sorry but Sony must carry the can for this:
Short tempers, stampedes and guns marked the U.S. debut of the PlayStation 3.
Two armed robbers approached a line of 20 people waiting outside a Wal-Mart store in Putnam, Connecticut. When Michael Penkala refused to give his money to the two gunmen, the assaulters shoot him.
Only 30 miles away, another buyer was robbed of his new PlayStation 3 just minutes after he bought it at a store in Manchester
AFP reports that on Wednesday police had to shut down a Wal-Mart store in the southern California city of Palmdale after a restless crowd of nearly 100 people turned rowdy.
CNN reports that in Allentown, Pennsylvania, a teenager was also robbed of his new PlayStation 3 by a man who tapped on his car window with a handgun and in Lexington, Kentucky, someone fired BB pellets from a passing vehicle at people waiting outside a Best Buy store.
The Associated Press got reports from police departments around the country informing similar situations; two people were arrested in Fresno, California, after a crowd trampled people in a parking lot. Two young men were assaulted in Sullivan, Indiana, by two teens after waiting for 36 hours at a Super Wal-Mart.
"They were unloading their PS3s from their car when two teens approached them carrying a chain and a tire iron and demanding their consoles", told Sullivan Police Chief David Story to AP.
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thats probably the tip of the iceberg, as reports are continuing to come in over the 'wire'. there are rumours of the consoles turning up already on Ebay, for thousands of $. but, poor production policies have led to this panic for me. the UK have to wait til March 07 to get their hands on one and going by the hysteria surrounding the launch over the 'pond' that delay should ensure they have time to manufacture enough units to meet the demand across Europe. i say the word should with more than a little caution...then again this is the mighty Sony we are talking about...