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News

Fans line up at stores for much-anticipated 
Playstation release 

by LOUIE VERA
The Daily Cougar

The Sony Playstation 3 released Friday brought a new craze to gamers across the world, and Houston was no exception.

"(I--ve) been (at Best Buy) since Tuesday morning, 6:30 a.m.," education junior Devin Patel said. "I don't want to wait in line later on to get one. Lord knows when they're coming (again)."

First in line at the Best Buy on Richmond Ave. was Jose Martinez, a 16-year-old sophomore who attends Robert E. Lee High School.

"I got here Monday night," Martinez said. "I was actually going to come out Wednesday, but then I heard rumors that people were already camping out. So when I got here, I didn't see anybody, so I decided to camp out."

Martinez, who was alone until Patel arrived Tuesday morning, became friends with the UH junior and was able to save his place in line when he went for food.

"I had two bags of marshmallows; that is what I was going to do to survive," Martinez said. "A lot of people had fast food, and the smell got to me. So I ended up going with people to get food. I made friends with the people who came."

With Sony producing roughly 400,000 consoles, the new system has been hard to come by and there have been reports of it selling for up to $5,000 on eBay. The actual price for the console is between $500 and $600 depending if you purchase the 20 gigabyte or 60 GB hard drive version.

Biology senior Arthur Graham and mathematics senior Trey Pharis plan to join the many people purchasing the console in hopes of making a large profit. Both had been in line since Tuesday night at the Best Buy in Sugarland.

"We are probably going make like about three grand," Pharis said. 

Graham said he didn't understand why anyone would keep the system.

Patel said that the price of the Playstation is practical if you were to compare it with other electronics that the Playstaion 3 is capable of.

"The price isn't that bad," Patel said. "If you look inside (Best Buy) they have a Blue Ray DVD player for $799. The PS3 comes with Blue Ray already, which you are getting for $499 or $599 based on that alone you already save money."

-- With additional reporting by Chi Chi Nwaorie

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