PS3 hopefuls, part III: Best Buy shoos away Burbank campers

You know, for a minute there, just a fleeting moment, we thought Best Buy was for serious about its attempt this year at making the procurement of a next-gen console a bit less of the painful, scarring memory that the Xbox 360 launch was for many. Sure, Best Buy still might have a few tricks up its sleeve to appease the next-gen faithful, but to us this newfound love and acceptance of console crazies was best represented by the burgeoning line of Burbank-campers. But no longer. After waiting 4 days for the campers to settle in, Best Buy kicked the whole group of its property on Friday afternoon. No word on whether the decision is from corporate, the local mall or the local Best Buy management, but we do know that it's 4 days of non-showering, job-quitting and engagement-postponing all for naught. A true modern tragedy.

[Thanks, TJ B.]

[Big Ice D @ Nov 14th 2006 11:06AM]

These losers have a better chance of getting laid than getting a PS3 on launch day. Which is really slim anyhow, so don't get your float points revved up just yet fanboys. Just walk in the store and buy a 360 and Gears of War and have fun instead of freezing. If I still had my HD projector I would drive down to the BB and project GOW onto the side of the building from my car to make all the losers second guess their wasted time. I still might do it with my LCD, but it wont look as cool sitting in my trunk as it would on the building.

[Wow. @ Nov 14th 2006 11:36AM]

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

Shut up.

I think it's screwed up that they let them sit there for 4 days first (they should've sent them away as soon as they knew what was going on), but I can't say it's unexpected.

The business decides when to start the line, not you.

THE LINE TO THE NEXT GENERATION DOESN'T START UNTIL WE SAY IT DOES!

loser.

[DEEZNUTZ @ Nov 14th 2006 11:48AM]

@ Wilson Li
Sounds like you were one of the unshowered guys who waited, got pwned, and came home to post ur sensitive comment... shut up and pump my gas biatch!

[tristanfey @ Nov 14th 2006 3:48PM]

All that money and you couldn't buy yourself an education?

"Fucking piece of shit." - Fragment sentence (contains no verb).
"You couldn't even afford 5min of my time if only you know how much I made a year." - This is two sentence clauses and requires a semi-colon (;) between "time" and "if". Also you have no clue about proper verb tense (know should be knew).

But we should bow to your superior intellect, because you supposedly make an enormous amount of money. If you had given this topic any thought you would have come to the same conclusion the majority of us have: pre-order.

[Joel @ Nov 14th 2006 4:03PM]

Ummm.. nice reference from 1999.

[Rohit Kapur @ Nov 14th 2006 10:39AM]

Oh. My. God.

I can think of nothing better to say than that I'm really sorry for these guys.

And, to quote Nelson Muntz from the Simpsons, "HaHa!"

[Wellard @ Nov 14th 2006 10:43AM]

Keyword: pre-order.

Seriously though, who is stupid enough to actually spend four days out in the wet and cold for a new toy?

[Rollins @ Nov 14th 2006 10:57AM]

Eh, though I only waited a fraction of the time for my 360 (about 16 hours), it is fun in a way. You hang out with people who are just as crazy as you, and there's a certain pride that comes with getting the system at the end of a long night outside of a store.

Or maybe I'm just crazy.

[dF @ Nov 14th 2006 11:17AM]

it's not that wet or cold in Burbank =P

[Brenden @ Nov 14th 2006 12:04PM]

Cold and wet? This is in Burbank, California.

[Meltz; @ Nov 14th 2006 9:48PM]

Its like standing in line to see a midnight showing...only of much greater magnitude

[wolwol @ Nov 14th 2006 10:43AM]

omg...
seriously......0wn3d!

[Josh* @ Nov 14th 2006 10:44AM]

Oh noes!

[Scott @ Nov 14th 2006 10:46AM]

Good, now maybe someone will get around to pumping my gas and flipping my burgers

[Jeff @ Nov 14th 2006 10:53AM]

"Good, now maybe someone will get around to pumping my gas and flipping my burgers"

Best Engadget comment ever.

[Andy @ Nov 14th 2006 10:49AM]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Okay, that's all I have to say about that.

