Pixel Cookies [SeattleJonman's Flickr photostream via Wonderland]

Best Buy definitely owes each and every one of us a cookie. The retail juggernaut has reported its profits for the third quarter, seeing a double digit gain in entertainment software sales. This effectively makes gamers and gamer enablers responsible for 17% of their $8.5 billion revenue for the period, due in no small part to the new console launches.

Despite our best efforts they still managed to miss projections, with profits only up $12 million from last year's $138 million, which is probably due in no small part to all that space taken up by CDs that no one buys. They should probably just replace that section with more video games. They can pay me for that suggestion when they deliver my cookie. Michael Fahey

Best Buy Sees Double-Digit Gains In Gaming Sales [Gamasutra]

I returned to the Alpharetta Fry's store around 3:45AM to find freezing cold blackness. The employees didn't leave any lights on when they left earlier in the evening. The front of the line was a row of completely silent tents. You'll find the people in the front of a launch line always sleep better than those in the back.

Towards the middle I find List Holder guy, vigilantly standing watch in case any latecomers try to cut into his well organized line. We exchanged war stories. I had missed a drunk guy nearly get arrested, only to be given a warning and sent back to his spot. One of the other guys I met earlier comes over to see what's going on. After awhile he guides me to some folks huddled near the back of the line, eager to hear news of other launch spots and partake of the cookies I brought along as a gesture of good will.

The next hour is spent basically recalling our coverage of the launch to the gathered group. "Tell us more stories!" one girl demands, munching on a pink-frosted cookie.

And I tell them stories. I take web-based writings and spin them into a spoken narrative, which is kind of like reverse-engineering the internet. It makes me feel old and wise, but that could just be lack of sleep kicking in.
The back of the line is where the action is. People need something to occupy them so that the grim reality of the situation doesn't kick in. They aren't getting systems...most of them know that, but at least they can still have a good time.

I pass around my DS so they can watch the Final Fantasy III opening movie. This leads to a discussion about console RPGs, which then leads into a conversation about World of Warcraft between me and another man that I quickly derail. WoW is something that is only important to those who play it. At some point I think I doze off for a few minutes in my comforter-crafted cocoon.

At about 5:45AM people start putting away the tents and cleaning up trash. List Holder guy and an older woman work together, calling out names and maneuvering people into position. It's really amazing how well these people work together. They've know each other for all of a day and a half and here they are creating an orderly line out of chaos in a matter of minutes.
An hour later the sun is rising and the employees begin to arrive, first pushing the line away from the front entrance, and then having them move it back again. I am sure there is some purpose to this, but can't for the life of me figure out what it is.

Then comes 45 minutes of waiting, consisting of staring at the door for signs of life, discussions of the King Ralph theory (If everyone in front of me dies, I get a PS3!), and general nervous chatter. Before we know it, a group of white shirts and black ties are standing before us, announcing, "It's time!'

They hand out 26 vouchers down the line. 20 of the 80gig bundles with the rest 20gigs. No one complains, though I can tell the girl who is number 27 in line is heartbroken. The drunk from earlier is somewhere in the teens, and if not for his second chance at behaving like a grown-up she would have gotten her system. Instead she gets a rain check, along with the 18 other folks in the back of the line.

Despite problems with employees, supply, and weather, I left Fry's this morning feeling pretty good. Some people walked away empty-handed...
...and some, like List Holder here in a pose he called "Cold Black Man", went home with the prize,
but everyone left having had a good time just being there. No shootings, no fist fights, no robbery, and 10 boxes of delicious frosted cookies, 5 of which are still out there in case anyone gets peckish later on. Sounds like a perfect launch to me. Michael Fahey

Instead of blasting off an editorial about Nintendo's day of announcement's yesterday while still digesting their news (and lovely gooey cookies and crustless sandwiches) I decided to come back to the hotel and go get drunk on sake with my wife, sleep it off and then write about the news.

I've had time to digest nearly everything by now.

I was really surprised by both Nintendo's choice of price and date. Initially, I thought that the company would try to launch a good month before Sony broke the Champaign bottle on the SS PS3, getting a mighty lead on their competition. And I figured they'd try to put just as much distance between the price of the two consoles as well.

But why should they?

They don't have to give the Wii away to win, they just need to be cheaper and offer up a good value. The console comes with a game, which I suspect would have sold for $40 not $50 if it hit the market separately, so that already knocks the price of the console down to $210. And Nintendo price was most likely determined by Sony's PS3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360. They just needed to release their console at a substantial discount and when they saw the price of their competition they realized they could actually sell the console at a profit, and still deliver a value compared to what has become today's standard for console pricing.

The date, well, the date just makes sense when you think about it.

All of this talk about Nintendo being a third console has sort of lulled me, and I suspect others, into thinking that Nintendo is the also ran, the other guy, a company knowingly making a console that no one is going to buy as their primary gaming rig.

Guess what? Nintendo doesn't think that way. Just because their mascots are cartoons doesn't mean that the company isn't out for blood. And this proves it.

Nintendo isn't just OK with people comparing the PS3 with the Wii, they want people to. They set the launch right on top of Sony's because they think they will win that comparison. And they don't just want to slip a knife in Sony's belly, they want to twist it a bit.

Check out what Reggie Fils-Aime was saying after the press conference: Consumers "can go take out a second mortgage and buy our competition's console, or they can buy ours."

I still think that Nintendo is taking a big risk injecting this disruptive technology into the gaming market, but I've gone from thinking that they will either sink or swim to thinking that they will do moderately well to tremendously well. Brian Crecente