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Robbery, Shooting in PS3 line
Author: Brett ThomasPublished: 17th November 2006
Worth dying for? No BBs this time - a man was shot and a few were robbed while waiting in an overnight line.
The line at one Connecticut Wal-mart had about 20 people in it last night at approximately 3am. A couple robbers who were aware of this fact (and likely the high cost of the machine) decided to show up as well, and demanded money from the crowd. One of the men resisted, and was shot. He was taken across state lines to be treated, and has not yet been released.
In California, a brawl broke out in a throng of 300 people waiting in line between two seperate stores. The line had formed at roughly 4am between the local Target and Circuit City retailers - each store had only 10 units available. Though both stores were intending to use raffles to distribute the units, it didn't stop the altercation from happening before the doors opened. Police were called onto the scene to maintain order, and once the 20 units were allocated the crowd dispersed.
These are, of course, the most extreme incidents yet reported over the launch, but it raises an important question - is this truly the best way to handle a low-stock launch?
If you have a better suggestion, or just want to state your views on this one, let us hear it in our forums.
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Comments (68)
I was waiting for someone to blame Sony. I guess it is their fault a couple of low-life scumbags decided to rob some innocent people.
That store is only about a 15 minute drive from my house. It's not too suprising considering Manchester is very.....we'll just say "urban" kind of town. Where I live, in East Windsor, we have an extremely low crime rate and everyone is pretty decent around here. Of course some people are incapable of getting jobs and making a living, or they are too uneducated either because they got kicked out of school for being a "thug" or they were just plain lazy and dropped out of school. These people are selfish and disgusting, they don't care if they destroy someones life, they just want to rob the 34 bucks out of their wallet.
According to one of the local news channels around here www.wfsb.com both robbers were White, appoximately 17 years old, and fled on foot. Two losers who don't even have a car trying to rob some innocent people.
"It was one gentleman who stood up to the people and said, 'You're not going to get any of our money.' Unfortunately, that's when he was shot," Putnam Mayor Bob Viens said.
Fortunately attempted murder and armed robbery both carry pretty hefty sentences, and I'm pretty sure the state will try to get them tried as adults.
So what would you do? Fork over the money or try to put up a fight? Two guys with guns are certainly no match for 20 angry gamers....right?
havingcausing themselves, maybe there won't be a PS4 - hey, I can dream can't I? - though in my dream Nintendo clobbers both and Atari makes a comeback and replaces both Sony & MS in the console market - and then that woman from... ah, I found my happy place :DNo more 300-person lines and no more large group dynamics.
-monkey
i knw there pretty messed up ppl around who go around taking advantage of situation, im just saying about the angry mob of ppl who got into a massive brawl about a ps3?!?!
it would help if there was more stock avaialbe to them
The mans injuries were not life threatening, he's said to be in stable condition, you ass.
It wasn't an angry mob. It was a group of people just hanging out waiting for the store to open so they could get their system and two criminals came up to them on foot and demanded their money.
Sony weren't to blame for this, it's the mentality of fanboys that's the problem. They're acting like it'll be the end of the world if they don't get their hands on one.
Idiots.
[edit]Ah, you've corrected youself - I'm 2 minutes too late :D
one, guys demand money and guy bravely says no, thus gets shot for it
two, angry mob don't like the fact that there are only 10 ps3's and it all desends into chaos and the cops are called
/edit. beaten to it damn!
Even if i wanted a PS3 so bad why bother when you could wait a month or so extra and get one that doesnt need updates out of the box.
Id rather put 300 quid into buying a PS3 beating graphics card anyday.
put more consoles in one store, don't spread them across N stores with each having only 10 to sell instead put 100 in less stores, forbid a line, if anyone makes a line then these people would be fined because they are a danger to them selfs and to others, randomize the time when the store opens, i don't care if people want the console to sell it on ebay or if they want it so they can play on it, IT IS A BLOODY CONSOLE!!!! and don't call these people the "real" gamers because they are not!
this is dangerous and should be forbidden!
