ajc.com 2008 Holiday Guide

Kurt Margenau is refining his plan of attack. Nabbing a new PlayStation 3 on its release day Friday will mean camping out, and the shelter of a 24-hour Wal-Mart looks a lot more hospitable than a sidewalk in November. The Georgia Tech senior also is considering stores outside metro Atlanta, where he hopes demand won't be as great.

"I'm spending $600 that I don't have," Margenau chuckles. "But that's what credit cards are for."

JUNKO KIMURA/Getty Images (ENLARGE)

Visitors to the Sony booth at the Tokyo Game Show in September try out the new PlayStation 3. Sony can't meet the demand and is rationing the units to stores.

Sony Computer Entertainment (ENLARGE)

The PlayStation 3 electronic game console, Sony's successor to the wildly successful PlayStation 2, is arriving just in time for Christmas, with a hefty price tag of $499, or $599 for the deluxe version — if you can find one at that price. Gamers who turn to eBay will find them selling for as much as $2,000.

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That's if he can get it at that price. If he fails and turns to eBay, he'll find PS3 consoles going for $2,000.

If this sounds a little familiar — a few weeks before Christmas, a new gaming system whose demand outstrips supply — then click the déjà vu icon. When Sony's PlayStation 2 came out in November 2000, there were long lines, shoving matches outside stores and scalpers reselling the consoles for huge markups. It was the same scenario for the launching of the XBox 360 a year ago.

Now, once again, there's eyeball-vibrating anticipation among hard-core gamers. "It's Launchageddon!" trumpets Electronic Gaming Monthly's Web site.

Non-gamers sometimes just don't get how big the electronic gaming industry is. In 2005, it took in more money than the entire U.S. movie box office tally. "Madden NFL," the biggest game of 2006, grossed a little more than $100 million in its first week of release, the same as "The DaVinci Code" did in May.

As the most popular video game system of all time, PlayStation 2 has sold more than 100 million units, way ahead of Microsoft's Xbox and Xbox 360 (about 30 million-plus) and the Nintendo Game Cube (21 million).

What has the gamers so geeked out about the PS3 are its speed and graphics; Sony says it's roughly 320 times more powerful than its predecessor. That power is put to use in some of the 21 games for the PS3 that also will be popular this Christmas. They include: "Resistance: Fall of Man," a high-action game with soldiers fighting an enemy called the Chimera; "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '07," which reportedly emphasizes realistic facial expressions; and "Call of Duty 3," a World War II action franchise set in Europe.

The PS3 also is a lot more expensive. The basic version costs $499; the more coveted version, with a bigger hard drive and wireless networking, is $599.

But that doesn't mean it's reinventing the notion of video gaming.

"What Sony has done with PlayStation 3 is focus on the video sensuousness of the environment and the precision and realism of the graphics," says Ian Bogost, an assistant professor of digital media at Georgia Tech and a game designer who got to play a PS3 at a trade show. "But it's really hard to tell how meaningful that's going to make the games," he continues. "We may end up with prettier versions of the same old stuff. There's a market for that, but it's not a new market."

There's also a market for the upcoming Nintendo Wii (pronounced wee), which will launch Sunday, two days after PS3. The Wii has less computing power and relies instead on a new controller that can be swung like a sword or golf club.

"The PS3 and the Wii are so different in terms of what they do and pricing," Shane Bettenhausen, editor of Electronic Gaming, explains on the magazine's podcast. Experts don't anticipate the Wii to have the same supply-and-demand problems as the PS3, Bettenhausen says.

Due to production problems, Sony has had to cut in half the number of PS3s it is shipping to the United States before Christmas, to about 1 million units. Many of those are already spoken for in pre-orders.

Availability is very much in flux. Amazon spokesman Sean Sundwall advises shoppers to sign up for e-mail alerts that will tell them if and when more pre-orders become available.

"There are reports of stores getting only 10 units," says Margenau, who says he had hoped to do his 24-hour vigil with friends. "But my friends aren't as hard-core as I am about the PS3."

As difficult as it may be to score a PS3 by Christmas, at least U.S. gamers have a chance. Due to production delays, Sony had to delay the European rollout until next year.

TOYS FOR BIG GIRLS AND BOYS

They're not just for kids anymore. Internet connection, wireless interactivity and multimedia have transformed the game console into a home entertainment system. But all those bells and whistles come at a price. Here are the major players in the ongoing battle for gaming supremacy.

• PlayStation: Debuted in 1995 for $300

Sony set a new standard when it entered the gaming industry. In addition to playing audio CDs, this powerful 32-bit, CD-based console delivered impressive special effects — at nearly twice the price of its predecessors.

• Nintendo 64: Debuted in 1996 for $199

Gamers clamored for this 64-bit console when it debuted, creating a shopping frenzy. Bolstered by fans of classic Nintendo titles like "The Legend of Zelda," as well as a stable of child-friendly titles, this unit helped create the Nintendo vs. Sony rivalry.

• PlayStation 2: Debuted in 2000 for $299

Sony advanced the concept of console as multimedia hub with this machine, which played DVD movies and offered gamers Internet access along with two USB ports.

• XBox: Debuted in 2001 for $299

Microsoft shook up the Nintendo-Sony domination with its first foray into the gaming market. The XBox delivered Dolby Digital Surround Sound, DVD capability, realistic graphics — and a Pentium III processor. Grown-up gamers camped out at stores to buy it.

• Nintendo GameCube: Debuted in 2001 for $199

With its improved graphics, reconfigured controller and more grown-up titles, this system helped Nintendo attract an older audience, even though it lacked DVD capability.

• XBox 360: Debuted in 2005 for $299 and $399

Microsoft's "next-generation" console allows for high-definition game playing. The deluxe version comes with a 20-gig hard drive, in addition to high-definition AV cables and an ergonomic remote control.

— Staff writer George Mathis contributed to this article.