The Violence of It’s Coming

So the PS3 launched in the United States today. Now I love gaming and I still do it when I have time. In law school I was told to pick one thing I did before to relax and keep at it not to get sucked in. Hence the gaming. Now I’m not one of those people standing in line for the PS3 (whether to keep or resell) but I couldn’t get enough of reading about the exploits of those people who were waiting in line. We had a drive by BB gun shoot up in a line, a woman was standing in line while she was in labor and then of course there were the Wal-Mart riots in at least 3 places. So far I think my favorite story, topping even the woman apparently wiling to give birth in the line, was the Smash N’ Grab in Georgia. The result of that incident was armed gangs patrolling the parking lot with baseball bats.

Thanks to Kotaku (which I love because it rocks but hate because I cannot post comments there) here is a list of some of the more shocking criminal incidents.

Putnam, CT – Two armed teenagers in ski masks attempt to hold-up the PS3 line at the local Wal-Mart, fleeing the scene empty-handed after shooting a customer who tried to resist them. The victim, shot in the chest and shoulder, is currently in stable condition.

Sullivan, IN – A man is stabbed as he and a friend try to rob two other men of their newly acquired systems. He is in critical condition following emergency surgery. [The robber was the one hurt? There have been reports of people in the lines carrying multiple knives --Samoflange]

Fresno, CA – Two people are arrested after a crowd tramples people in a parking lot trying to get a chance at purchasing the launch system.

Englewood, OH – Two armed men in black ski-masks enter a GameStop at closing time, forcing the employees to hand over their stock of five PS3 systems.

Manchester, CT – Five men surround a new Playstation 3 owner as he exits a store with his purchase, beat him, and drive off with his console. As they escape they push one of their own out of the car, a 17 year-old male now being charged with multiple crimes. [They will probably charge him with battery, theft, conspiracy and assault and maybe even armed robbery depending on if the men had weapons --Samoflange]

Allentown, PA – A teenager has his system stolen by a man who taps on his car window with a handgun.

Henrico, VA – Police are forced to use a talcum powder ball to get a crowd of 350 under control as they waited for a chance at one of a Target stores 8 systems.

I am a bit of a Sony fanboy (FF Series FTW!) and I want them to crush Microsoft this generation, but I think they should be held responsible to some degree for the rash of violence across the country as a direct cause of their product. But for the launch of the Playstation 3 in quantities approaching 1/5th of what they told people would be there, these incidents would not have occured! While I feel sympathy and horror in regards to the victims, the sheer spectacle of it keeps me diving back in to learn more stories of chaos.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the Playstation 4 is released the day after Thanksgiving? The 3rd biggest shopping day of the year? A reminder: last year Wal-Mart employees were standing on counters in the electronics department hurling $50 DVD players at materialistic mobs.

Yes, I am a horrible person.

The Kotaku link that provided the list above.

Update: From Kotaku it appears that a fugtive under suspicion of rape, William Rick Burdine, Sr. was arrested around the Best Buy the BB gun drive by occured at.