In the same breath, would you sleep next to a cash point with £300 in your hand? easy target anyone?
i blame this guy. ;)
Anybody else thinking about how retarded the robbers were in this story? I'd imagine that nobody standing in line intended to pay with cash (this is a credit card country...and at the very least people would be paying with a check). So these fools probably thought "oo oo 20 people all with $600, we're gonna be rich!" when the average guy in line probably only had $30 or so.
Hmm...with the stupidity, the desperation for money, and somebody's note above that it was some "white thugs"...i'm starting to wonder if Kevin Federline was involved.
WAIT 2 MONTHS
Its just like Maxx Barry's book: Jennifer Goverment where the shoe store sets up a hit on local stores to show people are so excited they are killing over thier product, and thus driving up the demand even more. (Cause, gosh, if people are KILLING for them, it has to be a cool bit of kit.)
Feel bad for the man who was shot though, but the robber doesn't surprise me. Im more surprised no one has been mugged after buying them. I mean *walks out with a PS3 and gets beaten to a pulp*.
Oh well. This is our society.
Remove the americans rigth to have firearms :)
This is a story about gun crime.
No its ridiculous allowing anyone to have a gun. It being a line of people outside a shop for a PS3 has nothing to do withit. It could of been anything or any que anywhere.
Doubt he was a fan boy as id say 90% of the people there are just trying to make a quick $
I have to disagree with you, simply because it is illegal for *them* to buy a gun, doesn't mean they couldn't have taken them from their parents or whatever, sort of like teenagers can take their parents car for a joy ride.
Make guns illegal in general, and you'll have less guns in circulation, which means less guns for idiots like these to shoot people with.
While you can never get all the guns off the streets, you can make it harder for the opportunist which I think is reason enough.
If you look at crime rate in places here in the US where guns are banned and where they are not you will notice that the places without guns have higher crime.
Anyways, aren't you guys trying to ban swords now in the UK? I think its time to just accept that some people are evil and opportunity is not the same as cause. But that's just my opinion. I won't tell you to operate in your own country.
jesus christ, you mayswell get a WC qaud core with 8800GTX in Sli and a 42 inch tv to view it all on and then have 5 grand spare, jesus h christ what is wrong with people =S
no this is purely down to the stupidity of human nature. happens with the lanch of "the next big thing" every time
Please stay on topic and can the anti-American rhetoric. :) Thanks.
/kicks thread back ON TOPIC.
How can Sony be liable. They did not comit the crime in any way. If people like to camp outside a shop with $500 (what ever the PS3 cost in USA) in their pocket then they are asking to be robbed. They should be able carry any amount of money without the fear of being robbed, but these days in USA and UK you have to be careful.
But Sony cant be sued or anything as they didnt do anything. They didnt make people camp outside days before their launch or even get someone to mug the poor people outside.
Edit: Something I said upset the mod. Its gone now
However, Sony is not to blame for human stupidity. Every year there is a must-have Christmas item that brings out the very best in people. Anyone remember the Cabbage Patch Kids fad in the 1980s? Grown adults (most often older women) were fighting in stores to get that hard-to-find doll for their children.
Different product. Different year. Same result. After all, God forbid we actually tell our children that they have to wait 2 months!
-monkey
But then I came across this auction. If you check the bidhistory you can see that someone must have forgoten to type a "dot" in front of the two last zeros and bid 520 000$ instead of 5200.00$. Ouch!!
on the gun topic, if i was camping I wouldn't have cash, i can replace my credit card VERY easily, though it would not be lost without a fight. i would definitely have my .45 pistol on my person if im camped anywhere for anything though. Which, by the way, was legally purchased and I have my concealed carry permit. couple of punks want to try and act big and bad and threaten hard-working people, I have no problems dropping both of them.
when a society outlaws weapons for law-abiding citizens, then they have no way to defend themselves because the police force dam sure doesn't have enough manpower to be everywhere all the time.
edit: and no im not a psycho deranged killer because i own guns. i happen to enjoy going to the gun range and target shooting.
sorry i just needed to say this.
