Quote:Chaos erupted this morning at the Richmond International Raceway as thousands of people stampeded through the gates in a rush to buy used iBook laptop computers for $50 each.
There were several minor injuries and one person was taken to a hospital with a leg injury, fire Battalion Chief Steve Wood said during a 1 p.m. news conference. In all, 17 people were treated, the majority for heat- or diabetic-related problems, he said.
Thousands of Henrico County residents and/or taxpayers stood in a half-mile-long line as dawn broke while others waited in cars parked nearby or milled about not far from the entrance to RIR. One official estimate put the crowd at 5,500. Other observers estimated more than twice that.
Many had come prepared with books, snacks, umbrellas and chairs. The first car arrived at 1:30 a.m. By 6:30 vehicles were backed up on Laburnum Avenue about a half mile to Carolina Avenue.
Even before the gates opened, the atmosphere turned surly, with people yelling at police officers who were trying to keep the crowd civil.
When the first off-duty police officers arrived at 6:10 a.m., they called for more officers to assist with security, Police Chief Henry W. Stanley said.
Ultimately, up to 45 officers were there, as were fire and rescue personnel.
The gates opened at 6:54 a.m., and the stampede -- literally -- was on. The first crush occurred at the main gate to RIR and the second occurred at the entrance to the building where the 4-year-old iBooks were being sold.
Police Lt. Doug Perry said a few people who acted inappropriately made the situation bad for everyone. When police arrived, he said, they took control of the situation.
One Henrico resident, Devra Sirot, attended the sale with her two young sons and said she feared for their safety.
"My kids almost got stampeded. If it wasn't for these two really strong guys . . . Everyone was stampeding to get in."
She bought three iBooks -- one for her and one for each of her sons.
Once people were inside the building, the sale went smoothly and all 1,000 laptops were sold, officials said. County officials said they will be meeting to review the situation to see what could be done differently in the future.
The laptops were made available at a bargain-basement price after the county school system chose a new vendor -- Dell -- to supply the high schools with laptops. Henrico had used Apple iBooks in its high schools for the past four years.
For more on-the-scene details of the chaotic sale and an account from columnist Mark Holmberg, check out tomorrow's Times-Dispatch.
tubtub Wrote:The Nintendo DS will be $129.99 just in time for Nintendogs. I believe the drop occurs 8/21, but it might be sooner. More info soon.
Quote:Update - TRU is sending out a flyer for it. It's advertised $129.99, but will be $129.95. The ad is basically for Nintendogs and includes a $10 off $50 NINTENDO purchase coupon(should work on the hardware, so you could get it for $119.95). The flyer is only going out to R-zone best guests, though, and should arrive at homes next week.
Update 2 - I figured I might as well post this here, too, since it's more Nintendo news. There are two new items listed in the TRU computer. There is a "GC Ltd Ed PK XD Bundle" listed. The Bundle is priced at $99.99 with no date yet, but at least it looks like Nintendo is going to be trying this Christmas. Also, a GBA SP Sponge Bob system is listed.
Update 3 - The price drop is actually occuring this week. Probably Wednesday or Thursday. It is universal, also. Second, if you do get the $10 off coupon from TRU in the mail it WILL work on the system, so you can get it for $119.95 making it an even better deal.
Also Popular Science might've given away GB Micro price - $100
Quote:I just got the September issue in the mail today, and it's right there on page 32, in "The Goods," section.
Quote:A Small but Bright Star
Game Boy Micro » Nintendo shrunk its Game Boy down to the size of a pack of gum. The rechargeable lithium-ion battery nets about 10 hours of battery life for the backlit two-inch screen. Swappable faceplates. $100 » nintendo.com
Quote:No new information other than the price, so maybe that's just an estimate (it sometimes is on the page), but I assume they usually go with the information given to them.
Quote:Gamasutra: Do you think the market for 2D action games in general is getting smaller? Will we ever see that kind of gameplay on consoles again, or only handhelds?
KI: To tell the truth, I don't think it's even that 2D is only possible on handhelds, but more that it's only possible on DS. Personally speaking, I'd jump at any chance to develop a 2D game for any console, or even the PSP, but those chances are getting fewer and fewer. I feel like the DS is the last fortress of 2D gaming. So if we can get a younger audience with this DS 2D game, and prove to them that 2D gaming is worthwhile and fun, maybe then we can increase the market for that type of game.
So I'd like to ask any gamer that cares about this to educate their children about 2D games, and maybe together we can build a bright future for this type of gameplay.
Quote:Our development team has decided to take extra time to add some incredible new elements to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As a result, the game will now launch in 2006 globally. We recognize there may be some disappointed fans, however we firmly believe this additional time will result in a much more enjoyable gaming experience. GameCube fans will have a variety of Nintendo games to choose from this Christmas, including Mario Smash Football, Battalion Wars, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.
Quote:In order to try and lift dampened spirits, Nintendo released seven new screenshots of Twilight Princess to accompany the statement.
Meant to post this two days ago, but my computer crashed and killed the post and I didn't bother. But I will now. :)
I got a SNES two days ago... it was in the local indepentant game store for $40 and I couldn't resist. :) Also got a second controller ($5) and five games... Mario World and Mario Kart for $13 each and Super Street Fighter II, Hyper Zone, and Super R-Type for $5 each. Yup... there are a few other games there I also want (Tetris Attack, Stunt Race FX, Super Return of the Jedi, and Mario Allstars...)... not nearly everything though, so I guess I'll have to eventually use ebay or something (and overpay)... oh well. But yeah, it's cool... (sure, I played many of these games as recently as last year before I got rid of my roms, but it's always better with the real thing...)
Um, Mario World is easy as remembered, while Mario Kart is frusteratingly hard. But probably better than Mario Kart 64... though I would rather have F-Zero. :)
It is, in my own humble opinion, one of the best fantasy series of all time. To be more precise you might say that Discworld is a comedy/fantasy, but not because it has a lot of jokes in it or because it TRIES to be funny, but rather because Discworld is simply a funny place full of people who are, by their actions, very funny. It would not be accurate to say that Discworld is a parody of legitimate fantasy, rather Discworld IS legitimate fantasy that just happens to satirize a great number of things, other legitimate fantasy books/series included.
In the Discworld series there are several story arcs or groups of people who regularly have books about them. There's Rincewind [the innept magician who simply wants to be left alone, the Night Watch [a group of policemen], and the head wizards of the Unseen University [who generally don't do anything worthwhile]. There's also a large cast of characters who appear from time to time.
There are roughly 20 books in the series released from 1983 to present. All of them are consistantly good, though some ARE better than others. One thing that I find to be very unique about Terry Pratchett's book are that, although they are humorous and satirical, the characters and story do not suffer because of it. All the major characters and many of the minor characters are well fleshed out and get ample space in the book, despite the cast being quite large at times. And the stories are never boring and in many cases rival the stories of regular fantasy books, both in terms of how good they are and in how unique they are.
In short, if you haven't read any of the Discworld books yet, you probably should really soon.
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