PlayStation Mania in Ottawa

For Bobbie Johnson, $200 was not enough to nearly surrender her place in line.

"We're all here for the one basic reason: the money," she said. "But $200? Come on, that's nothing compared to what we're going to get eBay."

Johnson, of Marseilles, was among about a dozen people who had formed the line to be among the first in North America to purchase a Sony Playstation 3 video game system.

"12:01am, that's when they go on sale," she said. "And we wanted to make sure we got one."

Johnson and 10 others had to come to the Wal-MartSupercenter in Ottawa in the wee hours Thursday morning to make sure they were the first people to receive a PS3 Console - or at least a guarantee from Wal-Mart that they would be the next on the list to buy one.

Johnson was seventh in line, which meant she would get one of two 'little systems' or a basic model with a 20 gigabyte hard-drive that retails for $500.

Those occupying the first six spots were guaranteed the right to purchase a 'big system', or a enhanced model with a 50 gigabyte hard-drive that sells for $600.

But none of them were willing to give their names.

"I skipped work for this," said the man occupying the second place in line. "I'd be in trouble if my name was in the paper."

Ottawa Wal-Mart Manager Matt Woodrum said the line was necessary to avoid problems when the units became legal for sale at midnight Friday.

"I don't know why they did this, but there aren't anywhere nears enough units to satisfy demand, here or anywhere else," said Woodrum.

Machines sold out quickly in when they went on sale last Saturday. Plagued with production problems, Sony only had 100,000 units available for the Japanese launch.

Sony promised 400,000 Playstation machines for the on Friday, and about 1,000,000 by year's end. Worldwide, it was expecting 2 million this year, half its original projections. Sony has already delayed European launch until March 2007.

The Sony release came two days before video-game pioneer Nintendo is scheduled to release its new Wii gaming system.

Nintendo hopes to use this console, which retails for $250, to regain some of the market share lost since the mid-1990's to Sony's Playstation 1 and Microsoft's Xbox, by appealing to older people, women and others outside the typical young male video game demographic.

Even as retailers drummed up publicity by throwing parties and inviting celebrities, Best Buy and others tried to lower expectations and curb any frustrations by warning customers all week that supplies would be tight. Game retailer GameStop said it won't be able to fulfill all of it's pre-orders on launch day.

Jack Tretton, executive vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment America, said retailers will be receiving new Playstation 3's daily.

At the Ottawa Wal-Mart, only eight PS3's were available for sale that day - - and the store, worried about the future availability of the game system, issued only 4 'rain checks' or slips that guaranteed the right to purchase the next ready model.

"It's dishearting when you have to turn people away," said Woodrum.

But those for Thursday evening, the only excitement was evident, as they daydreamed what they would do with the more than $2,000 they hope to obtain when they sell on eBay.

Across the country, would-be Internet entrepreneurs lined up outside stores like Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and CircuitCity some in freezing temps and lines hundreds deep, for the chance to buy a Sony Playstation 3.

The desire for a big payday was enough to keep Johnson and the others out in the cold until Thursday afternoon, when Wal-Mart management relented and allowed them to move into the store's garden center.

Frank Lagow, 18, of Ottawa, occupied the final spot in line, entitling him to the last rain check.

So, he wasn't sure when he'd be buying his first Playstation.

"It's got a lot of really cool features," said Lagow. "I'm still thinking about keeping it or selling it."