The line goes on forever, and the
console never comes... - October
26, 2000 - Chris Jones
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed
within this column are those of the participants and the
moderator, and do not necessarily reflect those of the
GIA. There is coarse language and potentially offensive
material afoot. 500,000 consoles at $300 a pop equals... well, more than
the GNP of France, most likely...
Don't say we didn't warn you.
Here's my personal PS2 launch day story:
Set the alarm for 6am after having gone to sleep at 2 (my usual
bedtime) the previous
night. The alarm went off, and I woke up, crawled over to where the alarm
was, and wondered for a moment if the PS2 could possibly be worth
another four hours of sleep.
Had a good laugh about it. Went back to bed. The end.
Onward.
| 'Twas the night before
PSX-mas... |
| Hey, Mr. Jones-
I personally don't have a PS2 story; however, I have one about my roommate
here in good ol' Austin.
My roommate decides to purchase a PS2 at one of the larger stores that does
not take pre-orders (i.e. Wal-Mart, Target, etc...). However, at Wal-Mart
at 5 PM, there is a line of approximately 45 people, so he decides to head
to Best Buy. At Best Buy, the line outside stretches well into the parking lot (my roommate says he could hear kids and their moms kicking and screaming for places in line). Unfettered by the disappointingly long lines, my roommate heads to the CompUSA nearby and finds that, lo and behold, there is no one in line (at 5:30 no less)! So, he (and the friend who drove him around) are first and second in line for the PS2, respectively. They decide to crack out the books and study (well, try to) while they're waiting. For an hour or two, they assume that the CompUSA will stay open till midnight. When the store closes at 9 PM, they look at each other (and the other 15 or so people in line look at each other) and ask the store manager, "Hey, um, what the hell is going on?" (the language was slightly more colorful). The manager, a gruff mid-thirties gentleman, tells them they'll have to sleep overnight and buy a PS2 when the store opens in the morning. So, my roommate decides to brave it and sleep there tonight.
.
.
.
He just called here about 5 minutes ago to check answers on some Electrical
Engineering homework, and he tells me he is being thoroughly entertained by
the highly inebriated (or as some would say,drunk off their asses) folks also
waiting in line, mumbling incoherently about how John Madden could beat up Pat
Summerall in a Celebrity Deathmatch and other nonsense.
Either way, I can't wait till tomorrow morning. He bought Tekken Tag
and Madden 2001. Too bad there are no RPG's to stir my interest for the
PS2. Of course, my GPA is glad for the RPG deficiency.
Well, that's my lil' anecdote.
-Gizmo
P.S. I did some quick research, and the band names "Free Radicals," "The Culture," and "Opus" are already taken. Hope AK didn't have his eye set on one of those. Then again, Nirvana was the name of a 60's English band long before the Seattle trio took the name...
|
A friend of mine pointed out today that with all the hype the PS2's
been getting, you'd think it was Star Wars 2 or something. But as far
as I'm concerned, you've got the right idea... sit back at home and let
somebody else wait in line all night, so you can be amused by the wacky
stories and reap the benefits of their work.
And should AK need some more suggestions, I'm always available, but
at this point I'm just surprised there weren't more of those names
already in use.
| Hard day's night |
| Well Chris, here I sit, staring at my brand new PS2. My back hurts. My
eyes burn, and I'm tired beyond all mortal comprehension, but I have a
PS2...
My day started at 2am on the 25th. I couldn't sleep, so I rearranged the
entertainment center in preparation for it's new centerpiece. Several
hours pass, and now I'm at the closest 24-hour Wal~Mart. It's 11am, and
I'm in the electronics department, asking about how they're going to
handle the release. They tell me to wait in the layaway department, as
that is where the PS2s were to be distributed, at one minute after
midnight on the 26th....
So I go and I wait, and employees come by, and some laugh at what I'm
willing to do, while others cheer me on. An hour passes, and now there
are five of us waiting, and engaging in wonderful gaming conversation.
We became instant friends, as if we'd known each other for years.
Warriors, unwilling to give in to weakness. We stood for 6 hours, while
the grouping of people got bigger, and bigger...
Once we numbered 20 and filled an entire double-wide aisle, someone in
management decided to give us chairs, and donuts, very nice. We had, on
our own, started numbering people on the hand with a pen, so then we
were a bit more free to roam about and eat, use the restroom, or
whatever. We were comfortable enough with each other that quite a
gamer's bond had developed. We knew we could venture off, and trust the
others not to try and screw us out of a system...
