Gamespotting

Not to be confused with trainspotting, or wainscotting.

Killa, knowing that I have been on the prowl for some rare older titles, gave me a call on his cell from the local EBStop late last week to get my shopping list. It turned out they didn't have any of the titles in question (surprise), so I asked him to check and see if they had a PlayStation in stock.

"I don't think they carry PS1 games anymore," said Killa.
"No. . . . see if they have a PlayStation Three."

I listened as he shouted his request over the rambunctious EBStop crowd to the gentleman manager, and then heard, too, his reply:

"No," said he. "Oh wait---I mean yeah"
"Sixty gig?" queried Killa.
"Yeah," said the manager. "We have one back here. Do you want it?"

My initial plan was to hold out and buy the system to coincide with the release of some sort of desirable software for the system. Ridge Racer notwithstanding, there aren't any titles of interest arriving until February or March. However, when I heard about this one readily available PS3, I was seized by that familiar panic sensation---What if everyone else is waiting until February to buy their PS3, too? What if the rarity of the console over the Christmas holiday was only a prelude to the coming PS3 drought? What if Sony has to divert units slated for America in order to launch in Europe? What if this is my only chance?!

I quickly got a hold of myself and told Killa to take a pass on this particular PS3. After all, I reasoned, if Killa can walk into a store at random and find a PS3 on his first try, how rare can they be?

I told my hubby about it later and he chastised me for not leaping at the knock of opportunity. If I had only been more decisive, we, too, could have spent the evening plugging and replugging our various cables and connectors and then kicking back and relaxing with some untranslated Tekken 5, dubiously downloaded with virtual Hong Kong dollars. If only.

Instead we went to Target to pick up some puppy chow and browse the games. We browsed and browsed, until we browsed right smack into a PS3. This time it was a 20GB so it wasn't really a temptation, but again I was pleasantly surprised to find a PS3 without even trying. I haven't witnessed the stacks of unwanted, unloved PS3s piled high to BestBuy's ceiling, as others have, but it seems the hype over the scarcity has outlived the actual scarcity of the object in question.

However, Wiis and DS Lites remain out of stock at both locations.