Guns now are used for two legal uses anymore home self-defense and hunting. Back when I was with my parents, our home got broken into twice. Once my dad didn't have a gun, and once he did. Like I said: It only happened twice. Violence isn't a good way to stop Violence, but it is damn effective.
Regardless of what I think of the practicality of carried-concealed law, and what i think the level of training should be for a person to be allowed such a permit is not for this thread. My point is though, the USA isn't the only country where guns are legal. (Look at Canada, I know they're very avid hunters.) We're just the most paranoid and highly strung. If anyone has seen Bowling For Columbine then they get the point I'm making.
Guns are designed to kill and protect. A gun truelly had no place being brought to something such as this. And the event itself is very tragic. It speaks more about the individual then it does the weapon.
You saw a gun and go "Gee that would never have happened here." But are knives banned? (Maybe they're illegal to cary, but I garentee you could buy a steak knife to eat dinner with in any store.) My point is, if it hadn't been a gun, it would have been a knife, or a baseball bat, or what-the-heck-ever.
If the release numbers are the same in Europe, and there aren't similar incidents, then I'll admidt to being part of a motly bunch. But at the moment I think all humans are the same, as are all fan boys, and all greedy humans. So until I'm proven otherwise, I will say:
It was tragic, but it was bound to happen. This is our world today. Money and power are gods, and to the people that want a PS3, or to exploit the PS3, then it is a god. And thus, like any other society ever, a "war" is started over a god. That's when people get hurt.
Bleak? Definately. True? I think so.
[I must also add: I had a chance to play MotoStorm and some basketball game at our Best Buy a couple of days ago. Xbox360 has better graphics. The game play seems smoother. And the controller is nicer. (And before you hollar at me, I have loved PlayStation since Final Fantasy 7 on PS1, but I think this console is going to disappoint alot of people. It has great potential, but its a year behind and I don't think it will catch up. And the lack of Dual Shock is unforgivable. (Yes I read the story on how it came to be that way too.))]
The sample size for your logic is exactly 2. US vs. UK. 1 place where guns are illegal, one where they aren't.
Open your eyes just slightly and think about this: drugs are also illegal in the US. Yet I guarantee you pot is easily available in 99% of highschools in the country, and cocaine is probably something you could get ahold of at at least 50% of high schools. Any retard can walk to school, ask 5 people where to get drugs, and get those drugs right quick. Drugs are illegal, and yet it is probably easier to get them than it is to get a gun for most people in the US.
So, what is it you're suggesting? Our billions of dollars spent on the drug war has done nothing to stop drug smuggling and drug production and drug use. You think we can just make guns illegal and spend billions of dollars to stop gun smugglers and such, and magically it will work to end the presence of guns?
The problems with gun violence are more cultural (for lack of a better word) than anything else. There are groups of people who feel "tough" because they have a gun. Make guns more illegal, and they'll just have more incentive to get one (or 10)...the gun problem has very little to do with the laws we have in place.
Regarding your statement of "Why should you have a right to have a gun...." -- your argument only really might work for hand guns. The US is still full of people who use guns for sport -- I don't know how things are in the UK, but folks here still go up to the mountains and hunt deer for sport/food. The best you could do, then, is ban hand-guns....and you'll end up getting shot at by a guy with a hunting rifle or a shot gun instead (which is much more powerful, and will give him much better aim). Make your choice.
I've got a better solution. Sony should reprioritize their release such that there is a substantial buffer. They should first dedicate ALL of their product for release in the US and then issue more units to each store. Deprive every other country in the world of PS3 shipments and send em all to us! I mean, no other country's people REALLY need the PS3.
Alright, deep sarcasm aside, you can't blame Sony, you can't blame this on the availability of firearms, you can't blame this on the people waiting in line who most likely are just trying to earn a 300-400% profit via ebay. Stupid people do stupid things. You think people will be any calmer on Black Friday?...