About 2 hours before midnight, we numbered 70, and a news crew showed up
to film us. Because I was the first person there, hand emblazoned with a
large 1, I got quite a bit of airtime. 15 minutes of fame indeed. Rather
awesome...
Eventually, the group formed a line, and right on schedule the systems
were handed out, people paid, no one argued and everything was handled
in a civilized manner. People shook hands with their newfound friends,
exchanged email addresses, and that was that. Honestly, even if I hadn't
gotten a system, it was a damn fun experience. I can only hope it was
that pleasant for everyone.
Yeah Jay, fat chance...
~Jason |
I salute your dedication to gaming, sir, and hope that the actual
box proves as interesting as the anticipation. Of course, not everybody
was so lucky...
| Rage |
| Chris,
Don't even MENTION Wal-Mart. I'm so pissed off at them I wanna spit. And
then break the windows on their managers' cars before setting fire to
their corporate office. You see, they lied to me. "Playstation 2 sales
begin at 7 AM, first come first served." Alright. I'd show up early, get
in line, and wait.
But oh no, kismet was not so kind. For by 6:10, Wal-Mart had already
SOLD every single PS2 they had in stock. Had they actually followed
their own bloody corporate policy, I would be sitting, right now as I
type this, with a glorious PS2 connected to my television (not that I'd
be typing this if I had actually gotten the machine). I would have been
one of the lucky 500,000 to own a PS2 on October 26th. But no,
Wal-Mart's corporate lies and machinations prevented me from partaking
of this joyous occasion, and I'm pissed somethin' fierce.
I suggest that gamers nationwide stand up to this type of shabby
corporate treatment. It pisses me off--as it's pissed many others
off--that when the management says, "We'll begin selling at 7," they
really actually mean "We'll begin selling at 6, but you're too stupid to
realize it." Hell, even my mom's pissed, and she doesn't even play video
games.
What's the moral of the story? Remember, kids, always slash the tires of
Wal-Mart managers who do you wrong.
-Matt Blackie |
Dude, that sucks. You have my condolences. There are a couple of
things I could point out, such as the fact that 6:10's not really
"early" for a 7am start time, and you might want to make sure that
the "manager" you talked to was actually a member of the governing
clique and not some high school dropout... but chances are the person
you talked to was a manager, and they told you 6am would be plenty
early. Sorry dude, maybe you can be one of the many picking up a
Dreamcast or Zelda as a consolation prize.
| The promised land |
|
My experience purchasing the Playstation2 was thus:
About a week and a half ago, I wandered into one of the many, many stores in
my area which had an ample supply of PS2s for sale, gave them my credit card,
and walked out with a PS2. No lines, no waiting, no problem. The choice of
store was meaningless - it was a video game specialty shop, but at least four
other stores within five minutes of that one (three of which were convenience
stores) had PS2s for sale, and games, and controllers, and everything else I
could want.
Heaven? No. Just Japan. And I'm not writing this because I want to rub it
in anyone's face, but to point out how strange it is that Sony has this major
shortage in the US and a surplus over here.
Of course, it's not simply a matter of diverting hardware to the US, since
the two systems are too different. It just makes you wonder.
Chris Kohler
|
Hmmm... interesting. The system's about 7 months old over there, I
believe, and they're already at the point where there's a decent
inventory in the stores. Of course, the US has a population more than
twice as big, and we got a smaller launch order to boot, but it
wouldn't surprise me to see a decent supply on the store shelves by
this coming summer. My main question at this point is how happy the
Japanese really are with the system now that it's been out a while,
and how happy we 'uns here in the US'll be when the initial euphoria
runs out, say around January or so.
| An unqualified rave |
|
Hallo Mister Agent Sir -
Well, since 9am this morning I have been the proud owner of a
PS2. My housemate has booted me off of it because I beat him
too hard a Time Splitters, and he wants to practice. I would just
like to say that pre-ordering this thing in March and paying in full for
it a month ago was well worth it. I giggle at the framerate in TS,
and can't stop smiling when I play Smuggler's Run. TTT is equally
impressive, and I think this thing lives up to the hype pretty well. I
just can't wait for the second- third-generation games to come out;
if the launch titles look like this...hoo boy. Anyway, I got to point
and laugh at all of the people fighting for 14 PS2's in KMart this
morn, while I got the first of the 48 (for 105 preorders) at my local
EB, and frankly I am in heaven. Long live Sony!!