[Uncle Jerry @ Nov 14th 2006 10:50AM]

Ha, ha! This is great! It's not like Best Buy's going to lose any business over this either. They'll sell out of every one they get for a long time, doesn't matter how they treat these nerds.

[Andy @ Nov 14th 2006 10:51AM]

Oh come on! Someone had to shower these people into reality.

[Andy @ Nov 14th 2006 10:52AM]

oh, and I'm not the Andy above, I'm the second Andy.

[Andy @ Nov 14th 2006 10:52AM]

I meant I'm not the first Andy, hahaha I'm the second and third.

[Bill @ Nov 14th 2006 10:53AM]

Yeah, can't say that I feel bad for them either. If I managed a Best Buy (thankfully I have a better job than THAT, but anyway...), I sure wouldn't want a bunch of unshowered knuckleheads camping out front of my store for days or weeks on end. It turns off the other customers in a big way. It's a legal liability. And there's just no reason for it. I mean, just HOW BAD do these guys need a PS3? The launch games aren't sounding all that great anyway.

[Matt @ Nov 14th 2006 11:15AM]

Yes, the guys are lame for waiting that long. Yes Best Buy does have legitimate reasons for not wanting them there all week. Still, it's pretty cold for Best Buy to let these guys wait a full 4 days before they tell them to leave. This is a decision that should have been made as soon as the line started forming.

[Porsche 911 @ Nov 14th 2006 3:21PM]

1. these people are stupid for camping outside, this goes for the xbox360 campers
2. the campers can upset/disturb the other customers, so it was right to kick these campers away
3. however, best buy should have done this on the second day, not the fourth
4. what the F are you talking about, the launch titles are awesome, compare the xbox360�s launch titles with the ps3, ps3�s are much better

[Fatboyslim @ Nov 14th 2006 10:54AM]

Funniest..... Thing..... Ever!

[Karl Viklund @ Nov 14th 2006 10:58AM]

Haha :)
Well well well. Why not go and by a Xbox360 and a Wii instead...

[Nogami @ Nov 14th 2006 11:02AM]

Well, I guess the "Line" doesn't start there after all...

[Shini @ Nov 14th 2006 11:04AM]

That is awesome, but I'm kind of sad they didn't have to call the police, that would have made a great clip for youtube, pending any kind of struggled ensued.

[jason @ Nov 14th 2006 8:01PM]

what struggle, these guys only know how to deal with cops in grand theft auto - they can't fight

[splob @ Nov 14th 2006 11:05AM]

Maybe the store gave them their ticket early, in which case they're the ones who should be laughing.

[sb @ Nov 14th 2006 11:06AM]

honestly, there are gaming fans and then there are these low-life losers that'll ditch everyone & anyone in their way for a circuit-board. the guy probably doesn't know how to spell "gaming"!! i mean really, did they really think they were making a statement? absolute morons. i've followed every single launch of every major tech hardware/software release, but never have I seen people that wouldn't even know how to use the console- call themselves gamers! please save it for the mirror

[NHAnimator @ Nov 14th 2006 11:08AM]

If it rained on them during the four days, does that count as a shower???

[G Money @ Nov 14th 2006 11:11AM]

How much do you want to bet that 90% of these losers are over 25 and still live in the bedroom they grew up in.

Way to spend $600+

[Jacko @ Nov 14th 2006 11:13AM]

Although I don't agree with Best Buys decision, it is still pretty funny. Get a freakin life people! And I resent the Buttstreet Boys comment. I am laughing and I wouldn't wait in line for crap unless it has to do with money in some way.

[Pete @ Nov 14th 2006 11:26AM]

really, they should have told them to scram minutes before the doors opened.....that'd be hilarious

[Dave95 @ Nov 14th 2006 11:30AM]

Have a heart people!

Now that their moms saw their mugs on TV, the basement is no longer available for free!

[RyanTV @ Nov 14th 2006 11:31AM]

I'm not sorry for them. These guys are morons. #1 it is an insurance liability for them to be camped out in front of a store. The store or mall has every right to tell them to get out.

