To be fair, the stories of violence and crime are relatively few and anecdotal. While I find it terribly sad, it is still a few isolated incidents, and I`d have to guess that the PS3 just happens to be a desirable product with a bunch of easy targets standing in one place, potentially holding a lot of cash, “valuables” such as PSPs, and eventually, possibly a PS3. What upsets me is how poorly this will reflect on gamers in general. I can see the community portrayed as feces-flinging subhumans, chucking around fetid piles of homemade ammunition.
Likewise, a relative lack of inhumanity surrounding the Wii launch is far more understandable. There`s a much lower price, people weren`t waiting nearly as long, and with Nintendo saying they will deliver 4 million units to North America this year (In fact, promising this if I recall) there`s no real eBay frenzy. At this time, there appears to be between a $50 to $100 premium, and I`m being generous at $100, because it usually ships with at least one game. That`s a 33% premium to have it today, where the PS3 has a much higher premium. We won`t know for sure until some of these auctions are completely successful, but even at $1800 that`s a 200% premium.
And let`s be clear, because I`ve heard this too often: People are not paying so much for a PS3, they are paying that much to have a PS3 now. That doesn`t mean the PS3 is worth $4,000, or whatever it will sell for. I can almost guarantee that when a person can pick one up in a store for $600, they will not pay $4,000. That may take quite a few months, but when it happens a person with $4,000 to waste will likely buy a $600 console and $3,400 worth of games and accessories instead of spending $4,000 on the same console with no goodies. Whatever someone will pay on eBay is what they are willing to pay to have it NOW, not what they are willing to pay to have it period.
I did not manage to snag a Wii myself, though our protagonist will obviously be luckier than I was. Instead, I chose to drink some beer and watch the UFC fight with a bunch of the guys. Hughes vs. St. Pierre? Worth not getting a Wii on launch day. Well, there was that and a bunch of other socializing, but like I said: Worth it. I have plenty of friends with Wiis, it`s not like I can`t experience it by taking a ten minute drive.
Oh, and Greg Dean at Real Life Comics appears real familiar. Let`s just say the phrase, “Come home with a Wii or don`t come home at all” may have been thrown around. I presume jokingly, since I am here updating the site today.
I will be waiting for the next shipment, though. No sense taking risks.