Now, back to TS...
Peace, Love, and Grease, people -
Pikafoo |
This is one of the few absolute raves I got about the system
today... but I got few enough descriptions of any kind about the
system, actually. I suppose most folks are plugged in too deep at this
point to worry about stuff like letter writing, but when y'all unplug
if you'd care to confirm or deny the above report, I'd love to hear
about it.
| Wise of him not to sign
his name... |
| well, my feeling is that if you are obsessed with it, then you
pre-ordered when you were first able to pre-order. that is what i did,
and it payed off nicely.
if you are waiting in front of a best buy, my idea is taht you are a
bandwagon jumper. i guess there is nothing wrong with that, but there
better be some weird japanese games for ps2, and not mass-appeal
titles, or i'll resort to importing drica games.
i DID have some post launch antics though. i got my ps2 at 8am, and i
knew best buy was opening at 10. i felt like being a prick, so i drove
by best buy which opened at 10 while holding my ps2 up to the window.
i think i got the middle finger from all 200 people standing in line.
the length of the lines was almost unreal. well, i'm glad i am 16, and
am able to be a childish bastard every once in a while.
by the way, the ps2 is good.
|
Kind of an annoying attitude you got there, but I guess it's a case
of if you got it, flaunt it. I don't think the people in line were so
much bandwagon jumpers as much as people who just aren't in the loop
as much, tho. It's been going on 2 years since I heard about the
system, but a lot of well meaning folks probably've heard about it
only since the Japanese launch... believe it or not, that's probably
the way Sony marketing actually prefers it. Meantime, don't be
surprised if irate PS2 non-owners end up slashing your car tires
tomorrow morning.
| Insanity |
| Chris
I've already seen PS2's going for $1400 on E-Bay. That's frickin'
insane!
-Agent X "it's madness i tell you...madness!!" |
Arrgh... E-Bay. I completely forgot about the hoarding aspect... I could
have put down multiple preorders back in Austin, had friends pick them up,
and sold a plethora of systems with plenty of profit to spare. If only my
sense of avarice were stronger, I could have funded my gaming habit for
months to come by gouging helpless soccer moms desperate to get their kids
the perfect Christmas present. Ah well, there's always the Game Cube
launch...
| Get some rest...
you're earned it |
| I drove to Target (in the rain) at 12:30 am. Then I stood there (in the
rain, at times, fortunately it was mostly dry) for 7 1/2 hours. Then I
bought a Playstation 2. Sadly, by this point I was so tired I didn't
even remember to buy an S-Video cable, and the Target I was at did not
have Kessen, which upset me. I do have a PS2, though, so I am happy.
And now I am going to pass out. Good night.
Yogurtman |
Enjoy, regardless... although it'll probably just kill you when the
rest of us can just walk into a store and get one a hundred bucks cheaper
with no waiting in about a year.
| Remember kids, if pro
athletes do it, it can't be bad |
| Chrissiepoo,
I was watching a commercial on t.v. and I noticed something that deeply
puzzled me. I was wondering if you could possibly explain this odd
occurance. Well, this has nothing to do with the PS2 but read it anyways
and prove you have a life! The commercial was for EA Sports and depicted
football players slamming each other to the ground, boxers bashing blood
from each other's mouth, and hockey players pummeling other hockey players
into the walls of the ice rink. The end of the commercial is what got me
thinking. It said, "Rated E for Everyone." After seeing the screen shots
in the commercial I became confused. But....aren't sports all about
violence basically? I mean, you buy an RPG rated M for Mature because of
"mild animated violence" which is most of the time just beating up monsters
like Wild Arms 2. And here you see guys...and sometimes girls...beating the
crap out of each other for no good reason except to win. What the hell is
wrong with this society?? Could you please explain this bazarr
phenomenon?
