Would you trade your child for a PS3?

We didn't think that this PS3 stuff could get any more ridiculous, what with the theft, chaos and death that has ensued. But the lengths that some people are willing to go to get Sony's next-gen console are pretty insane -- besides braving the elements for days at a time, apparently folks are willing to sacrifice their own offspring for the chance at a PS3. Dave Ryan, a morning radio host at the Twin Cities' KDWB, earlier this week made a joking offer that the station would give a PS3 to anyone who turned their baby over to the station for 24 hours. A dozen people apparently jumped at the opportunity, with one caller offering her one-month-old infant, and another offering more than one child for three days. Callers were apparently very disappointed when they found out that it was just a gag. To his credit, the host tried to alleviate the callers' requests by saying "Listen, you're not the only one who fell for this," though we're not sure why wannabe negligent parents really deserve any reassuring.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

[Matt @ Dec 7th 2006 12:15AM]

It is no longer nexgen. It is either this-gen or latest-gen...

Anyone who would engage in the idiocy that has accompanied the release of this game system is a retard and ought to be hunted, shot, and mounted on some redneck's wall.

[PhilJ @ Dec 7th 2006 12:19AM]

Makes me even more happy that I don't listen to that crappy station. "Wacky" DJ's are overdone.

[Revrant2394 @ Dec 7th 2006 12:26AM]

Fascinating, and yet I wouldn't take a PS3 even if it was GIVEN to me.

The irony, right?

[whiskey @ Dec 7th 2006 12:29AM]

They would give their offspring for less than that.
Do i smell a police operative around the corner?

[tallerthenyou @ Dec 7th 2006 12:34AM]

KDWB is the bane of the Minneapolis radio waves. No one over the age of 16 should be listening to it.

[fs454 @ Dec 7th 2006 12:39AM]

I don't see the problem providing that the studio took appropriate care for the child. It's only 24 hours. I still understand the wrongness in this, but still, its being blown out of proportion.

[Matt @ Dec 7th 2006 12:41AM]

I will give a PS3 to anyone who will take these 3 devil children that I have to deal with. Theyre all 12, and all have SAADD (severe-acute-attention-deficite-disorder)
Anyone who is willing to keep them perminately will receive a PS3. (It is not required that you auctually keep the kids alive.)

[Daniel @ Dec 7th 2006 3:22AM]

Wow, severe AND acute? Watch out.

[Matthew Maroon @ Dec 7th 2006 12:43AM]

It's really not that unreasonable. Parents trust baby-sitters all the time. The only difference here is that a radio station would have infinitely more reason to take good care of your baby. If a 16 yr old accidentally harms your baby she doesn't have to worry about you winning a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

I'd look at it like giving my baby to a daycare, but instead of me paying for that theyre giving me $800.

[SOCOMRAIDER @ Dec 7th 2006 12:45AM]

This happened a while ago (before Thanksgiving), not earlier this week.
The youngest baby was a 2 day old infant. And the three day stay was with a one month old infant.

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/2006/11/22/entertainment/16069842.htm
(registration might be required, but still free.)

[rghai6 @ Dec 7th 2006 12:50AM]

Disturbing .. to say the least

[Andy C. @ Dec 7th 2006 12:51AM]

Sounds like a great deal! Free baby sitting for a day and a PS3 to boot!

Revrant2394, you're an idiot. Even if you don't want or like the Playstation 3, why would you turn down an opportunity to make an easy $1000 or at a bare minimum get a free DVD/CD/BluRay player? Is your fanboyism that extreme that you'll eschew all common sense just to slam Sony? You better not be an XBox 360 fan, because THAT would be irony.

[Krono6 @ Dec 7th 2006 7:22AM]

Yeah, Revrant tried to spam my e-mail address after I questioned his stupid posts on another topic. He thought that Gmail Filters fail, which they never have for me :D

Anyway, I doubt he's even a gamer nor an intellect of any sort. He trolls Endadget quite frequently.

[Chris @ Dec 7th 2006 12:51AM]

"Uh, yeah, can you guys wait for like 9 months?"

[John Doe @ Dec 7th 2006 12:58AM]

Gah.... I haven't listened to KDWB for years for this very reason. They cater to their stupid listeners. I'm 100% certain that Dave wasn't making a gag. He just never though that anyone would actually take him serious. Goes to show that you should never give the viewer and or listener more credit then you would give a trained ape. That being said I think a trained ape would treat their child better then these morons. I wonder if what would result if Ryan offered a PS3 for the dead corpse of someone's child. I wonder. Would someone be so messed up in the head.......
Ick....

[v1m @ Dec 7th 2006 1:10AM]

You're pretending kids matter in America, Cyrus. That's a cozy illusion.

But we know from stats on child abuse, neglect, health and education that it isn't true. And it gives us a clue to the character of the society. If it won't take care of its own kids, then little wonder it's happy to keep foreign kids locked up in sweatshops making XXXL clothing for its own fat ass.

