PlayStation 3 San Francisco Launch

After months of anticipation, hype, and rumors, the PlayStation 3 is finally here. If you happened to have a spare $9,000 burning a hole in your pocket you could have grabbed one off eBay, but the majority of gamers who scored a system last night did it the old fashioned way... waiting in line. More than 700 hardcore fans braved the cold and the rain to camp out for two days outside Sony's flagship PlayStation store in San Francisco. Some were no doubt hoping for a big score on eBay, but many just wanted to get their hands on a coveted system any way they could.

"The pre-orders were gone and I told myself that if I ever had a second chance at this thing I was going to go full force at it," said Thomas Wright, a 27-year-old fan from Pittsburgh, CA. "When you do that, you get results."

Although some fans had been milling about on Wednesday night, the "official" line didn't get its start until 8:00 AM yesterday which is when 21-year-old Chris Toribio of San Francisco claimed the number one spot in queue.

"I don't think any of us slept," said Toribio. "We brought junk food and tons of soda. This is my first campout and the experience over the last two days has been great."

Early on there was some issue with line management, but Toribio and friends helped keep things sorted thanks to a handy notebook.

"Our line almost got angry at another mob trying to sneak in, so we created a list," said Toribio. "Everyone followed it, everyone cooperated. It made everyone calm down and made them realize, 'There's no reason to get angry, you're going to get a PS3, so chill.'"

Waiting in line for two days might sound like a boring prospect to some, but Sony did its part to ensure that fans weren't figuratively left out in the cold -- even if the weather was a bit more literal. The company provided complimentary meals to line sitters as well as live entertainment. More than two months of planning went into this one night according to Patrick Seybold, senior PR manager of hardware at SCEA.

"We felt tonight was finally a night to not only get the fans their hands on it, but really reward them for their patience," said Seybold. "There's nothing really like a retail midnight sale like this."

Despite rumors to the contrary, Seybold confirmed that Sony not only shipped its promised 400,000 units across country for tonight's sale, but the company was committed to delivering on its promise of a million units by the end of the year. That's good news for those that are cringing at current eBay prices.

"We're still seeing a 400,000 unit launch tonight," said Seybold. "We're also air shipping in 100,000 units every week between now and the end of the year to make that million by December 31st."

One of the highlights of the night was a live musical performance by "Angels and Airwaves." Sony shut down a section of 4th Street, smack in the center of downtown San Francisco, and rolled out a concert stage so the band could perform for the crowd. Large monitors (and equally large speakers) ensured that everyone had a good seat no matter what their place in line. As it turns out, the band members were just as dedicated to the PlayStation as the fans in the crowd.

"The easiest thing for me to play is PSP, so I play a lot of ATV Fury and Hotshots," said David Kennedy, guitarist for Angels and Airwaves. "A few of us have one so we can sit around and link them all up and just geek out for hours."

In terms of distance traveled, the band members probably came the furthest -- they flew in from New Jersey and flew out to Rhode Island -- but they weren't about to leave empty handed. The band wouldn't agree to perform at the event until Sony guaranteed them a system."

"This sounds goofy, but I said, 'I'll do it, but they have to include a PlayStation 3,'" said Kennedy. "I will kick my ass to get here if I can get a hold of that system. We were very motivated to get here and play."

The hardcore spirit extended all the way through the line to the very end where Nathan Chiu, a student at UC Davis was the last person to be guaranteed a system.