The wait for Playstation 2 has finally ended for some, but for others it has only just begun. Playstation 2, Sony’s sequel to their highly successful first video game system, makes its debut today. However, due to a component shortage Sony was only able to ship 500,000 systems across North America, though Sony will ship 100,000 more systems through the holiday season.

Playstation 2 has an advanced video game system, a DVD player and a CD player all in one black box and will also support all of the original Playstation games.

Edward Cupps, assistant manager of Software Etc. in Ames, said his store expects to have the most systems in Ames, but there is a catch.

“We have 72 coming in and every single one is spoken for,” he said. “We set it up where people would know when they reserved it that they weren’t going to get it the first day.”

Every one of the $299.99 video game systems that Software Etc. receives are reserved through January, Cupps said.

Software Etc. opened at midnight to fulfill the reservations Ames gamers had anticipated for months.

“We contacted every single person that had it reserved and let them know that … they could pick it up. We gave them three choices: do they want to pick it up at midnight, do they want to pick it up during the day, or do they want to pick it up on Friday,” Cupps said. “Most people said ‘I’ll be there at midnight.'”

Not only are all the PS2 systems reserved at Software Etc., but Sony brand accessories and several games are also on hold, Cupps added.

“Most games we have extras of, but we’re selling a lot of them,” he said.

Cory Adams, electronics department manager of the Wal-Mart in Ames, said people were beginning to line up early Wednesday morning.

“We did have a couple of people come in at 10 a.m. with lawn chairs,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there were people skipping class today.”

Demand for the Playstation 2 is expected to be high at Wal-Mart, but the component shortage will make it much more difficult to acquire, Adams said.

Wal-Mart began selling the system at 12:01 this morning, but people weren’t allowed to line up until 10 p.m. Wednesday, Adams said.

“Basically it’s first come, first serve,” he said. “The replenishment is based on how well software sells, but I have no idea when they’re coming back in and how many.”

Adams believes gamers are chasing the new system for several reasons.

“The graphics on it are excellent,” he said. “On ‘Madden 2001,’ the characters’ eyeballs move and you can see that. That’s how good the graphics are. Plus, you can play DVD movies on it.”

Josh Kohrs, movies/music/books manager at Target in Ames, said Target expects to receive between 20 and 40 systems. He said tickets would be distributed at 8 a.m. today to however many people are in line so the store can avoid fights over the machine.

“Whoever has a ticket can get Playstation 2 and whoever doesn’t, doesn’t,” he said.

Kohrs expects all of the store’s machines to be sold right away. He said people are after the machine because of its improved graphics.

“The graphics are just phenomenal,” he said.

Shaun Flood, home electronics manager at K-Mart in Ames, said K-Mart expects to receive only seven Playstation 2s.

“We only have 25,000 nationwide at K-Mart and we do have signs posted now saying that there are no rain checks and they are first come, first serve,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be getting some more in soon, but I can’t say when.”

Not everyone is willing to shell out the $300 for the Playstation 2. Michael Falk, senior in meteorology, said the price is one reason he isn’t going to jump on the bandwagon.

“When the systems first come out, they’re generally pretty expensive and there aren’t that many games for them,” he said. “Even if you preordered, which I didn’t, you’re not necessarily going to get a copy when it comes out and if you didn’t preorder it, good luck.”

But Cupps said there is still a wide variety of people who do want the machine.

“Everyone from parents who want to get it for their kids for Christmas to college students to professionals [want it],” he said. “It’s basically a super-computer in a game console.”