Playstation 3: The New Grudge Match?

The holidays approach as new generation game consoles beckon, irresistibly tempting hardcore gamers along with frazzled parents who either pay-up or explain away their inability to keep up to yearning tots, their little eyes full of shiny pixels of playing power.

I won't bore you with the umpteenth tech spec analysis or console vs. console breakdown, nor ponder the potential dominance of Sony's Playstation 3 or the imminent fall of Microsoft's Xbox. I'd merely like to mull over this season of choice and how it's looking for our game-gorging, button mashing society of video game junkies.

Just how is this season of goodwill shaping up?

>  Gun fights over the Playstation 3 release in New York and Ohio.
>  Violent robbery attempts on PS3 customers perpetrated in several locations.
>  Stampedes leading to severe head injuries in people "running" a PS3 buying Race.
>  Stressed out store "camp out" lines leading to petty fights and arguments.

Holiday Greetings To All! Tis The Season To Be Jerky.

It's all over the news and it's disgusting. Teens and adults alike threatening, intimidating or in some cases even using lethal force to beat each other out of a video game console. All this violence over a toy. Disgusting, yes, but are we really shocked?

It's nothing new. Remember the Cabbage Patch Kids? Tickle Me Elmo? Those toys led to violence too. Most of us can recall a time when the dizzying demand far out weighed the supply of a new or highly desired product. These days though the stakes are of course much higher. Now there's an online commerce marketplace where we sell practically anything. Ebay allows the early bird - the bird who pushes people around, intimidates, and camps out in the rain, sleet or snow -etc. - to take their hard won cyber prize and sell it at a premium. What a way to make a fast honest buck! And if the honesty entails stomping a few feet or threatening people, hey they're not breaking the law, right?