The yolk here is on KDWB's face. Its little prank--essentially, pissing on those who can't afford PS3s for the amusment of those who can, and then dressing it up in false pieties--is pretty typical right wing fare. You seem to have fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

[Adml_shake @ Dec 7th 2006 1:50AM]

"oh you want to turn your child over for a PS3? Great well lets see whats your name, address, phone number, time that you'll be home so we can come pick them up and drop off your PS3?! Uh huh....yeah yeah got it! Thanks we'll be sending someone over for the kids soon!


Hello, Police? Yes I'd like to report some neglected children...."

[Andy @ Dec 7th 2006 2:03AM]

All I hear is, "no one got shot over the XBox 360." Ummm, anyone who acted violently to get a PS3 obviously didn't have a PS3 to begin with and acted solely on the hype, rather than an actually proven system...this is just another example of Sony fanboy mentality.

[Bogsnogger @ Dec 7th 2006 2:06AM]

I'd imagine a lot of children over 10 years old would have been volunteering to stay at the station for a night (what could be cooler?) for a free PS3. It's a dream come true.

[Andy @ Dec 7th 2006 2:06AM]

When the hype dies down it's going to be pretty funny...in a sad sort of way for Sony.

[Nizam Rahman @ Dec 7th 2006 2:15AM]

Babysit my kids for 24 hours while I play PS3? Yes? Please?

[tehuberone @ Dec 7th 2006 2:28AM]

duh

[Z @ Dec 7th 2006 2:29AM]

The radio station should have then followed up by fowarding the names, addresses, and phone numbers of these so-called "parents" to the Child Protection agency in the area.

If this is real, then who in the freak would turn over their one month old infant to a bunch of stupid DJ strangers for 24 hours just to play some idiotic game?!? Give me a break.

All this does is reaffirm that so many people you'll ever meet in your lifetime have no functioning brain, zero standards, and priorities all blown to hell. Stories like these, on some level, just continue to deteriorate many peoples' faith in humanity.

Absolutely pathetic.

[ECM @ Dec 7th 2006 3:14AM]

"The yolk here is on KDWB's face. Its little prank--essentially, pissing on those who can't afford PS3s for the amusment of those who can, and then dressing it up in false pieties--is pretty typical right wing fare. You seem to have fallen for it hook, line and sinker."

What are you? 12?

[Alex @ Dec 7th 2006 4:17AM]

Children Matters, you know we were once was. I wouldn't trade my children for anything in the world.

[Krono6 @ Dec 7th 2006 7:22AM]

Alot of people would, though.
Majority of people these days, as I wouldn't regret saying this at all, just like to be stupid and pathetic.
If the person can't take the responsibility of a child then I have a simple solution: Take-the-frickin'-pill. With all the whole "It makes you lose your sex drive in the long term" thing is a good thing, imho. People need to get their heads out of the ground and realise that a living thing isn't just 'something to do', yet this is all I've been hearing.
Sadly, there's alot of people who wouldn't mind giving their child to a complete stranger for a short while, and this also applies to the sick people who'd trust a baby sitter. I'm sure alot of people read the news, but there's hardly anyone who understands it, it seems.

[Smythicus @ Dec 7th 2006 4:44AM]

Very shoddy Engadget.

The insinuation by your article that these parents are in some way 'negligent' are not backed up the fact that these parents would have taken a babysitter for 24hrs to receive a 400dollar + console (UK here, I'm guessing the price).

A child under the care of the whole station would surely have meant better supervision than the usual horny teen aching to have her goth boyfriend round - typical of babysitters. Or some sweeter-than-pie 60yr old nanny who really couldn't care less about your child.

A 24hr babysitter would be welcomed for Free by the most loving parents, who could do with some well deserved time off. I have 2 friends at present bringing up young babies, and the work they put into the child's care is unrelenting.

Negligence has legal definitions obviously not understood by the author. Typical scaremongering half-brained journalism.

[steverl22 @ Dec 7th 2006 7:29AM]

Q100 in atlanta did the same bit last week because a DJ here had a bet with the DJ from KDWB that we wont have that many people call in. The guy from KDWB had around 10 people willing to do it, Q100 had about 61.......61.

[foxone @ Dec 7th 2006 8:37AM]

having lived in both cities, it's not surprising to me that there were 61 in Atlanta

[hydrogen_wv @ Dec 7th 2006 8:06AM]

I don't see any problem here... You aren't "giving" your kids to them. They will be watched and cared for i'm sure. Hell, if you have bratty kids and you play your cards right, the kid might come home with another PS3.

Kid: Can i push the button?
DJ: No
Kid: Please?
DJ: No
Kid: PLEAAASSSEEEE? PLEAAAASSSSEEEEE?????
DJ: NO
Kid: What's this button do? *press*
DJ: Stop! Get out of here!
Kid: I'll leave you alone if you give me a PS3.
DJ: Ok, whatever, here!

