PS3 enthusiasts game for anything

Gaming enthusiasts began bundling up and pitching tents outside Ottawa video game stores yesterday, hoping to be among the handful of people to pre-order the much-anticipated Sony PlayStation 3 console.

The PS3 unit -- which is competing with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's soon-to-be-released Wii unit in the lucrative video game market -- is expected to retail at $659.99. Customers who pre-order the pricey gaming system will receive their units Nov. 17, when Sony releases the PS3 throughout North America.

Sarah Catcher, 22, and Shawn French, 27, assembled a pup tent outside the doors of the Merivale Road EB Games location just after noon yesterday.

"I've done a lot of crazy things before, but nothing like this," said Ms. Catcher.

The dedicated gamers were optimistic about the 40 hours of waiting ahead of them, despite a forecast that called for temperatures to dip close to freezing.

"We come prepared," said Mr. French, who had a supply of water and coffee inside his nylon tent, along with two fleece blankets and two lawn chairs.

Despite the chill, Ms. Catcher and Mr. French were determined to meet their objective.

"We're making sure we're first in line," said Mr. French.

Each of the national capital region's 10 EB Games locations will have no more than eight units available for pre-order tomorrow.

Tim O'Reilly, district manager of EB Games, said he does not know when the chain will receive more of the gaming systems.

"There's no set date for a second shipment," Mr. O'Reilly said. "We're not expecting any more soon."

Mr. O'Reilly said the desperate camp-out outside his Merivale store is not new.

"We have some pretty hard core customers," he said.