Video Game Insanity.

I don't understand the phenomenon of the secondary video game console market that has popped up in the past few years. Have we gotten to the point that waiting a few weeks or months to get a silly piece of electronics is so painful as to waste good money on the item? The latest version of this phenomenon of scarcity is of course the Sony Playstation 3.

The units retail for $499 and $599. There are two models. Both are comparable and also being sold at retail by Sony at a considerable loss to wanting consumers world wide. People were sleeping on sidewalks outside of their local big-box retail consumer electronics chain stores literally salivating over the possibility of purchasing one of these machines. There were no guarantees of success, but people were willing to stick it out in the cold and rain (at least here in Portland, OR). Some of them genuinely cared about owning one, but many stayed as profiteers.

Tents were erected. People were being kicked out of malls and shopping centers for up to 7 days before the big event. The folks at the local Target store where I went shopping a couple of nights before said that they would be surprised if they got a dozen of the prized machines. I even read reports of shootings, hold ups and near riot conditions as stores opened their doors and people rushed to the counters. Political scandal even reared its ugly head.

This was modern day prospecting writ large. One Ebay auction event went up to $13,100. Craigslist Portland listed 62 PS3 systems available for purchase with prices ranging from $1500-$6000. All of this craziness for something that will be easy to get in 6 months time at the same retail outlets that people flocked to today.

How have we come so far? Is capitalism so important that we will trample each other for a chance to make a quick buck? Is our need for instant gratification and entertainment so great that we will put ourselves in some amount of physical anguish, and in some cases danger, just to be the first kid on the block? What is the point of spending all of this money on something as fleeting as all of this? Can't you just wait 6 bloody months to buy one of these things?

In the end, the days events underline the fact that our society's values are very far out of whack. I'm not talking about the petty stuff like Abortion and Gay Marriage. I'm talking about what we actually want in our lives. Who we want to be as a people and what image we want to project to the world are grossly illustrated here.

The United States of America is a dumping ground for mostly throw-away consumer electronics. We are an economic cesspool to the companies that would profit from this junk. We are addicts. We are insanely impatient. We aren't interested in sustainability or helping the guy next door. Most importantly, we are willing to forsake our own fellow citizens for the chance to have the newest toy on the block.

The PS3 (and the other game consoles out now) will be obsolete in 2-4 years and will be replaced with another variant. Inevitably the same escalation will take place. There will be wars fought over this silliness for a few dark days in 2009 or 2010. Maybe then we will realize how far down the rabbit hole we've gone.