Oh, and too the person that said they wouldn't take a free PS3... moron. I would NEVER consider buying one, but if someone gave me one i'd take it. If it didn't fit my tastes, I'd flip it on ebay for $1000.

[Andy @ Dec 7th 2006 9:23AM]

They did the same thing on G105 here in Raleigh, NC last week. One lady COMPLETELY flipped out yelling at them and then yelling that she was calling authorities and hanging up on them. It was quite amusing since it was obvious that it was a joke from the beginning.

If you thought about it for 5 seconds, there's no way, even if they wanted to do it, that the station would OK it.

As one of the guys from the station said though, there were a few calls that were a little sad of people who were willing to do it because then they could sell the PS3 and have money to pay bills, but still, how could anyone even consider giving someone else their child for a PS3.

[zargon @ Dec 7th 2006 10:00AM]

KDWB or K-DWEB as I like to call it has to be one of the worst radion stations in the Twin Cities and the morning show is absolutly horse crap!

The times that I have listened to their morning show, I felt like I was back in Junior High. The maturity level of all people involved with the show is non-existant.

This "joke" is on par with the usual crap that goes on with the radio station. I wouldn't shed a tear if they fell of the face of the earth, but at least, they are a top 100 station and owned by Clear Channel. They are not going away where.

At least they got rid of their worst DJ, Tony Fly. Though, he moved to another station for more money and a morning show. Which that station is no better than K-DWEB, but in a different way. He was and still is a piece of crap. He did nothing but rag on how bad Minnesota men are, but he in fact is why men get a bad wrap.

[Chris @ Dec 7th 2006 10:04AM]

G105 in Raleigh, NC did the exact same thing. Maybe they are both part of Clear Channel.

[Jon Rochetti @ Dec 7th 2006 5:30PM]

How sad...What's next? Your dog for some noise cancelling headphones? OR perhaps your wife for a nice plasma TV? ...On second thought...!!!!
Jon
http://www.theDCtraveler.com

[Daver Ex @ Dec 7th 2006 7:22PM]

Are you kidding. You obviously don't have children. I'd gladly trade 24 hours of free babysitting for a PS3. I usually have to pay the babysitter, this way they're paying me. And that's bad how?

[GTASouthPark @ Dec 7th 2006 9:53PM]

lol... THIS IS ONE OF MY LOCAL RADIO STATIONS! I listened to it. and I fell for it. ( I don't have a kid to give up, but i would have for a day if i did.. maybe).. lol but yeah, I seriously thought they had PS3's to give away. and it was hilarious the whole way through. (btw, this is like a rap/rock.. like new music radio station... idk it is a good one).

[Art @ Dec 10th 2006 10:39AM]

Does'nt Micheal Jackson work there? I see some problems and some good. A lady who drops an Infant off should have her baby taken away. But a mother who drops 12 yr. old junior off cause he wants the ps3 anyway, a child like that would be old enough to be ok in a Radio Stations care for 1 night. However the greed is still there. And it has nothing to do about affording a ps3, cause there are hundreds of thousands that can, but no where to buy. Personally if it was me I would never give my kid up for some game system. Id give the neighbors kids instead. :)

[Denis R @ Dec 13th 2006 8:02PM]

Wow. That's some craziness going on. But the good news is that the PS3s are getting cheaper and cheaper by the week. I just scored a factory sealed 60GB version on eBay for $810 (shipping included)... $200 bucks over the retail price (less if you figure tax), and nowhere near as bad as handing over your child for a day. It did take me some patience and quick bidding to outbid some guy in the last minute though. =)

[Nox @ Dec 20th 2006 10:45PM]

3 words for some of you people. "Don't have kids". Simple as that. If you do, you are likely to get them taking away, because you be so moronic as to offering you kids up for a gaming system. I don't even have kids, and I enjoy gaming a lot, but I know I wouldn't offer my child for a full 24 hours for a gaming system. Ok listen people, they asked for babies, not any child, babies. Knowing that there are a lot of insane people in the world, I'd know that the station would get LOTS of calls. If it was real, there'd be a lot of babies in there. With so many, there's a chance something could happen to your child. What if one of the other children their had a contagious disease? Babies get sick quite easily and have a higher chance of dying from it than adults. Since there are a lot of babies, BABIES (they can't take care of themselves, I doubt a couple of DJ's could take care of that many of them. I mean of course you could sue the station for a lot of money because your baby died. But who cares?! Your child is dead, and chances are you are going to jail for putting them on the show in the first damn place.

[Fikma @ Jan 9th 2007 10:14PM]

i think that it is extremely funny, and stupid that people would actually give there child up for a crappy system. The Xbox 360 is clearly better, and yet the same system that people waited in line for days is now on selves for anyone IF they wanted one. My remark is this, HAHAHAHAHAHA stupid people you lose and fail at life again.