So there we were Wednesday morning with PS3 launch day coming up in two days.  We start our quest to find out some PS3 stock numbers and figure out where we were going to wait in line.  After calling around to virtually any store that might carry such a device and getting the same story of very low stock numbers and lines forming already; by 5pm it became quite apparent that if we wanted a PS3 we were going to need to find somewhere and get in line.  Our first inclination was to hit a 24 hour Wal-mart so we could shave 8 hours or so off our stay.  We were not the only ones with this idea and we clearly were not getting one at Wal-mart.  After stopping by a few more retailers in rapid succession reality started to set in and it looked as if we would be going without a PS3.  Oh how foolish it was for us to not have pre-ordered during the 15 second window at game stop or EB games.  We decide to head to the other side of town in hopes finding some miracle store with no line like I came across during 360 launch day.  A few more stops with the same disappointing results; lines longer than units available.  One last stop at the Brooklyn Center Target on the way back to the shop to regroup for a potential drive out of town and bingo!  We get to Target and there are only 5 people in line, we ask if they heard any numbers and they respond 6; 4 60’s and 2 20’s.  Looks like we found our camp site.  Strange enough there is a Best Buy right behind this Target that had 26 units and 27 people in line; surely many had driven by and kept going but they apparently didn’t spot this Target.  After scoping the scene a bit we find power outlets right where we were going to camp and to our good fortune they are live.  So I drop Scot and some collapsible chairs off then Josh and I head out to get our warm clothes and camping supplies.  If you didn’t already know Llamma is based in Minnesota and on November 17^th it’s a chilling 20 degree’s; good times… sigh.  We stopped by Wal-mart for some emergency cold whether items and then it was back off to the shop to pick up more goodies to help pass the 34 cold miserable hours by.  A projector, 32” TV, two Xbox 360’s, Xbox 1, Stereo system, space heaters and laptops ought to do the job.  Back to Target we go to setup our uber launch day camp site.  By 12:30am Thursday morning we are playing some system link Gears of War on 80” and 32” screens. 

Around 5am Thursday the early morning moisture brought a layer of frost that built up on everyone’s blankets and the cold really started setting in.  We decided to hook the second space heater up to the already over worked outlet that was powering the entire camp.  Just when we thought we had it made the breaker tripped and we were completely without power.  No heaters to keep us warm and no games to keep our minds off of the cold.  At this point I began to wonder if I really wanted to go through all of this for another day and a half.  Luckily for us and with much thanks to Target we would get power back and to stay.  Once the morning crew got in they reset the breaker and we were back in business.  They did make us take our tents down but we could keep everything else up.  Good spirits were short lived as four Target employees greeted us with some bad news.  Apparently they only had four of the six PS3’s that they were supposed to have.  This was very upsetting because the night before management told us they had all six IN HAND and accounted for in stock.  They explained that they only had four and that the other two were hopefully on a truck due to arrive by noon.  Needless to say after waiting all night in the cold we were not happy.  I decided to visit the store manager and see if I make something happen.  I was quite sure that two of them were either hidden by stock personnel or some other store employee had dibs on them.  As an ex Target corporate employee that frequented many remote locations including this particular store’s distribution center I figured I would drop some names.  I told the store manager that I would contact some friends at this stores distribution center T551 and find out exactly how many units were shipped to the store and that I would get to the bottom of this.  She repeated that they should be there by noon and there was nothing she could do.  So with long faces we began packing up camp since we were number six in line.  No longer than five or ten minutes later the manager comes back out with good news that the truck arrived and the other two were accounted for.  We all look at each other and start joking about how they were never on a truck in the first place.  Seriously, it’s almost impossible that a truck just happened to show up, get unloaded, find the PS3’s and inform the store manager who then walks out to inform us in a matter of minutes.  Either way we were happy to know that we were going to get our unit.  Back to setting up camp again.

The day’s entertainment was crowds of people walking by and seeing us camping in front of a store in the cold.  It was quite an experience watching all of the different reactions people would have.  There were some rude folks, some jokesters, some dirty looks, some laughs, some with envy and some bearing gifts of coffee; thanks Panera bread.  Most of all there were questions, “Why are you camped outside of a Target?”.  At first it wasn’t so bad answering their questions but after a while it started to get real old.  Scot finally moved the Sony PS3 line starts here sign directly in front of our camp on the curb.  This only stopped about 50% of people from asking.  Some obliviously stood right next to the big red sign and still had to ask us why we were there.  The minimal warmth of daylight didn’t last long and the cold night was closing in fast.  Target made more money off of us buying goodies, hand warmers and the like than they did off of the PS3.  We stocked up on supplies and took our last bathroom breaks in the luxury of the Targe`t bathroom.  Once 10pm rolled around we were allowed to set our tents back up.  We desperately did not want to blow the circuit again for the long night so we played it smart and load balanced everything between another outlet we located on the other side of the store.  The final evening pass relatively quickly by watching The DaVinci Code, Mr. Deeds and playing more Xbox 360.  I managed to catch a few hours of sleep early in the AM snuggled up next to the good old 1500 watt space heater.  The welcome morning sun brought the endless parade of unprepared last minute PS3 shoppers; had they not seen the lines for the last two or three days?  Good luck!  We all started to get excited as ticket time closed in.  At 7:30am Friday morning the manager came out and passed out the claim tickets.  Four 60’s and two 20’s as promised.  Back to electronics we go to claim our prizes and stock up on PS3 games and accessories.  Well at least games anyway.  The most disappointing thing about the entire launch was the complete absence of ANY accessories.  No controllers, HD cables, no anything.  I personally was very disappointed and had a lot of not so choice words for Sony which I will not get into now.   For now I was happy to have a PS3 in hand and was headed home for some much needed sleep.   In the end the whole experience was pretty enjoyable considering the circumstances.  I’m sure we were some of the more fortunate campers; people at the Best Buy directly behind us did not have power or tents!  Karma would catch up with me for poking fun at those at that Best Buy as I would find myself camped out at that very store just one day later waiting in line for a Nintendo Wii.  Good times, good times!