There is actually a good chance that Sony has control over console availability and that a lot of units are sitting on the shelves in a warehouse. Less supply, greater demand. Many parents are desperate, many gamers are desperate. Once the availability increases, people will fear that supplies will dwindle and they'll purchase the units promptly whereas they might hesitate if the units were generally more available.
You actually have to give some credit to the robbers of this situation;
So often are we faced with scum barely fit to float along the bottom of the gene pool - yet now, though i don't condone the violence and the acts, is it not a relief to see a criminal smart enough to go "Hmm, 20 people x 750 bucks a pop = Profit?"
Sony is stupid and the devil.
Skrew consoles at the moment Im going to play on my PC.
EDIT
Shame about that guy though...stupid sony. I STOOD UP FOR YOU MAN!
-monkey
if they can get that worked up about getting a blooming console on release day then tbh i dont care one little bit.
just a quick ps about the several posts on gun crime....sorry its my hobby!
spoken by a UK poster.... sorry to all the americans, this is what we are fed over here time and time again by the media (just the same way u only get biased reporting on things). far too many of us cant use our own minds and just go with the hysteria :(
as british citizens we banned handguns (well the ones for robbing etc) so now we are defencless and handgun crime has exploded ever since the ban in 97 - common sense americans say, but the british public dont see it....
sorry to moderators for little rant above, but like i say couldnt help it!
Mike, I could stab you in the neck with a biro. Should we ban all biros? Or cut off everyone's hands because you could be strangled? People use guns for other means like on ranges for stress relief or to shoot animals because the states is significantly bigger than the UK and the culture is different. Should we ban TV/games because a few nutters go out and reinact what they see on TV/play in games?? After all, what point are games other than entertainment and stress relief?
What about when the dead rise?
You can be damn sure no one got poped 4 the 360* (in Japan or the states), so I think this says that sony has already one/won.
Dog egg
I'm absolutely sick of both the Sony bashing and the humanity bashing. That's the general mentality of most of the people on these forums, however; especially evident in first posts like this:
...yeah...
Also, to anyone blaming this on guns, or America, etc. etc., it's humanity. If it wasn't a gun, it would have been a knife, or a stick, or anything else. If someone wants something bad enough, or they're desperate enough, they'll obtain it. As far as the "America r stoopid" comments, well, we'll just have to see what happens when the UK release happens. People are people, I don't care where you're from.
credit card info, & signature on waiverrequired. I'd have signs in the windows (and maybe in the media - flyers / radio) advertising it then post a big sign the night before saying that "winners" will be notified by phone by 9:00am, units will be held for 24 hours, if any units are unclaimed after that point a second draw will be made.If I were the manager, the first 10 people to pay in advance would get them, no question
(obviously on a fair, one per household rule)
Edit: the signup for the draw I suggested earlier would start a week before launch and the draw would be the morning of the launch.
From the date the store begins to take pre-orders, full payment takes priority
First guy to pay, gets first console, etc etc etc, even if that guy payed in say, september.
No lines, no problem.
A simple note stuck to the shop window stating that;
"All our current stock of the new Sony PS3 console have been allocated and paid for, please do not que, if you have not been contacted then you will not recieve a unit" would have done the trick ;)
You can't have people just sign a list and then contact those people at random. That's what preorders are. You can't just do a raffle at 10 am because the people who've been there for 12 hours will get shafted. Preorders should get units shipped directly to avoid store stock confusion, and everyone who shows up or camps out gets a number. The first x amount of people get the console right then and there and everyone in the line after them gets a number so that they have priority when the next shipment comes around.
I hope it's not this bad on black friday.
Guns don't kill people, people with moustaches kill people.
It's just greed and the general dirt, bottom feeding, criminal soceity that causes these problems, nothing more.
"Hey buddy, 5 g's will get you a PS3 in less than a minute."
"Ok, I guess I'll go for it".
"Alright then, just step over here to where my car is, I only take cash though."
"Here's the money."
"Here's the box." ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.
20 minutes later: :( :'( byebye 5 grand.