#2 and most importantly - no matter what some of you guys think, video games don't make the world go round. If you don't get a bloody PS3 on launch date, SO WHAT.

[Pete @ Nov 14th 2006 11:32AM]

I wonder how many of those people already had those PS3's for sale up on eBay as guaranteed in hand on release day. LOL

[Rob @ Nov 14th 2006 11:34AM]

That's what happens when you make up your own line in front of a store. Good luck getting your PS3!

[mark @ Nov 14th 2006 11:35AM]

"No word on whether the decision is from corporate, the local mall or the local Best Buy management, but we do know that it's 4 days of non-showering, job-quitting and engagement-postponing all for naught."

It's from corporate -- why they made the decision, idk but theres a message in our employee toolkits saying that if anyone lines up prior to 24 hours in advance tell them to leave and recommend waiting 24 hours in advance. idk why but w/e

[Homer Simpson @ Nov 14th 2006 11:35AM]

DOH!!!

[Javi @ Nov 14th 2006 11:37AM]

Nobody deserves this much pwnage LOL

[Wilson Li @ Nov 14th 2006 3:04PM]

if you could only afford the shit i buy. dumb ass. you're the one who's pumping gas to save up for the ps3. modafucker

[Jimmy @ Nov 14th 2006 11:54AM]

you know they were all just there to get a ps3 and then flip it on ebay so they could take a few weeks off work at .

[GillyGill @ Nov 14th 2006 11:55AM]

The management at that place absolutely reeks! They are the reason I no longer shop at any Best Buy. I personally think it's a waste of time to wait out side a store like that, but I also don't think it was fair to out these guys after 4 days of waiting. I have been treated better at Fry's which is also notorious for customer server, or lack their of, but in any event if anyone really has to shop at Best Buy go to the one on Los Feliz by Costco. Good Luck!

[JD @ Nov 14th 2006 11:58AM]

BestBuy must have wanted the publicity. Otherwise, anyone with an iota of grey matter would have simply put a sign up days earlier stating that no "camping" would be allowed. Then they would have put a box/computer in their store and allow each person to sign up ONE time for the chance to buy a ps3 (multiple entries mean all are removed). Then just draw from the box upon closing of the day before release day. Call the winners and arrange for them to meet at the loading docks on the morning of release to pay for their ps3. All the fuss/lines/etc would have been avoided, AND they would have drawn tons more people into the store in order to sign up for the ps3 (I would have gone to BB to sign up eventhough I'd never wait in line, and I bet tons more people would do so too - and probably buy their weekly DVD or CD purchase there instead of buying it at wal-mart).

[mark @ Nov 14th 2006 12:43PM]

"BestBuy must have wanted the publicity. Otherwise, anyone with an iota of grey matter would have simply put a sign up days earlier stating that no "camping" would be allowed."

LOL sure. they didnt put up a sign bc camping IS allowed, they just dont want it that far in advance. and, they said they didnt want people to know that they HAD to line up 24 hrs in advance because they didnt want, and this is corporates words not mine, people all showing up 24 hr's in advance and causing customers to get too anxious or something lol.

[saboola @ Nov 14th 2006 12:02PM]

I am going to stroll into any BestBuy, Circuit City, CompUSA, etc.. sometime in March and just pick one up off the shelves. By then the games wont suck, and there will be plenty of units to go around.

[Chris McDowell @ Nov 14th 2006 12:05PM]

They were kicked out by the property manager of the shopping center and not by Best Buy. It was unsanitary to have people not shower and sit in frong without bathrooms or anything is what I heard.

[Chris @ Nov 14th 2006 12:05PM]

Fitting ending for those retards.

[JimJimBinks @ Nov 14th 2006 12:07PM]

I waited in line 20 hours for my XBOX 360 at that Best Buy. From experience my guess is a fight started. It almost happened right towards the end of our line. A couple of guys tried to cut, all 100 people behind him (Most of whom weren't getting 360's anyway) almost rioted. The guy next to me in line was a Best Buy employee, he kept telling me that he hoped nothing happened because the manager would disband the line instantly if it looked like something would. They hated us being there for as long as we were. Didn't even leave the lights on in the parking lot.