~Fallen Angel Id~ |
Don't look to me for explanations, man... It probably has something to
do with the fact that playing sports is supposed to be better for you than
playing video games. Funny thing about that is that most of the serious
gamers I knew as a kid ended up with much better jobs and much richer
personalities than the people who were good at sports... but I've probably
been brainwashed by Mario or some such thing. Maybe if I go beat up a few
people for real in a hockey game, it'll all become clear to me... I'll let
you know.
| Ilogical, Doctor |
| There's a fairly large hole in your logic regarding the likelihood of
Dragon Quest VII being uncensored. Yes, weird games are being brought over
by someone, but that doesn't make much of a difference--the question is, how
well are these weird games *selling*? I don't have the sales figures on me,
so for all I know Incredible Crisis could be burning up the charts. But if
games chock full of Japanese weirdness sell poorly in general, then it might
make solid business sense for Enix to gouge away at DQVII.
--
"I'm on the side that's got butter on it, I am."--Jack Frost
Nich Maragos |
I'd say my logic's soft, but not necessarily swiss cheese. If gamers
are staying away in droves from anything even remotely Japanese, then
yeah, that's probably a sign that companies should avoid trying such
things in the future. But as long as such games make even just below
average sales, I don't think correlation can be proved. Besides, it's
something of a moot point - I think we tend to forget how fundamentally odd
games like Mario were once, but there's no question that the US has
embraced Mario as much as anyone.
And then there's the question of how "Japanese" DQ7 really is. I'm
fairly familiar with the points of contention in the game (as is Nich), and I don't
think there's anything there that we haven't seen before in other RPGs.
The real question is, how different are the play styles? Good or
bad, there's no question that the Square-style RPG has become dominant in
the US over the past couple of years, and although FF's done very well in
Japan as well, DQ's success should indicate that the old style is still
viable over there, and perhaps over here as well. I honestly don't know how
well DQ7 would play on American shores (tho I suspect not well) but still,
with FF7 and 8 both selling a million+ copies apiece in the US, I'd think
it'd be in Enix's best interests to try.
| He's right, I deserve
this |
| ". . .And please, do me a favor: I'm pretty familiar with the complete works
of all of the above authors, so don't send me an email saying "Hey, did you
know that Ender's Game has a sequel called Speaker for the
Dead/Xenocide/Children of the Mind/Ender's Shadow?" Thanks, and enjoy."
Hey, did you know that Ender's Game and their sequels has a sequel called
Shadow of the Hegemon coming out in January? (sorry, you asked for this
one)
Derek |
I went to all the trouble of listing every Ender book I could think of,
but forgot that Ender's Shadow was the first part of a new trilogy. I
deserved that. Good call.
Other people pointed out a few other books they thought should have
gone on the list, like Hyperion or Snow Crash, but I frankly don't think
Hyperion ends as well as it should've, and just about everyone who ever
asked me for a recommendation had already read Snow Crash. As for other
books, that list was just a starter set - I fully encourage people to get
out there and research what they might like for themselves.
| I scoff at your PS2!
Scoff, I say! Scoff! |
| Chris,
I refuse to conform to your so-called "topic". As far as I'm concerned, the PS2 is not very important, having been awakened by the merry FedEx lady wielding my new Zelda game. Funny how one can sleep through an extremely loud alarm set for a 10am class, but the ever-so-quiet door knock has me up and at the door in 2 seconds flat.
So what I'd like to do is discuss the sheer excellence of this game and my sheer anger at my more rational side. From what I've played in the game, I can only say one thing: Wow. If you weren't convinced by the screenshots and movies before the release, just playing the game will do the job. Very consuming. Which brings me to my second point: maybe the game was too consuming. Having two term papers due in about two weeks, I gave the cart to my friend, with explicit instructions to not give it back to me until I can give him two drafts. Bah! Why does school always get in the way?
PS2's got nothing on this game! Nintendo is back in my good graces.
------
Ed Ruane |
The question of how much of this letter is valid truth and how much is
sour grapes isn't one that can be easily answered... which is why I'm
turning it over to you guys.
Closing Comments:
Yep, tomorrow's free topic Friday, and you're free to write
whatever you want... but if you're so inclined, it might be
interesting to compare and contrast Zelda and the PS2. One's a solid
instantiation of one of the greatest game series of all time, the
other's a harbinger for when games get truly mainstream and
ubiquitous. Email me with whatever's on your mind, but remember, it's always
nice to see a little blood flow. See you tomorrow.
-Chris Jones, may someday get
to play a video game again, himself |
