Real Violence in the Gaming World

The new Sony PlayStation 3 debuted in America on Friday and most likely there are few, if any, left for sale, other than those being scalped on eBay. As we mentioned in a recent blog, they sell for a suggested retail price for $500 and $600. Because the demand is so high right now, they are selling on eBay for $2,000. Thousands of people were lined up for hours, waiting for the stores to open to get their hands on this new baby.

Now, if all that sounds a bit bizzare, the worst is yet to come. There were reports of sporadic violence across the U.S. and Canada as people waited in line to snap up one of the consoles. The most serious reported incident happened in Putnam, Connecticut, where a man was shot while waiting for the console to go on sale. The man apparently confronted two armed men who were trying to rob those in line, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, dozens of police were called to Boston's Copley Place Mall after security guards lost control of a crowd of about 400 people. A 19-year-old man was injured after running into a pole while racing others to get a place in line outside a Wal-Mart store in Wisconsin. In Ottawa, Canada, one man was arrested for being intoxicated after a fight broke out in the very early hours of the morning among people waiting for a game store to open.

Has the world gone nuts? These are game machines, for crying out loud! Are people's values so far out of kilter that they have to perform physical violence on other people to be the first to get our hands on a new game. I am at a loss. I think its nuts even to stand in line for a cup of coffee, much less for a video game.

It does make one wonder if the violence portrayed in many of the games themselves has lodged itself into people's psyche, paving the way for such stupidity. Maybe it's just me...now that I have passed over the 60 year mark the world has left me behind and I am the one out of kilter here.

FYI: The Sony unit will be in short supply for some time because they are short of the blue-laser diode that sits at the heart of the console's Blu-ray Disc drive. Problems starting up production of that part pushed Sony to scale back the worldwide launch. There were supposed to be about 2 million PlayStation 3 consoles ready for the launch, but that was cut to about 500,000 units.

And guess what? We may not be out of the woods yet as Nintendo is today (Sunday) releasing its new gaming console. As I write these words, early Sunday morning before most stores have opened, thousands of people are lined up at stores around America to be one of the first to by the new Nintendo Wii machine.

Unlike the high priced Sony, the Wii retails for $250. And they will not be in short supply like the Sony. According to Nintendo, they will be able to easily fill all the demand for their product. That may lessen the chance for violence, I hope.

The dumbing down of America continues, quite successfully, it seems.