Wii and PS3 Camp-Out Guide 120
An anonymous reader writes "A Wordpress blogger wrote up a guide to camping out on launch day. From the article: 'This is a download of my experience of over twenty-plus years of gaming and having been a part of six console launch days. No, I've never had to stand on line without knowing that my system was reserved. But I've spoken to enough people and accumulated enough knowledge to share. And with that said, here's my list of guidelines to insure that your camp-out in front of Best Buy, Target, Circuit City or Toys R Us is safe and not in vain.' Good luck to all the readers waiting outside for a PS3 or Wii next week." A lot of it is common-sense, but he has some good advice on pre-planning.
ps3 (Score:5, Funny)
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Eventually, someone comes along and sees "PS3 for $785, 35 bidders" and bids higher to try and win it
Next, there's the "I don't really want t
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And from Ebay:
Does anyone need to camp out for the Wii? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Does anyone need to camp out for the Wii? (Score:5, Insightful)
My plan is to show up at walmart at 6:30 or 7:00 sunday morning because they open at 8:00; if I can't get one there I will move to Super Store which opens at 9:30, if I cant get one there I will move to futureshop which opens at 11:00. I expect that at one of my stops I will get a Wii but I'm prepared to go hunting for one.
As I see it the worst case scenerio is that I will get one in the second shipment
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Just as long as you're not desperate enough to go hunting with a rifle. :)
My friends stayed out for the PS3/Wii preorders at Toys 'R Us and it got pretty hectic. Makes for an interesting story when they come back bruised and bleeding...
Anyways, I thought the next PS3 shipment is going to be in like 6 months, so good luck with your long wait if your lucky stars aren't aligned right that day.
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Failing that I would suggest camping circuit city, they are getting on average more stock than places like Best Buy and Wal Mart, much less Gamestop/EB which will have the least. You might not even have to be there early out to receive a nintendo at launch.
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Is there any benefit to camping out for a PS3? (Score:2)
As an aside, anyone planning on camping out in the Portland, OR area may want to see if they can borrow someone's house boat. That is, provided the weather we're experiencing now is still around in ~2 weeks. Just pull up to a Best Buy and throw a line around one of the big yellow concrete posts out front.
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There is a certain amount of planning with these launches with respect to marketing. You want the console to sell out on launch day, but you want a steady stream of units in the pipeline for adequate disbursements every week between launch and Christmas. Long queues and selling out means news coverage. No lines and adequate supplies doesnt attract as much
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One thing I think we should keep in mind is that, even though the "average gamer age" continues to rise, a significant amount of consoles are bought as Christmas presents (at least in the US). This may be an advantage for Nintendo, as there will certainly be a shortage of PS3s. The Wii is also has a much friendlier price point than the 360 or PS3 (cf. PSP vs. DS).
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That being said, I'll admit that I did stand outside a store for 3 hours waiting for it to open on Gamecube's release day, though I don't know if that qualifies as camping (the system did sell out to people in line so the demand was there
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That's in Europe. It might be different in the US, depending on how they supply the different regions
I got onto number 7 on the list
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My local video game store... (Score:1)
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All two of them eh?
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Odd, the manager at our EB-Games said just the opposite. He had around 60 people on the 'call' list when it went on Pre-sale. He had, I think, 12 consoles. Took him over 24 hours to fill his pre-order. The Wii? 16 gone in the first 10mins.
The funny thing is, the 60 people on the 'call' list where mostly like "How much? Oh, never mind". Though that did pre-orde
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PS You know you're not getting a wii the 19th
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Nov. 19th is my wife's birthday! Fortunately, she likes to sleep in very late so I should be able to pick up my pre-order and get home before she gets out of bed. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to wait until the next day to take it out of the box.
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You're down the street from Cary... where demand for the Wii is really high because, you say, there are lots of rich, spoiled kids (as opposed to the poor kids pushing for the PS3? But anyway)... but then you also say that your "local video game store," which presumably is in or near Cary, says there is no demand for the Wii.
Care to explain the apparent contradiction?
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Late birds get the worm (Score:2, Funny)
We sold out instantly, most of the people left without one.
One week before Christmas we received a huge supply. People who waited until the last minute to get their gifts all went home happy. How's that for irony?
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That was the first time I preordered an
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Second in line ;) (Score:1, Funny)
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Alaska... (Score:3, Interesting)
Not sure what I'm gonna do, I'm up here in Fairbanks, Alaska, and I'm gunning for a Wii at launch. The only thing is, it's probably going to be at least -10F by the time the 19th rolls around, so I don't know how much "camping" is going to go on. I'm thinking about parking the car close to the store a few hours before openning, and waiting to see when people start to show up. I'll have to ask around about previous launches. Wal-Mart already sold out their pre-orders, as did GameStop, so I'm going after a state-wide chain department store instead, they're usually pretty on top of things.
