PS3 Lines already forming in America?!?!

Referenced Article: Found on SlashDot and Video Game Blogger

I like to consider myself an avid gamer, at least when I had more time on my hands. I eagerly await the launch date of the next-gen console or game as much as the next guy or gal. And on launch day, I have been known on occasion to arrive at one of my favorite bastions of electronic retailing around midnight of the release day, usually with a couple friends or a sleep-deprived girlfriend, in tow.

But with the PS3's launch day, Friday, November 17th, 2006, only 9 days away, there are already reports of people camping out in front of Best Buy in anticipation of the launch and getting the first shiny consoles of the shelves. I'm sure some would call that dedication, and many would love to relive the glorious tales of adventure that await outside the storefront of a Best Buy at all hours of the night with only one's laptop, cell phone, and a cooler's supply of food quickly dwindling away. But me...I think it borderlines on ludicrous.

The PS3 base model retails for $500, and the premium model (or whatever its being called now) will retail for $600, both before taxes, the purchase of a game ($60+, and no, the system doesn't come with any game included, save maybe a small demo disc), and the all important second controller ($40 I believe). You could easily drop a grand of cold hard cash or plastic for this machine's launch day, and I know many that are willing to do so. But how do these people manage to get the time off of work, put their lives on hold, or avoid the economic reality of it all, to camp out in front of a store for a console they could have pre-ordered online from MANY retailers, just to have the bragging rights to say "Yep, I was there, took the first system of the shelf, and plopped down on the couch in front of the TV before 9:05am for my first game of NCAA2007 for the PS3."

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE VIDEO GAMES! But as much as I really love them, and eagerly anticipate the launch of the next-gen consoles (the Nintendo Wii all the way, baby!), would any of you do this? Would any of our professors, co-workers, and peers understand and appreciate that we were MIA for 9+ days waiting for the PS3, and be like, "Bryan, I understand, the PS3 is important to your life and your success, you go right ahead and get in line for it, we'll be ready for your return when the time is right."

I guess what I'm really trying to ask is, would anyone like to meet me at Target on Thursday, November 16th, after Dr. Dawson's class, and camp out in the Nintendo Wii line, as we gawk at the PS3 crowd? :)