Episode 16 - PlayStation Launch That Wasn’t

Its 2AM. I just got back from the Target in Brooklyn. I was working the PS3 Launch event that didn't happen.

The goal was this: At 10PM the first 380 people in the line (that had been there for days) would get Dog Tags Identifying them as people who would be allowed to get consoles when the store opened at 8AM. Once the tags were acquired they would have their photos taken (to make sure no had their tag stolen) and they would be allowed into a small city of tents. On top of that, people who were inline and were not guaranteed a PS3 would also be allowed into this area, which was in a courtyard in front of the mall.

There were 12 consoles on hand. 11 of them with games that people would be allowed play in 10min bursts. And one was in a huge tent showing Talladega Nights, Click, and Monster House on loop all on Blu-Ray of course. There was also going to be a small Guitar Hero 2 Show... they had a stage and everything. On top of all that they had a PS3 That they were auctioning off every hour between midnight and 7AM. This would have been an awesome time especially for people who had been camping out.

Unfortunately lots of rain, wind, and a flash flood warning caused them to shut down. All that electricity plus all the water didn't mix very well. Everything was closed off and started to get broken down.

Instead at 10pm they did the tag and picture thing and told everyone to just come back at 8am and line up again. They would have the master list and they would get their PS3s. Kind of a bummer. It would have been a lot of fun.

You may be asking, why even do the dog tag thing? Just keep them waiting until the store opened… like everywhere else. The problem was this. At 9pm-ish some of the people towards the back were getting routy. Somehow the line found out that there were only 380, and there were well over 500 people I’d say. The police were called. And it was decieded that it would be safer to make them go and come back in the morning.

I did walk away with a Call of Duty 3 shirt, and a Guitar Hero 2 hat, so it wasn’t a total loss. Oh, and Click on Blu-Ray.

I left at 1am once all the tags were given out. I’m due back there at 8.

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Its now 3:25pm. I did in fact write the above at 2am, and almost posted it, and I’m glad I didn’t, because the grammar was horrid. I bought a disposable camera and took some pictures this morning; I’ll add them to the bottom of this post tomorrow.

This morning went off without a hitch… pretty much. I got to the Target at 7:45 and they had decided to start letting people with tags into the store. 15 at a time only. I wasn’t able to get in there because it was pretty crazy. First line of defense was they checked the tags. They were numbered. In a file people were matching the numbers to the persons Photo id and Polaroid. Once everything matched they could go in and that persons file was set aside, so they couldn’t come back through again. Good thinking. Cause they caught a guy trying to do that.

There was also a situation where a guy claimed he was given a pink plastic bracelet instead of a dog tag. He says they ran out last night. Yeah, they ran out because there were no more PS3s. Needless to say he didn’t get one.

While the crew and I broke the rest of the tents down and loaded up some trucks we discovered a whole box of giveaway stuff that was never given. It was pretty sweet. I ended up with Madden 07 and Tiger Woods 07… both for the PS3. I also grabbed some more Guitar Hero hats, because they were throwing them out.

I think my favorite moment was when I was loading a box truck with the Guitar Hero stage some guy asked me if wanted to buy his PS3. He had a 60gig and was asking 2 thousand for it. A nice prophet to say the least. I jokingly asked if he took credit cards. He said, “no but I can do PayPal.”

It’s really too bad this event didn’t happen. Reading now about some of the terrible stuff that went on while people waited for PS3’s (BB gun drive by, store workers mocking the line sitters, cars getting broken into…) this would have been one of the best launch parties. It would have been nice to see what some of the games looked like, and it would have been nice to get my hands on some of these games, as I have yet to play the PS3.

But, don’t mess with mothernature. One guy called the storm last night “Hurricane Microsoft.” I laughed.

Again, I promise I’ll have those pictures by tomorrow… well… I’ll try.