Anyone else been faced with cold weather system launches? What was your experience?
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As a Minnesotan, I usually laugh at people's "omg it's teh cold" stories. Looks like I can't do that this time. Good game, dude.
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And become easy prey for the Best Buy Rapist? I don't think so! I'll take my chances outside with the crowd, thank you very much.
-Eric
Careful (Score:2, Funny)
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Brown paper bag, please. (Score:4, Funny)
Pretentious snob. Beer would have been perfectly fine for that occasion.
Unless that photo was taken in France, of course.
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Also, some people prefer a red wine buzz to a beer buzz.
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Delay gratification (Score:3, Interesting)
I reckon that anybody wanting to study those which never learned this valuable ability just has to go check the lines on launch day.
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Have you thought that perhaps people who are "highly successful" are those who often need to spend a lot of time in their careers - so much so, in fact, that they don't have time to stand in line?
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People are successful because they don't waste their time unnesessarily waiting in line for something as trivial as a video game console when they'll be able to get one without waiting in line if they just show a little patience.
If someone is that much of a business man that he wouldn't even have the time, he probably wouldn't have use for a video game console anyway. We're not talking about the kind of guy who does nothing but business, just the kind of
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The people getting theirs on launch morning are the ones who will be playing it when you can't.
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Re:Delay gratification (Score:4, Insightful)
Waiting to buy your console months later it looses that sense, the prize isn't as sweet because you can just walk in and get one, and seeing it become common place for people to talk about it kiosks popping up everywhere maybe you've played it a couple times at a friends house it's not as special once you get it.
I've had my consoles both ways, while buying any new piece of entertainment equipment is exciting, there is something particularly special about bringing home some tech not just new to you, but to the whole world, and waiting in line to get one makes it even sweeter because once you get one you fee like you've earned it. You're entitled to your opinions on the subject but that's genuinely how I feel about it.
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That said, I'm going to call the stores around noon to find out whether they're sold out, then get one the next week, because I don't have any time to waste standing in a line all day.
In the Dark... (Score:2)
1. Where do preorders fit into all of this? I was #7 in line for the Wii preorders, assuming there are 7 Wiis left over after the store employees get theirs am I guaranteed one?
2. When they say the system launches on Sunday, do I camp out Saturday or Sunday night? (This has confused me in the past with
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Availability on a Sunday generally implies that you need to be there on Sunday.
3. What do I do if I've recently moved and have no friends in the area?
Don't worry, nobody else in line will either.
Thanks, I'll be here all week.
My Strategy (Score:1)
Camping out for the PS3: Bring a weapon.
Prank the campers (Score:4, Funny)
1. get a legit PS3 box
2. Stuff it full of computer parts(small ones). Go into store.
3. Walk out of a busy Best Buy or WalMart or Target and yell out loud
"hey I got a PS3!" while holding it over your head
5. Accidentally drop it
6. pretend to be sad and open the box as onlookers watch & pull parts out.
If you do this, have a friend videotape it and post it to youtube. If
it doesn't work, put it all back into the box and try another store.
If there's enough onlookers, or better yet, PS3 campers, it might be
fun.
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#7 - dodge the people yelling "faker" who read this post on slashdot who then encourage the crowd to stomp your ass.
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Why would I want to camp on the 19th? (Score:1)
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I'm Camping Out For My Wii... (Score:2)
I wish I could get one... (Score:1)
Pre-Ordering Campout Story (Score:1)
I refuse (Score:1)
I am so there. (Score:1)
I've spent at least 30 min on the phone with the local branch as well as corporate, and the local branch was saying that they've been bugging their property management company enough that they finally agreed to send out a official bulletin to Best Buy about what is and is not allowed (logistics and all that).
I am so jazzed.
I got the week off of work, there's a Costco about 5 minut
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hey, welcome to slashdot, new for nerds. stuff that matters.... do you happen to see a good portion of the articles that are posted here? ie, gaming topics? im going to assume that a lot of the people that come to this site are into gaming, and not so much into sailing or skiing. its called slashdot, not saildot.
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And yes - you had to be there.
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Maybe you should just allow people to do something that they enjoy. It is not harming other people for them to get pumpped up about campping out a new game system.
Maybe people think standing online for skiing is dum
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Wasting time is awesome.
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