Master Gamer News

October 27, 2000
   Note: This is a special edition of Master Gamer News that only covers the 
launch of the PlayStation 2.  The next full edition of Master Gamer News 
will be published on Friday, November 3 as previously scheduled.

   The PlayStation 2 launched with an incredible amount of fanfare and 
controversy on Thursday, October 26.  As expected, only 500,000 systems were
shipped to US retailers for launch day.  The number of PS2s pre-ordered in 
the US is at least one million, and Fairfield Research says that it could be
as high as two million.  At specialty retailers like Babbage's, Electronics 
Boutique, and Funcoland, there was no chance in hell of getting a system if 
you didn't pre-order one months ago.  (I pre-ordered mine in February and 
was just barely included in the first shipment at my local Babbage's in 
Frederick, Maryland.)
   For everyone else, the only chance of getting a PlayStation 2 on the 26th
was stores that decided to sell the systems on a first-come, first-serve 
basis.  These stores included Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Best Buy, and 
Circuit City.  Wal-Mart started selling the systems at midnight on the night
of the 25th, so it was technically the 26th.

   I showed up at the Frederick Wal-Mart at about 9:30 PM, only to find that
the line of people was already far greater than the store's first shipment 
of PS2s.  The police had to be called to restore order due to a large group 
of customers that became very loud and showed signs of aggression.  Master 
Gamer staff members were later interviewed by USA Today and The Frederick 
News-Post regarding the situation.
   Besides the fact that many of these customers were going to be sent home 
empty-handed, they were also upset when store officials changed the location
of the "official PS2 waiting line," essentially screwing many people who had
been waiting for hours.  Wal-Mart employees who weren't able to buy a PS2 
were also very vocal with their displeasure (way to calm down the crowd, 
guys!).
   Eventually, the police were called and all of the "unruly customers" were
escorted out of the store with no PS2s or anything else to show for their 
hours of waiting.  Due to fear that people who did get a PS2 would be 
mugged, a combination of police officers and Wal-Mart security guards 
escorted all PS2 buyers from the cash register to the front door, and a 
separate security team escorted them from the front door to their cars.
   An anonymous Wal-Mart employee who was once quizzed in a Master Gamer
"Retailers: Smart or Stupid?" feature reportedly said, "What's going on?
I thought the PlayStation 2 was released in the summer of 1999..."

   Master Gamer Contributing Writer Jimmy Payne showed up in front of Target
at about 5:10 AM on Thursday morning.  Target employees did a good job of 
keeping everything organized, and the atmosphere was fairly friendly in 
general.  Target officials were giving out numbers to the people waiting in 
line for the store's opening at 8:00 AM, and Jimmy ended up being #34 out of
Target's initial shipment of 34 shipments.  
   There were no major disruptions at this Target store, but the police 
didn't want a repeat of the Wal-Mart incidents the night before, so they 
stopped by just to make sure that everything was okay.  In the biggest news 
story of the week by far, an unidentified woman woke up in her sleeping bag 
in the Target parking lot at approximately 5:30 AM and allegedly offered 
Jimmy a donut, an offer which he claims to have politely declined.
   Jimmy left Target with his PlayStation 2 at around 8:15 AM.  At that 
time, K-Mart was completely sold out after opening 15 minutes earlier.  The 
lines of people outside Best Buy and Circuit City (waiting for their 10:00 
AM opening) were already much bigger than the number of systems in the 
initial shipment.  Circuit City tried to cut down on the crowds by refusing 
to sell anyone a PS2 if they didn't buy "Circuit City's special PS2 bundle,"
which includes a PS2 system and the puzzle game Fantavision.  Needless to 
say, it didn't work (the lines were still huge).
   Not wanting to go through the same thing again next year, both Jimmy and 
I have already pre-ordered the Xbox and Gamecube at our local Babbage's.  
We recommend that you do the same at your local specialty retailer.

   No major technical problems have been reported with the system itself, 
but there have been problems with the DVD remote controls for the system 
(which are sold separately from the console).  The DVD remote from InterAct 
has switched the commands for the Cancel and Enter buttons.  So when you 
press Cancel, it enters; and when you press Enter, it cancels.  The toll-
free number to call if you want a free replacement remote from InterAct is 
1-877-818-1293. 
   The DVD remote from Saitek has a similar problem, with the commands for 
Confirm and Stop being switched.  Saitek's technical support department is 
doing damage control with a pre-recorded message that claims, "The button 
marked Confirm means confirm stop."  Representatives from both InterAct and 
Saitek say that the blame for these problems should go to Sony, who 
allegedly "didn't cooperate" with third-party peripheral makers.

   Software sales figures from launch day are not yet available.  However, 
most PS2 launch games were actually available for sale before the system's 
release.  The following is a list of the best-selling PS2 games during the 
week of October 15 to 21.

1. Madden NFL 2001
2. Tekken Tag Tournament
3. SSX Snowboarding
4. Armored Core 2
5. Smuggler's Run
6. Ridge Racer 5
7. Dynasty Warriors 2
8. Orphen
9. Silent Scope
10.Midnight Club Street Racing

Sources for news: Fastest Game News Online, GameSpot, GameFan, Blue's News, 
GI News, Next Generation, Adrenaline Vault, The Magic Box, Daily Radar, 
Sega X, PSX 2 Online, Nintendorks, IGN, The Sega Zone, Sega Otaku, Gaming 
Age, The NPD Group, PC Data, www.cowdance.com

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