Waiting in line is no game for those serious about Xbox
A woman said the wait is worth it, to see her son's face when he opens the gift.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Anticipating a new game system from Microsoft, Charles Gerke of Howland headed to Wal-Mart on Elm Road at midnight to buy his.
"It's worth it," Gerke said of waiting 24 hours Monday to buy one of the 23 copies of the Xbox 360 game system coming out at midnight.
Gerke, 21, said the new system will have advanced graphics, an upgraded Internet feature and "smooth play."
Apparently his early-bird approach paid off.
By noon Monday, the store had started telling people not to get in line to buy the $399 system because all 23 copies were spoken for.
The store took down the names and order of sale of the 23 people already in line, so that the buyers could move around the store without losing their place.
Most, however, appeared to be staying in two designated areas of the store, sitting on lawn chairs provided by the store, playing cards, watching videos on a store television set and trying to pass the time.
Just had to have it
"I always hear people going out and waiting," Gerke said.
"A few of my friends are here. It's just an experience. I wanted to do it," he said, adding that he is a hard-core gamer, having started out on a Nintendo 64, and has been looking forward to the new system for months.
Josh Petty of Southington said he got to the store at 3 a.m. to buy the system, his second time waiting for a game system like this. The other time was when he waited outside of a Best Buy store to buy a PlayStation2 in 2002.
Petty said he was enjoying the company of some people he had met. "They're really cool," he said.
Some waiting in line said they hadn't been to bed yet and were finding it impossible to sleep in their seat on the floor or in a lawn chair.
They also said they believed if they missed this chance to get a game system, it would be months before they could get one.
Will be a surprise
A Champion woman who arrived about 7 a.m. and said she was No. 12 in line, said she and her husband would be taking turns waiting to get the system for her 22-year-old son.
She said it would probably be the only time she would wait like this in a line for a Christmas gift.
She felt the wait would be worth it "because he doesn't know he's getting it" and she want to "see his face" when he opens the gift.
She did, however, wonder why the company didn't provide more copies of the game system so people would not have to wait in a line.
She said she was spending most of the time sitting in a lawn chair, but she was free to walk around the store to stretch her legs and use the restroom without fear of losing her place in line.
A store employee said various Wal-Mart stores were given different numbers of game systems to sell.
runyan@vindy.com