday.

Also, this notion of contractions being unprofessional is somewhat laughable. It should be noted, there are a great many people in the current generation who do not learn about this. It is a given for technical writing but an engineers writing isn't exactly the best anyway.

Re:Where's the professionalism?

[8Complex]

In my personal experience, the Marketing Manager who writes these types of memos tend to have the spelling and grammar level of a 5th grader.

SNORRRREEEEE!!!1 (n/t)

[Mateo_LeFou]

i said (n/t)

Not enough to go around

[cdneng2]

I hope that Best Buy has they courtesy to tell people their inventory... so if they have 10 PS3s in stock, they will tell the 11th person to go home. They probably won't, as they will take the opportunity to milk as much as they can from the press of it. How ironic. The lack of PS3s out there will most likely drive people to pick up a Wii or a 360.

Re:Not enough to go around

[Anonymous Coward]

so if they have 10 PS3s in stock, they will tell the 11th person to go home.

Err, what if the 8th person in line's credit card is declined? I can see maybe everyone after the 20th person going home, but if your within 5-10 of the max number, then it could well worth your while to stick around "just in case".

Re:Not enough to go around

[Anonymous Coward]

Err, what if the 8th person in line's credit card is declined?

Then #8 will club #11 and steal their ps3.

Re:Not enough to go around

[Anonymous Coward]

You would think that you would wait in line and not have enough money for a PS3?

Richfield, MN BB site

[British]

Lolz. Last winter I went there in the evening and after I bought my goods, I decided to stand outside and have a cigarette. I noticed 2 teenagers there sitting on chairs. They mistakened me for being fellow Xbox 360 campers. Might be a good photo opportunity for your blogger, considering it's near the heardquarters.

No Wii Midnight madness? :(

[Frag-A-Muffin]

If you actually RTFA and look at the scan of the memo, you'll notice at the bottom, there's no intentions for a midnight opening for the Wii launch? What's up with that?!

This seems silly as I would assume there'd be a lot more Wiis to go around to actually make a launch party fun, as opposed to fustrating and violent as I forsee the PS3 midnight launch.

Makes no sense to me.

"We" will not be dissuaded!

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

[b]Manager:[/b] Ok, Joseph, it's midnight. Open the doors and let them in.

[b]Joseph:[/b] Sure... (click, crowd rushes in)

[b]Joseph:[/b] Ok, sir. What would you like?

[b]Customer #1:[/b] I'd like to buy a wii.

List Confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that reading this list as a list of town names is wrong. For example, store 291 (Galleria, TX) most likely refers to the Galleria Mall in Dallas, TX. The best way to find out where the PS3 will really be launching is to look up those store numbers on Best Buy's web site.

morons

[the dark hero]

the only people i've seen excited (and lining up) are those that believe statements like "The P$3 will replace the home computer", the "madden"/sports crowd and lower middle class teenagers that somehow have $600 to throw away.

Why can't stores get this excited about the Wii. Do they still view all nintendo products as "kiddie?"

Re:morons

[brkello]

*sigh* I really don't understand this attitude on Slashdot. Because someone is a fan of a different console you think they are a moron. You sit there and stereotype people who would want one: "madden/sports crowd and lower middle class teenagers that somehow have $600 to throw away". Yet freak out when they label people who like Nintendo games as "kiddie".

I find it telling that people on here are just attacking consoles and ignoring the games. Games are what make the console. Yet instead of arguing the merits of one game vs another, you attack the company (arrogant), their practices (rootkits), and their decisions (blu-ray, price, lack of rumble). It's very telling that it is just bias and rampant fanboyism on here. I think it is this groupthink that holds Slashdot from being taken seriously. Rather than arguing any sort of cohesive point, you just say "I am going to buy a Wii because it is cheaper and Sony is evil" and you get modded up. We positively reinforce people we agree with rather than modding them appropriately. That's why all you see are positive posts about Nintendo. We mod to oblivion anyone who likes the playstation and thus lack any interesting debates. It just feeds on itself. Turn off more people with counter views and bring in more morons that parrot what the majority is saying. It's a true flaw with Slashdot (and any site with forums with moderation I would imagine). We just don't get the whole picture. If you stayed in here you would think everyone runs Linux on apples and own everything with the word Nintendo on it.

The Wii DOES offer some cool new possibilities. Don't get me wrong...I can see why people are excited about it. But you have to understand there are counter views out there. From the videos I have seen, a lot of the games look incredibly stupid. They may well be a blast to play, but it is just visually jarring to play some games where it looks like you are controlling the AOL logo. Clearly, there are games that look amazing on there (I was particularly impressed with Zelda). We all know that graphics has nothing to do with gameplay. But Wii sports just looks like it was thrown together by amateurs. These are more of a demo to show the capabilities of the controller, but it reflects poorly on the console and reinforces the image that it isn't for adults. I don't care if their ads show a bunch of hot 20 somethings looking like they are having fun playing it...it just isn't appealing. And you have to laugh when you see the muscular "cool" guy playing metroid and making it seem so intense. Or the guy playing Red Steel and then meditating afterwards because he killed a guy with his sword. Just sillyness.

In any case, just drop the bias and let other people with valid opinions to live here as well. I am sure stores are excited about the Wii...if they aren't, if sales do well, they will get excited fast. Unfortunately just because the vocal majority on here sings the praises of the Wii it does not mean that this is true with the majority of gamers. Time will tell. Please, just stop being a jerk about it.

Re:morons

[the dark hero]

Now, i think you're adding way too many negative connnotations to my words. I only stated what i've seen in the lines. Not much room for bias. Stereotypes (although i hate to admit) come from somewhere. We don't have prejudice in this world for things people don't do. I'm a minority. I've been a geek all my life. So don't you tell me about bias or stereotyping because i've known th ugly face of prejudice for many years.

I'm a fan of videogames and to tell you the truth, i'm not impressed with what the PS3 has to offer. Just because an avatar may be "cute" doesn't make it kiddie. An iron-clad warrior with a huge grimace and an even huger gun doesn't necessarily scream "adult." When i was a kid the latter appealed to me a lot more. Just sit on that...and ignore the rude posts of nintendo fanboyism.

I call shenanigans on the list

[Anonymous Coward]

It mentions Supersitition Springs, AZ (actually the SS Mall in Mesa, AZ) as a midnight site. That is one of the less busy Best Buys in metro Phoenix... it's in a retirement community... I would have found the list far more credible if it had listed the massive Ahwatukee store, or Fiesta Mesa, or the Chandler Fashion Center site in rich-white-suburbanland, or well ANY of the Scottsdale locations... et cetera.

Who's this guy? Axl Rose?

[DRAGONWEEZEL]

Come on... this is the new millenium. Generation |V [] \v/ we need to have things instantly delivered!

Re: Elmo campouts

[displague]

I was listening to NPR this morning and they had a story about Tickle-Me Elmo Extreme dolls selling out in Texas before the store opened because they handed out makeshift place coupons to the people that camped out. Some people purchased them for resale on e-bay. One woman had driven 300 miles from Mexico to find out that they were all sold out when she arrived at opening - had she known they would be camping out she would have done so too.

So, Mr. Samuel, it's not strictly a game console phenomenon.