Here’s some of what went on this weekend in the world of crazy PS gamers:

In Putnam, CT, two armed men tried to rob a line of 15-20 people while waiting to purchase PS3s at WalMart. One man was shot.

A man in Manchester, CT was robbed of his PS3 by five youths.

Two guys in Sullivan, IN were assaulted with tire irons and chains after they bought their PS3s.

In West Bend, WI, WalMart had a bright idea to hold a “race” to the finish line for a crowd of 50 to get a PS3. One guy runs right into a pole.

In Englewood, OH, two armed robbers wearing ski masks ripped off 5 consoles from EB Games.

In Orlando, FL, the Mall at Millenia got bum-rushed by about 600 people. Too bad only 16 consoles were available. Millenia didn’t allow overnight camping, so people were hiding in bushes.

People in Orlando were camping out in front of Best Buys for days. We saw a family at the Best Buy on Colonial Drive (near Fashion Square Mall) camping out as early as Tuesday evening.

These guys bought a PS3 in Toronto and proceeded to smash it to pieces in front of the fanboy line. Check it out:

A typical scene of dudes camping out and waiting for tickets:

These guys in Cary, NC paid homeless people to wait in line for them:

Sony released only 400,000 units in North America.

Scalpers everywhere rejoiced at the ability to turn around and sell their units on Ebay for major cash. Currently, as of Saturday night, it looks like an average of $1000 per unit. These resellers better hurry up. It looks like the going price will fall further.

By the way, Sony is losing money on every unit sold. (This happens with Ninendo and Microsoft also, but the PS3 is worse for Sony due to its cutting edge design).

Granted, the PS3 is just being released, but an up-to-the-minute tally of available games for all next-generation consoles, based on data supplied by Amazon, shows the one-year-old Xbox 360 with about 140 game titles currently available from Amazon.com, versus 33 for the PS3. For Sony to sell enough software alone to make up for what iSuppli projects it loses per 20 GB PS3 sold here, its software attach rate would have to be a nearly-impossible 6. This means Sony must rely on sales of accessories and other gear in the hopes of breaking even, for a release that has already been constrained by supply shortages of critical equipment, such as — ironically — the blue-laser diodes Sony itself manufactures for PS3’s built-in Blu-ray Disc player.

Here are key component and subsystem cost breakdowns.

My brother requested a PS3 for Christmas. He should get used to disappointment.

Oh yeah, the Nintendo Wii comes out, also.

~Bill G