The Sony Playstation 3, this holiday season’s highly sought-after video game console, launched Nov. 17 at midnight. Due to short supplies and high demand, shoppers showed their true colors – mainly materialism and ignorance. 

   Gamers looking to have a good time, and profiteers looking to score big on eBay, started lining up outside stores as early as Monday in hopes of getting their hands on the $600 unit (or $500 depending on which version you get). By the time Friday arrived, violence ensued. 

   Some of the prime-time action that PS3 shoppers experienced: 

• Two gunmen tried to rob people lined up for the console in Putnam, Conn., and they shot one guy who refused to surrender his money. The victim is said to be in stable condition.
• Police arrested two people and threatened to use tasers on others in an attempt to stabilize an unruly crowd outside a store in Fresno, Calif.
• In an attempt to gain control of another unruly crowd in Henrico, Va., police fired a paint ball at the ground outside a Target.
• A man in Milwaukee dislocated his jaw after being slammed into a pole during a race through a parking lot to buy the console at his local Wal-Mart.

   And the list goes on…  

   Is this what our society has devolved into? How can someone stand in line for a week in hopes of obtaining an overpriced machine that plays video games? What kind of jobs do these people have that allows them to stand in line for a week? Do they even have jobs? If I attempted such foolishness, I would be severely behind in all my classes, $600 in debt and probably sick from extended exposure to the weather.  

   Yes, I play video games, and I can understand the appeal of owning a brand-new console. The graphics will be more realistic; the sound will be crisper; the gameplay will be more innovative. And best of all, everything will be more expensive! I know because I dropped $400 on Microsoft's Xbox 360 last year, and it was well worth it. 

   However, when I bought my Xbox 360, I simply walked into Wal-Mart, purchased the console and then walked right back out. There was no standing in line, fist fights, gunplay, etc. Not only that, but I actually bought it to play it, not to sell it on eBay. After all, I’m a college student; I don’t need money!  

   Speaking of eBay, there are over twenty-thousand Playstation 3 systems being auctioned away on eBay, according to Gamespy.com. The consoles are selling for as much as $3,000. I guess this is the alternative to standing in line for a week and risking your life. Then again, you could always wait a few months and just walk into a store and pick one up, much like I did with my Xbox 360. 

   With the Nintendo Wii launching Nov. 19 and Black Friday coming up next week, things will only get worse (or more entertaining, depending on how you look at things).