Metreon’s great “1000-man siege” PS3 line

Egads and zoinks! So this is what the siege in Helm’s Deep looked like! Err, ok, maybe not. But get nearly a thousand PS3 fans to gather and dress them up with goblin hide, ear-piercings, pole axes, and rusty swords, you’ll have a mob that could give Peter Jackson a run for his money. If it’s not Helm’s Deep, it’s San Francisco‘s Metreon shopping mall that’s being hounded by people in line for a PS3.

Rockville, NY, and Tokyo ain’t seen nothing yet. In the Metreon, the Sony Style store is babysitting people in line and making sure that everything runs smoothly. It’s only a matter of hours now and the PS3 will be let out into the wild.

Are you one of the lucky 400,000 Americans to grab your own unit? Let’s see how things are going for Metreon.

By Wednesday evening, police were sent to Metreon to usher people and fix the lines. By that time, the crowd had grown to 500 full. Early Thursday had the numbers increased to 700 and more SFPD cops were dispatched to maintain order. Come 7:30 a.m., when Sony reps told the crowd to relocate to the front of the Sony Style store itself, that’s when things got out of hand. A mad dash ensued and a brawl nearly got sparked.

What calmed them down? Sony officials guaranteed consoles for the first 750 in the line. By 8 a.m., the line was separated and things were heating up again. They had 500 people in front of the store, while the rest parked their bums on the other street. Word spread like wild fire and soon, more newcomers arrived. 8:45 a.m., the crowd swelled to a rough thousand and before things could get any more chaotic, it was announced that everyone in line was now guaranteed a console.

The mob is still growing as we speak, and we’re not sure how things are going. Soon enough, we’d be able to hear more news and possibly even grab a video in the process.

Egads and zoinks! So this is what the siege in Helm’s Deep looked like! Err, ok, maybe not. But get nearly a thousand PS3 fans to gather and dress them up with goblin hide, ear-piercings, pole axes, and rusty swords, you’ll have a mob that could give Peter Jackson a run for his money. If it’s not Helm’s Deep, it’s San Francisco‘s Metreon shopping mall that’s being hounded by people in line for a PS3.

Rockville, NY, and Tokyo ain’t seen nothing yet. In the Metreon, the Sony Style store is babysitting people in line and making sure that everything runs smoothly. It’s only a matter of hours now and the PS3 will be let out into the wild.

Are you one of the lucky 400,000 Americans to grab your own unit? Let’s see how things are going for Metreon.

By Wednesday evening, police were sent to Metreon to usher people and fix the lines. By that time, the crowd had grown to 500 full. Early Thursday had the numbers increased to 700 and more SFPD cops were dispatched to maintain order. Come 7:30 a.m., when Sony reps told the crowd to relocate to the front of the Sony Style store itself, that’s when things got out of hand. A mad dash ensued and a brawl nearly got sparked.

What calmed them down? Sony officials guaranteed consoles for the first 750 in the line. By 8 a.m., the line was separated and things were heating up again. They had 500 people in front of the store, while the rest parked their bums on the other street. Word spread like wild fire and soon, more newcomers arrived. 8:45 a.m., the crowd swelled to a rough thousand and before things could get any more chaotic, it was announced that everyone in line was now guaranteed a console.

The mob is still growing as we speak, and we’re not sure how things are going. Soon enough, we’d be able to hear more news and possibly even grab a video in the process.