Videos from around the United States showed long lines outside GameStop stores on Black Friday, with people camping out to get their hands on PlayStation 5 game consoles.
GameStop had teased that it would have a limited supply of the new $500 PlayStation 5 game console for sale only at its stores, in contrast to other retailers that offered the hot ticket-items only online.
All of the stores had a minimum of two PS5 consoles at opening on Friday, according to GameSpot.
Some people lined up for days outside their local GameStop for a chance to buy the PS5, which was swiftly selling out, Business Insider reported.
Eric Kelly, a boxing gym owner, camped outside a store on Black Friday for the first time in his life, trying to score a PlayStation 5 for his 13-year-old twin sons as a reward for persevering through remote learning during the pandemic.
“They’ve been away from their friends,” said Kelly, who failed to get the console at a GameStop in New York City’s Union Square but said he would keep trying online. “They’ve done everything they had to do in school and outside of school, so I have to award them for being exceptional kids.”
Game consoles were among the most popular items shoppers were looking for this Black Friday.
Standing first in line outside a GameStop in Pembroke Pines, Florida, was a man who said he had been there since 3 p.m. Wednesday, according to a tweet.
In San Francisco and in Ardmore, Oklahoma, people wrapped in blankets braved the cold overnight as they waited outside local GameStop stores, video showed. In New York, people stood in lines outside a GameStop store for hours.
Some shoppers at a GameStop in Marietta, Georgia, were turned away without a console after waiting for hours in line outside a store that only had two of the new gaming consoles in stock, Storyful reports.